Identity
Person No.
31185
Old ROH no.
753
Service No.
79308268BG
Last Name
First Name
Pieter
Initials
P
Date of Birth
Unknown
Est. Birth Year
Age at Death
18
Death Record
Date of Death
Cause code
KIA 14,778
Killed in action
Cause of Death
Killed in action, in Northern Ovamboland, together with his twin brother and another Trooper during Operation Handsak, when they detonated an anti-personnel landmine which had been planted on top of an anti-tank landmine. They were inspecting a Buffel of the Support Troop which had hit a landmine while out on patrol the previous day
Military Service
Branch
Army
Rank
Lance Corporal
Regiment
Unknown
Defence Force
SADF 3,834
South African Defence Force
Location
Country
Locality
Grave Reference
Coordinates
Unit History
Role at time of death
Armour (Armoured Car)
Status
Permanent Force (Regular)
Part of
Resuscitated as a Permanent Force unit in 1946, when the South African Armoured Corps was officially proclaimed and the Special Service Battalion was included in it as the corps's only full-time unit, its symbols and colours being incorporated. Same lineage as the Special Service Battalion (OrgEntityID 5278); "1 Special Service Battalion" is the specific numbered battalion within that Permanent Force unit.
SOURCE CONFLICT, recorded rather than resolved: the 1 SSB article says the post-war reorganisation produced "1 Special Service Battalion and 1 South African Infantry Battalion", which would make 1 SAI the other battalion from the start. The Special Service Battalion and 2 SSB articles instead have the second battalion carrying the name 2 SSB until 26 January 1951, when it was renamed 1 SAI. The two accounts cannot both be right about when the name 1 SAI appeared. NO OrgEntityAlias is recorded for 2221 on the strength of either.
Border War service falls in this era: South West Africa and Angola, with squadrons detached to battlegroups rather than the regiment deploying whole -- among them 63 Mechanised Battalion Group, on Operations Merlyn and Agree in 1989. Equipped with the Eland 60 and Eland 90. All but three of the men on this roll who point at 2221 died in this period.
The Union Defence Force became the South African Defence Force in 1957, part-way through this era; no man on this roll attached to 2221 died before 1964, so the change affects none of them.
Awards
South Africa
Pro Patria Medal warrant, Government Gazette No. 5171 (25 Jun 1976), Rule 5, as amended by GG No. 5575 (3 Jun 1977); discontinued by GG No. 25213 (25 Jul 2003, Schedule corrected by GG No. 26778, 17 Sep 2004) for service on/after 27 Apr 2003. Gazette extracts: https://rohsa.co.za/award.php?id=24
Notes
Son of Mr. and Mrs. H. B. Kruger. His twin brother also died in service the same day
Research notes
25 Sep 2026, Unit2 service-branch sweep: the stored Secondary Unit "Army" was CLEARED as a duplicate. It was not a sub-unit, it was a service-branch word repeating what the Branch column already says. Secondary Unit is for sub-units -- a company, a squadron, a commando -- and this record's branch of service is unchanged at "Army".
Citations
Unknown
External References
-
SADF.info Border Roll of Honour
open source ↗
SADF.info Border RoH
- South African War Graves Project open source ↗
-
The War in Angola
open source ↗
War In Angola Roll of Honour (warinangola.com, tabid=1175), page 48 of 143: confirmed, no changes.
Stories 1
Died alongside his twin brother in a landmine detonation.
Dedications 1
I WILL NEVER FORGET THAT DAY.REST IN PEACE MY FRIEND, LONG GONE BUT NEVER FORGOTTEN (BROTHER'S IN ARM FOREVER) BRANDT