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Lombard , Niel (N)

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Photo of Lombard Photo of Lombard
Identity
Person No.
31368
Service No.
71259428BC
Last Name
Lombard 44
First Name
Niel
Initials
N
Date of Birth
Unknown
Est. Birth Year
1955 (±1 yr) 397
Age at Death
20
Death Record
Date of Death
23 November 1975 354
Cause code
KIA 14,779
Killed in action
Cause of Death
Killed in action 14,655
Killed in action, in Battle of Ebo. He was the driver of the armoured car commanded by Lt J du Toit. They were ordered forward toward the bridge over the Massaba river. As the car approached the bridge it was hit with a hollow charge round from a 76mm cannon and he was instantly killed. the car ended up on its side in the river
Military Service
Branch
Army
Rank
Trooper
Regiment
1 Special Service Battalion 21
Corps
South African Armoured Corps 438
Unit
"B" Squadron 14
Defence Force
SADF 3,832
South African Defence Force
Location
Country
South Africa 23,874
Locality
Western Cape 2,137
Cemetery
RIEBECK WEST CEMETERY 1
Grave Reference
Body not recovered - Memorial Needle 1
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 Mrs. A. Lombard. On Tuesday July 11 2006 Mr. Henk van Zyl was physically taken to the two gravesites, was able, through an interpreter and in the presence of about five Angolan government officials, able to speak to two headmen. He was taken to the grave of Trooper Niel Lombard of B Squadron 1SSB who was killed at the bridge over the Massaba River. His grave is virtually on the cross roads of two pathways. After 31 years, one cannot see that there is a grave there but the headman of that area after pacing off from one reference point to another, made a cross on the ground with his toe and said here is where I buried the man after pulling him out of the "tank."

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
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