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Pretorius , Shawn (S)

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Photo of Pretorius Photo of Pretorius
Identity
Person No.
32576
Old ROH no.
1172
Service No.
81065039BG
Last Name
Pretorius 149
First Name
Shawn
Initials
S
Date of Birth
Unknown
Est. Birth Year
1965 (±1 yr) 280
Age at Death
18
Death Record
Date of Death
27 December 1983 92
Cause code
DOW 2,733
Died of wounds
Cause of Death
Died of wounds 2,435
Died of wounds, multiple shrapnel wounds, received in an accidental hand grenade explosion inside a Ratel while in Southern Angola during Ops Askari. While debussing from the Ratel, one of the hand grenades he was carrying in his webbing got caught in the door and the pin was accidentally extracted. The grenade exploded and he was mortally wounded
Military Service
Branch
Army
Rank
Rifleman
Regiment
4 South African Infantry Battalion 97
Corps
South African Infantry Corps 10,346
Unit
Unknown
Defence Force
SADF 3,825
South African Defence Force
Location
Country
South Africa 23,869
Locality
North West 534
Cemetery
ORKNEY CEMETERY 9
Grave Reference
Grave 1252 1
Operation
Operation
Askari
Dates
1983-12-09 to 1984-01-19
About
Major SADF operation into southern Angola against SWAPO and, for the first time on this scale, directly-engaged FAPLA forces around Cuvelai and Cahama; unexpectedly heavy FAPLA/Cuban resistance and losses on both sides contributed to the diplomatic track that produced the February 1984 Lusaka Accord.
Unit History
Part of
Infantry Formation (SAAIF) — Motorised Infantry — Regular
Notes

No additional information known at this time

Research notes

Col (rt) Graham du Toit Last Post 27 Dec 2022: 81065039BG Rifleman Shawn Pretorius, 4 SAI, Died of multiple shrapnel wounds received in an accidental hand grenade explosion inside a Ratel in Southern Angola during Ops Askari. While debussing, a grenade on his webbing caught in the door and the pin was extracted, age 18. Cause already matched. Unit2 was "D" Squadron (copied from neighbouring 1 SSB Pretorius) — set to Army.
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.
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
Unknown
External References
Stories 1
by Terrance De Wet on 01 January 2008 · via source
I SERVED WITH SEAN AT 1 SAI BLOEMFONTEIN & ON THE BORDER (61 MECH) DEC 1983 IN ANGOLA (OPS ASKARI). SEAN WAS SERIOUSLY WOUNDED IN A RATEL EXPLOSION & DIED A DAY OR TWO LATER. WE WERE IN THE SAME COMPANY BUT DIFF SECTIONS. WE TRIED OUR BEST TO ASSIST SEAN ON THAT FATAL DAY, BUT HIS INJURIES WERE TOO SERIOUS. WE LOST A GOOD BUDDIE.
Dedications 1
by SEAN RIP Terrance De Wet on 01 January 2008 · via source
SO SAD THAT HIS LIFE WAS CUT SHORT SO YOUNG, BUT WE WILL ALWAYS REMEMBER HIM.