Identity
Person No.
32580
Old ROH no.
1174
Service No.
84564715BG
Last Name
First Name
William Arthur Frederick (billy)
Initials
W A F
Date of Birth
Unknown
Est. Birth Year
Age at Death
19
Death Record
Date of Death
Cause code
KIA 14,778
Killed in action
Cause of Death
Killed in action, After an attack, an unidentified member of the enemy forces that had been captured asked Price for some water. The enemy soldier (FAPLA) dressed in Unita uniform. The water bottle was booby trapped and went off as he filled it. Price was killed during this noble act of kindness to a captured soldier. Ops Hooper
Military Service
Location
Country
Locality
Cemetery
Grave Reference
Memorial
Memorial
Location
Cuito Cuanavale, Cuando Cubango province, Angola
Coordinates
Panel
On the panel
Operation Hooper
Operation
Operation
Dates
1987-12-01 to 1988-02-29
About
Follow-on operation after Moduler: SADF/UNITA forces pursued the retreating FAPLA brigades toward Cuito Cuanavale, engaging in heavy fighting east of the town (including the ZSU-23 and mine losses recorded against several ROH names here) as FAPLA dug in behind the Cuito River with strong Cuban-reinforced air defence and armour support.
Unit History
Awards
South Africa
Pro Patria Medal warrant, Government Gazette No. 5171 (25 Jun 1976), Rule 5, as amended by GG No. 5575 (3 Jun 1977); discontinued by GG No. 25213 (25 Jul 2003, Schedule corrected by GG No. 26778, 17 Sep 2004) for service on/after 27 Apr 2003. Gazette extracts: https://rohsa.co.za/award.php?id=24
Notes
Son of Mr. A. E. Price, of Pretoria.
Research notes
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
-
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 (warinangola.com, tabid=1175), pages 66-76 of 143: confirmed, no changes.
Stories 3
Billy was one of my guys. An unidentified person (enemy???) asked Billy for some water after an attack. The water bottle was booby trapped and went off as he filled it. Billy was killed.
THIS ALL HAPPENED WHILE WE ALL WENT TO O'S POSITION FOR A PRAY PARADE AND ORDERS THE DAY BEFORE D-DAY. THEY HAD TO STAND GUARD OUTSIDE THE RATELS. WHILE I WAS ON RADIO DUTY, AT 30 ALPHA POSITION, THE SHOT WENT OFF. BILLY WAS A GOOD GUY.
Price was a great guy that wanted to help someone in need. The enemy trapped him -sad. This is how I remember him the guy that always wanted to help, cleaning the 90 canon, digging foxholes, checking engine oils etc. We caught a "springhaas" in Lohatla within minutes it was tame some of the guys wanted to cook it, but Billy refused as it was his pet. He released it the same evening -----Goodtimes buddy....Salute RIP Wiets Coetzee
Dedications 2
I remember Billy as a good companion throughout the 1SAI year of 1987. Billy was a strong person and is remembered fondly.
Billy was a kind and fun person to be with. He was part of our Squadron (C Squadron, 4 SAI), when the incident happened and his death had an impact on all his friends in the squadron. After 18 years, he is still remembered Etienne v.d.Walt