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Potgieter , Johan Diederik (J D)

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Photo of Potgieter Photo of Potgieter
Identity
Person No.
32549
Old ROH no.
1158
Service No.
01169895PE
Last Name
Potgieter 112
First Name
Johan Diederik
Initials
J D
Date of Birth
Unknown
Est. Birth Year
1936 (±1 yr) 67
Age at Death
40
Death Record
Date of Death
04 January 1976 121
Cause code
AA 1,735
Aircraft accident
Cause of Death
Killed in aircraft accident 1,514
Died in Aircraft Accident, shot down by own AAA, in Aerospatiale SA3330 Puma C #122. The OC 2 Mil Area, scheduled a visit to Battlegroup Chicken, near Mussende, Angola. Unfortunately the Puma was painted green, similar to the colour of the enemy planes and flew off course over an AA battery that had not been informed of the flight. Thinking the enemy were attacking, the AA shot the chopper down
Military Service
Branch
Army
Rank
Brigadier
Regiment
Free State Command 2
Unit
Officer Commanding 2 Mil Area, SWA 1
Defence Force
SADF 3,843
South African Defence Force
Location
Country
South Africa 23,872
Locality
Mpumalanga 425
Cemetery
BETHAL CEMETERY 4
Grave Reference
Grave 460 1
Coordinates
-26.46273, 29.47474 OSM
Operation
Operation
Savannah
Dates
1975-10-14 to 1976-03-27
About
SADF intervention in the Angolan Civil War following Portugal's withdrawal, in support of UNITA and the FNLA against the Soviet/Cuban-backed MPLA. South African armoured columns (Task Force Zulu and others) advanced deep into Angola, reaching within striking distance of Luanda, before withdrawing by late March 1976 amid international and domestic political fallout. South Africa's first large post-WWII conventional deployment and the opening chapter of the Border War's Angola phase.
Awards
Pro Patria Medal
Pro Patria Medal
South Africa · awarded 1976-01-04
Pro Patria Medal (original 1974 warrant, Government Gazette No. 4490, 8 Nov 1974, as amended by GG No. 4932, 19 Dec 1975) -- confirmed as one of the first 48 posthumous Pro Patria recipients on the official 1976 Roll of Honour, reproduced in P.F. Roos, "Pro Patria Medal: Types, Variants, Ribbon Accoutrements and Selected Recipients of Interest" (Section II, Part One). Gazette extracts: https://rohsa.co.za/award.php?id=24
Notes

Husband of Mrs. S. J. Potgieter, of Saldanha. ref. 85 years of SAAF

Research notes

Col (rt) Graham du Toit Last Post 04 Jan 2024: 01169895PE Brigadier Johan Diederik Potgieter SM, Officer Commanding 2 Military Area, passenger on Puma 122, scheduled visit to Battle Group Orange near Mussende, Ops Savannah, age 40. ROH cause already has friendly AAA / Puma 122; names Battlegroup Chicken. Graham: Battle Group Orange, SA 330C, 20mm scored 21 hits, Aircraft Commander not killed in the crash but could not be freed before the wreck burnt; Commandant Martin Verster only survivor (not on the roll). | Gunners Association RoH lists them (South African Border War 1976 Brigadier J.D. Potgieter) - https://www.gunners.org.za/home-2/roll-of-honour/
25 Sep 2026, Unit2 service-branch sweep: the stored Secondary Unit "Air Force" was CLEARED. It was not a sub-unit, it was a service-branch word, and it CONTRADICTED this record's own Branch, "Army". Across the roll 787 records carried such a contradiction; judged against Corps and Regiment -- independent of both columns -- the evidence backed Branch 744 times and Unit2 not once. Branch is therefore kept and the contradicting word removed. Nothing is guessed: this man's branch of service is already recorded, and his sub-unit, if any, is simply not known.

Citations
Unknown
External References
Stories 1
on 01 July 2006 · via source
I was present where and when this person died after being shot down during ops Savannah in a Puma helicopter. His death was not due to a crash. I tried pulling him out of the burning helicopter but was unable to do so due to heat and exploding ammunition. This was more than an aircraft crash which seems to be wrongly stated in the records. There was one survivor who was badly burnt and airlifted for treatment. Place of death - Dondo (200km South East from Luanda)
Dedications

No dedications have been added yet.