Identity
Person No.
32507
Old ROH no.
1141
Service No.
82220401BT
Last Name
First Name
Michiel George
Initials
M G
Date of Birth
Unknown
Est. Birth Year
Age at Death
22
Death Record
Date of Death
Cause code
ACC 1,585
Accident
Cause of Death
Died in Freak Accident, was the commander of an Olifant tank when a tree crushed him in his commander's hatch. Pienaar's tank (call sign 13B) struck a tree of approximately 750 cm in diameter. Due to the soft ground and various veld fires in the past, the tree toppled onto the tank, crushing Pienaar in his hatch. He was still alive, but severely injured at that time. The squadron's tiffies were called upon and tried to lift the tree from the tank with a hydraulic crane. Unfortunately the tree was too heavy for the crane and it crushed Sgt. Pienaar again which caused his death
Military Service
Branch
Army
Rank
Sergeant
Regiment
Unit
Secondary Unit
Air Force
Defence Force
SADF 3,823
South African Defence Force
Location
Country
Locality
Cemetery
Grave Reference
Unit History
Role at time of death
Infantry, later Armour
Status
Active Citizen Force (Reserve)
Part of
Part of
Pretoria Regiment, formed 1 July 1913 as an Active Citizen Force infantry battalion. Converted to armour 1943 (Italian Campaign, RAC depots in Egypt). Renamed Pretoria Armour Regiment 2019; one of 52 Reserve Force units renamed that year.
Notes
Son of Mrs. M. E. Pienaar, of Bloemfontein.
Research notes
DATE DISCREPANCY 25 Aug 2026: pantser.cmvo.org.za's SADF deaths PDF gives this person's Sterf (date of death) as "30 11 87" (DD MM YY) against the same ServiceNo (82220401BT) and name -- differs from this record's DateDeath (1987-11-29). Not overwritten, flagged for reference. 26 Aug 2026: Unit leftover "Att to School of Artillery" → Pretoria Regiment (SAWGP Regiment, no Unit).
Citations
Unknown
External References
-
Lys van Weermaglede wat aan diens gesterf het (SADF deaths, pantser.cmvo.org.za)
open source ↗
SADF deaths PDF cross-check, 25 Aug 2026 -- date discrepancy noted
-
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, pages 117-119: gives date 1987-11-30 vs ROH 1987-11-29 (SN 82220401BT matches exactly) — confirmed match, not overwritten.
Stories 2
Sergeant Pienaar, from Regiment Pretoria, was the commander of an Olifant tank when a tree crushed him in his commander's hatch late November 1987. We left Calais (approximately 3km inside Angola from Rundu) early the morning to form up with the rest of the battle group at Mavinga to participate in Ops Hooper. (Normally this is a seven day drive up to Mavinga, but it took us fourteen days to do the trip.) After several navigational errors during the course of the day we got very far behind schedule. Due to all the delays, the squadron commander decided that we should push on through the night trying to catch up on the time lost during the previous day's excursions. It was more or less mid night when tragedy struck. Pienaar's tank (call sign 13B) struck a tree of approximately 750 cm in diameter. Due to the soft ground and various veld fires in the past, the tree toppled onto the tank, crushing Pienaar in his hatch. He was still alive, but severely injured at that time. The squadron's tiffies were called upon and Rocco Greyvensteyn (a good friend of mine) tried to lift the tree from the tank with a hydraulic crane. Unfortunately the tree was too heavy for the crane and it crushed Sgt. Pienaar again which caused his death. After this incident Rocco was never the same again. He committed suicide at Lohatla in the early 1990's. Both of you Rest In Peace and remember the tanker's motto : "We Make The Rules" GRossouw
i was in d squdron,troop 3 ,always in the kuk,to this very day i always remember that once i was feeling down and PINE came to me and gave me a chocolot,ill never forget him.RIP NAWDISH
Dedications 4
Rest In Peace and remember the tanker's motto : "We Make The Rules" G Rossouw
Dear Pine We were "campers" doing our bit for "Volk en Vaderland". It?s the 16th anniversary since you left tragically. It feels like yesterday when we were all jovial and high spirited at Rundu before the big crossing. That was the last time I saw you. We will never forget; you and all our fallen mates will be remembered in the morning and in the evening, everyday. The best times of our lives we never want over again, we were young and stupid! Who of those guys from ?Pantser Skool? are still around? Guys like Baries (Barnard) the karate "bof", Rossow, Spook (KO) Le Roux, Tank Fourie and all the others. Those were the glory days. The only National Service guy I recall from that time period was a young guy from Bloemfontein with the name "Ballas". I can't recall how many T54/55 he shot out, but it could be 10 maybe 15. A GUNNER of note ! Just thought I'd add that last piece for you Pine. drg
Sgt.Pine Pienaar was my Cpl. during basic training at School of Armour.He tried his best to be a typical hard ass bastard,but he failed.Troop 5 were very fortuanate to have had such a fair Cpl.,compared to the other tyrants!His understanding fair composure gained him the proper respect that a true leader deserved. The last time I saw him was outside the showers just before we left for Angola.He recognised me,laughed out loud,shook my hand and said"It is so good that we are all going together". The night he passed away we all complained about the lack of sight but we were urged to push-on.We were all shocked by his death.Some expressed their shock by shooting flares,we were close to a mutiny. We lost one of our Tanker brothers forever Gary
Only the good die young - and that must be why a real "old fashioned good guy" like Pine died when he did. I did basics and JL training with him at School of Armour in 1977. The reason why I remember him clearly after 35 years ? - he was one of the nicest and most genuine guys I ever came across. Such a great sense of (dry) humour! I was shocked to see Pine on this Roll of Honour - I don't think he ever had any enemies.