McEwan, John Edward

Identity

Person No.

31769

Old ROH no.

1818

Service No.

77264414BG

Last Name

McEwan 1

First Name

John Edward

Initials

J E

Date of Birth

Unknown

Est. Birth Year

1962 (±1 yr) 351

Age at Death

18

Death Record

Date of Death

11 April 1980 207

Cause code

SHOT 546

Shot

Cause of Death

Died in Shooting Incident 289

Died in Shooting Incident, after Klaarstaan at Ruacana Airfield. A fellow soldier indicated that the ejector mechanism on his R1 rifle was not functioning. McEwan fiddled with it, cocked the weapon and fired it with the rifle butt still on the ground. A bullet struck him in the head, killing him instantly

Military Service

Branch

Army

Rank

Rifleman

Regiment

5 South African Infantry Battalion 98

Corps

South African Infantry Corps 10,343

Unit

Unknown

Secondary Unit

Army

Defence Force

SADF 3,823

South African Defence Force

Location

Country

South Africa 23,863

Locality

Gauteng 9,374

Cemetery

SADF WALL OF REMEMBRANCE, VOORTREKKER MONUMENT, PRETORIA 1,926

Grave Reference

Alternative Commemoration until grave found 1,612

Memorial

1980 Army (Abel–Ralikwatha). Photograph: South African War Graves Project.

Names on 1980 Army Abel-Ralikwatha

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

1980 Army Abel-Ralikwatha

On the panel

1980 Army. Right column. 11th name from the top (Mc Ewan J.E.)

Unit History

Part of

Infantry Formation (SAAIF) — Motorised Infantry — Regular

Notes

Son of Mr. S. S. G. McEwan

Research notes

Col (rt) Graham du Toit Last Post 11 Apr 2024: 77264414BG Rifleman John Edward McEwan, 5 SAI Alpha Company, killed instantly at Ruacana Airfield after Klaarstaan. A mate said the ejector on his R1 was not functioning; McEwan fiddled with it, cocked the weapon and fired it with the rifle butt still on the ground; a bullet struck him in the head. Age 18. Unit already 5 SAI. ROH had a shorter jam/Ruacana Air Base account — filled Graham's Klaarstaan / ejector / butt-on-ground detail.
SADF Wall of Remembrance (Voortrekker Monument): named on photograph "1980 Army (Abel–Ralikwatha). Photograph: South African War Graves Project.". 1980 Army. Right column. 11th name from the top (Mc Ewan J.E.).
14 Sep 2026: Pro Patria Medal added -- database-wide sweep for SADF Border War operational-area deaths within the medal's gazetted window (25 Jun 1976 - 27 Apr 2003), per the warrant's died-before-qualifying-period provision. See PersonAward.Citation for the gazette references.
14 Sep 2026: Pro Patria Medal added earlier today REVERTED -- John obtained the actual Government Gazette (GG 5171/5575); the "died before completing the qualifying period" provision relied on does not exist in the primary text (it was a secondary-source claim). Actual Rule 5 requires (a) combat/enemy-caused incident, (b) a Ministerially-acknowledged operation (clasp), or (c) 55+ continuous/90+ non-continuous days in an operational area -- none of which this record's cause of death clearly demonstrates.

Citations

Unknown

External References

Col (rt) Graham du Toit Last Post
Col (rt) Graham du Toit Last Post 11 Apr 2024: 77264414BG Rifleman John Edward McEwan, 5 SAI Alpha Company, killed instantly at Ruacana Airfield after Klaarstaan. A mate said the ejector on his R1 was not functioning; McEwan fiddled with it, cocked the weapon and fired it with the rifle butt still on the ground; a bullet struck him in the head. Age 18. Unit already 5 SAI. ROH had a shorter jam/Ruacana Air Base account — filled Graham's Klaarstaan / ejector / butt-on-ground detail.
South African War Graves Project open source ↗
The War in Angola open source ↗
War In Angola Roll of Honour (warinangola.com, tabid=1175), pages 125-128 of 143: confirmed, no changes.

Stories 2

on 25 May 2010 · via source

Rfn McEwan died tragically and accidently in Apr 1980. He was with 5SAI which was based in Ladysmith Natal. At the time of the accident he was in Ruacana, but based at Concor Dam Lesly Herbay

by Nick Collins on 17 January 2012 · via source

Johnny McEwan's platoon (Alpha Co, 5 SAI) died in a shooting accident. After Klaarstaan at the Ruacana Air base, one of his mates discovered that the ejector on his R1 wasn't working. Johnny fiddled with it, cocking it, and then fired it while the butt was on the ground. He died instantly. This was early April, 1980 - Alpha co had just been deployed to Ruacana and Concor Dam.

Dedications

No dedications have been added yet.

McEwan , John Edward (J E)