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Lesch , Laurie Johannes (lollo) (L J)

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Photo of Lesch Photo of Lesch
Identity
Person No.
31315
Old ROH no.
809
Service No.
74523580BG
Last Name
Lesch 2
First Name
Laurie Johannes (lollo)
Initials
L J
Date of Birth
02 October 1958 109
Age at Death
19
Death Record
Date of Death
23 August 1978 133
Cause code
KIA 14,779
Killed in action
Cause of Death
Killed in action 14,653
Killed in action, during the early hours of the morning when the bungalow in which they were sleeping at Katima Mulilo received a direct hit from a Soviet GRAD-P 122mm High Explosive Katyusha Rocket. SWAPO/PLAN insurgents operating from Zambia fired 20 x 122mm GRAD-P Katyusha Rockets into the town. 18 rockets exploded harmlessly in the veld, one struck a school in the Katima Mulilo Township and the other demolished the Bungalow in which the soldiers were sleeping
Military Service
Branch
Army
Rank
Trooper
Regiment
Unknown
Corps
South African Armoured Corps 438
Unit
1 Special Service Battalion 51
Defence Force
SADF 3,830
South African Defence Force
Location
Country
South Africa 23,873
Locality
Western Cape 2,137
Cemetery
MALMESBURY NEW CEMETERY 7
Grave Reference
Reportedly 1
Memorial
1977 SAA (Kruger–Maquinda, Walker–Wilters) to 1978 SAA (Amorim–Cassamano, Hunter–Mandunga)
Names on 1977-1978 SAA Kruger-Mandunga
Memorial
SADF Wall of Remembrance
Location
On a koppie at the Voortrekker Monument, overlooking Pretoria
Address
Voortrekker Monument, Eeufees Road, Groenkloof, Pretoria, 0181, South Africa
Coordinates
-25.77639, 28.17583 · OpenStreetMap
Panel
1977-1978 SAA Kruger-Mandunga
On the panel
1978 Army. Right column. 12th name from the top (Lesch L.J.)
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. L. J. Lesch

Research notes

SADF Wall of Remembrance (Voortrekker Monument): named on photograph "1977 SAA (Kruger–Maquinda, Walker–Wilters) to 1978 SAA (Amorim–Cassamano, Hunter–Mandunga)". 1978 Army. Right column. 12th name from the top (Lesch L.J.). | Bushwar Books 23 Aug 2026: confirms Lesch L.J., 1 SSB, Katima Mulilo Katyusha rocket attack, age 19. | Colyn Brookes, Mibisa: Volume One – Western Cape (Lulu, 2013, ISBN 9781447682523): Malmesbury (Dagbreek) Cemetery Hero’s Acre, Hero's Acre Killed. | Willem Steenkamp, Borderstrike! South Africa into Angola 1975–1980, 3rd ed. (Just Done Productions, 2006, ISBN 978-1-920169-00-8): PLAN titled the 23 August 1978 stand-off bombardment of Katima Mulilo “Operation Revenge” (not an SADF operation name). One 122mm rocket into a prefabricated barracks killed 10 and wounded 10; Steenkamp does not name the dead. Attack began 1.15am; some occupants were sleeping, others had come in for coffee.
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
on 30 July 2011 · via source
My name is Bobby Thomson. I was in Katima Mulilo that night. I was a gunner and served at the mortar locating radar (32 Loc Battery) which was situated on a tower next to the heli pad. The second red eye landed between us and the heli-pad . We then directed fire onto pre-listed targets along the river and in Sesheke and the guns at golf wiped out all their long and medium range weapons within the first 10 - 15 minutes after the attack. I remember that we were in a direct line between Golf firebase and some of the targets in Zambia. We would see the firing of the guns, then hear the shells come overhead and hear the explosions when they landed. Lt Schalekamp gave mopping-up fire orders the next day. The next day we went to look at the bungalow and what we saw remained with me for many a
Dedications 1
on 20 September 2008 · via source
My broer; hy was een van 'n tweeling - Dirk boer steeds die in Malmesbury distrct. Sy kontak nommer is 083 655 8274. Laurie is op Malmesbury in die nuwe begraafplaas begrawe. My pa, Laurie, se graf is naby. Kontak my vir meer spesifieke inligting. Gerhard Lesch 083 286 1194