Identity
Person No.
31227
Old ROH no.
775
Service No.
77330108PE
Last Name
First Name
Dan
Initials
D
Date of Birth
Unknown
Est. Birth Year
Age at Death
27
Death Record
Date of Death
Cause code
KIA 14,780
Killed in action
Cause of Death
Killed in action, believed to have been killed on an Op, as a door-gunner in Allouette III #624, in Oshivello
Military Service
Branch
Air Force
Rank
Sergeant
Regiment
Unit
Unknown
Secondary Unit
Army
Defence Force
SADF 3,823
South African Defence Force
Location
Country
Locality
Grave Reference
Coordinates
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. J. J. Lan. ***Jewish
Research notes
5 Sep 2026: Unit "16 Squadron" (a squadron, SAAF's regiment-equivalent) promoted to Regiment, per John's decision. Corps (South African Air Force) unchanged.
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), pages 66-76 of 143: confirmed, no changes.
Stories 4
I grew up with Danny Lan in Hatfield, Pretoria. He was mates with my best friend's brother, Carl Honicke. As far as I know, Dan was a door-gunner in an Allo gun-ship, and he was apparently killed on an Op, but don't know the circumstances. The strange thing about this is that Dan was a first-generation ex-patriot Israeli, and according to SADF custom, shouldn't have been in Sector 10 at all, as the policy was not to allow Jewish people up there because of dietary complications (Kosher kitchens).
Check out everyone who was based in Hoedspruit and then transferred to Ondangwa - the common denominator is that they "dead". Perhaps Steve could fill us all in with what happened to them, if he is still alive. Daniel's helicopter apparently flew into an electric cable over the border and he was thrown out of the helicopter and the chopper landed on him. This is why he, like Eddie Bloem, was also not able to be identified by his family after his death and why there was a "closed" coffin. Eddie and Danny were mates and were both based in Hoedspruit then transferred to Ondangs, both are dead, both deaths were under strange circumstances. Paranoid? 773301058, no answers, only ever questions.
I was with Danny on the F/E course in Bloem. I have good memories of us together. We often went to my parents place in Durbs on weekends during the course (as there were only 4 english speaking guys on the course). It was with deep sadness and shock my friend to see your name on the SAAF memorial during a visit to SA during 2001 and I can honestly say I wept tears that I survived and you did not, why? We both had a common dream and we often discussed what we would do after the SAAF. I chose to pursue my aviation career in Switzerland and have been true to it ever since leaving the SAAF. Rest in peace my friend as I still look at the fotos of the two of us in the Berg during the mountain course and have fond memories of us discussing our aviation careers after the SAAF. Sadly yours ended to soon. I by the grace of God managed to continue my dream. suts
Unfortunately the stories above are not true. Danny was killed by a SWAPO terrorist AK 47 round to the chest ALMOST a year and a day after Eddie Bloem died in a helicopter accident. Eddie Bloem had just returned from his brothers funeral in Durban, (stabbed in the chest by a an unknown F@@C #*). When Eddie returned to Ondangwa he insisted that he fly the night ops and in the place of Danny he flew out of Ondangwa. The approach to the forward base from where they would have operated that night involved landing in a very dusty area. The first helo to land circulated so much dust that Eddie's heli had to abort the landing and the pilot involved turned to the right instead of the left. The heli blades sliced thru the tower and the tail rotor gearbox was caught in the stay cables of the tower. As the int officer was seated in Eddies seat at the time and Eddie on top of the 20mm cannon, as the pilot tried to do an emergency landing, due to a tail rotor failure, the helo rolled to the port side and Eddie fell out, the helo landed on top of him. He died 45 minutes later. Danny was killed in a SWAPO-SADF SKIRMISH A YEAR later as far as I can remember, possibly as a result of a cowboy helo pilot who I refused to fly with, because he liked to fly low and slow, not the recommended altitude of 800ft and 65 knts. Harry Somebody! May EDDIE and DANNY R.I.P. forever and we shall always remember them for always and forever!
Dedications
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