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Pretorius , Gerhardus David Johannes (G D J)

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Photo of Pretorius
Identity
Person No.
32566
Service No.
82395492BG
Last Name
Pretorius 149
First Name
Gerhardus David Johannes
Initials
G D J
Date of Birth
Unknown
Est. Birth Year
1967 (±1 yr) 289
Age at Death
20
Death Record
Date of Death
27 December 1987 92
Cause code
DIS 6,078
Died of disease
Cause of Death
Died of malaria 860
Died of malaria, at 1 Military Hospital, contracted during operations in Southern Angola
Military Service
Branch
Army
Rank
Trooper
Regiment
Unknown
Corps
South African Armoured Corps 438
Unit
1 Special Service Battalion 51
Secondary Unit
"D" Squadron
Defence Force
SADF 3,832
South African Defence Force
Location
Country
South Africa 23,874
Locality
Gauteng 9,374
Cemetery
THABA TSHWANE (NEW) MILITARY CEMETERY 592
Grave Reference
Grave 1405 1
Coordinates
-25.78214, 28.12179 OSM
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.
Notes

Son of Mr. A. E. Pretorius, of Evander

Research notes

Col (rt) Graham du Toit Last Post 27 Dec 2022: 82395492BG Trooper Gerhardus David Johannes Pretorius, 1 Special Service Battalion, died in 1 Military Hospital after contracting malaria during operations in Southern Angola, age 20. Service number suffix BG added. Southern Angola filled into the 1 Mil malaria account.
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
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