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Le Roux , Dawid Barend (david) (D B)

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Identity
Person No.
31256
Old ROH no.
787
Service No.
71236384N
Last Name
Le Roux 80
First Name
Dawid Barend (david)
Initials
D B
Date of Birth
31 January 1955 77
Age at Death
20
Death Record
Date of Death
12 October 1975 329
Cause code
KIA 14,779
Killed in action
Cause of Death
Killed in action 14,653
Killed in action, landmine
Military Service
Branch
Army
Rank
Trooper
Regiment
1 Special Service Battalion 21
Corps
South African Armoured Corps 438
Unit
Unknown
Defence Force
SADF 3,828
South African Defence Force
Location
Country
South Africa 23,872
Locality
Western Cape 2,137
Cemetery
PAARL (PARYS) CEMETERY 20
Grave Reference
Special Memorial 5
Coordinates
-33.74115, 18.9772 OSM
Unit History
Role at time of death
Armour (Armoured Car)
Status
Permanent Force (Regular)
Part of
Armour Formation (SAAAF) — Armoured Car — Regular
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
Pro Patria Medal
Pro Patria Medal
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. D. J. Le Roux. The first national serviceman to die on the South West African side of the border in a terrorist attack

Research notes

Colyn Brookes, Mibisa: Volume One – Western Cape (Lulu, 2013, ISBN 9781447682523): Paarl, Parys Cemetery, Jan Van Riebeeck Road. 26 Aug 2026: Unit leftover "7 South African Infantry Battalion" → 1 Special Service Battalion (SAWGP Unit).
Mark Goller, ROH story 16 Jul 2016 (secondhand, not an eyewitness): DOB 31 Jan 1955 (added); A Squadron, 1 SSB; Eland-60 hit an IED at Luiana, southeast Angola; crew-commander J.J. "Koos Gobabis" van Zyl and L.L.R. "Lourens" Kriel were injured and casevaced. Contributor holds a photo of the destroyed Eland.
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
Stories 1
by Mark Goller on 16 July 2016
I never knew the man, but have some info about his death. Trooper David Barand le Roux, born on the 31/01/1955, 1 SSB , 71236384N . Killed in a landmine explosion on the 12/10/1975. His Eland-60 hit an improvised exlosive device at Luiana on 12 October 1975. The driver, D B (David) le Roux of A Squadron 1SSB was killed in the incident. Two others, the crew-commander, J J (Koos "Gobabis") van Zyl and L L R (Lourens) Kriel were injured and casevaced. Someone who was there when it happened wrote " Die drywer (Le Roux) het gesneuwel in die landmyn ontploffing. Die ander 2 bemanning het by die oop turret uit gevlieg. Ons het hulle n ent van daar af gekry. Pik swart gebrand maar redelik ok. Le Roux se kop en gedeelte van sy bolyf was weg. Dit was vreeslik om die reuk van gebrande mens vleis te ervaar. Die wereld was bestrooi met rokende ammo. Dit het in suid oos Angola gebeur langs die Luiana rivier. " I have a photo of the destroyed Eland. May he RIP.
Dedications

No dedications have been added yet.