Identity
Person No.
32767
Old ROH no.
2121
Service No.
P1/22437
Last Name
First Name
Denis Aidan
Initials
D A
Date of Birth
Unknown
Est. Birth Year
Age at Death
29
Death Record
Date of Death
Cause code
KIA 14,781
Killed in action
Cause of Death
Killed in action, in North American F-51 Mustang #301. Lt D.A. Ruiter, with Lt M. Rorke as his No.2 were on a mission when Lt Ruiter reported that his engine temperature was fluctuating, and got Lt Rorke to investigate. He found that the coolant shutter was open, and Lt Ruiter decided to return to base, escorted by Lt Rorke. Ten miles NNW of Wonsan harbour, white smoke began issuing from Lt Ruiter's Mustang, and this soon turned to black smoke, with the engine cutting out momentarily. Realising he would not get home, Lt Ruiter headed for nearby Yo-do Island, which was in friendly hands. He advised that he was going to bale out, but then changed his mind and elected to attempt a forced landing on the beach. He flew down the beach and, overshooting, attempted to turn back about 1000 feet out to sea. His left wing struck the water and his aircraft crashed, sinking almost immediately. Lt Rorke observed a brown object float away from the wreck, and directed two corvettes to search, but Lt Ruiter was not found
Military Service
Branch
Air Force
Rank
Lieutenant
Regiment
Unit
Unknown
Secondary Unit
Army
Defence Force
UDF 24,808
Union Defence Force
Location
Country
Locality
Cemetery
Grave Reference
Memorial
Memorial
Location
Tanggok, Nam District, Busan, South Korea
Address
Coordinates
Panel
On the panel
Panel 13
Unit History
Part of
Notes
ref. 85 years of SAAF
Research notes
5 Sep 2026: Unit "2 Squadron" (a squadron, SAAF's regiment-equivalent) promoted to Regiment, per John's decision. Corps (South African Air Force) unchanged.
Citations
Unknown
External References
- South African War Graves Project open source ↗
-
United Nations Memorial Cemetery in Korea
open source ↗
United Nations Memorial Cemetery in Korea (UNMCK), Busan — South African Korean War dead.
Stories 1
Lt D.A. Ruiter, with Lt M. Rorke as his No.2 were on a mission when Lt Ruiter reported that his engine temperature was fluctuating, and got Lt Rorke to investigate. He found that the coolant shutter was open, and Lt Ruiter decided to return to base, escorted by Lt Rorke. Ten miles NNW of Wonsan harbour, white smoke began issuing from Lt Ruiter's Mustang, and this soon turned to black smoke, with the engine cutting out momentarily. Realising he would not get home, Lt Ruiter headed for nearby Yo-do Island, which was in friendly hands. He advised that he was going to bale out, but then changed his mind and elected to attempt a forced landing on the beach. He flew down the beach and, overshooting, attempted to turn back about 1000 feet out to sea. His left wing struck the water and his aircraft crashed, sinking almost immediately. Lt Rorke observed a brown object float away from the wreck, and directed two corvettes to search, but Lt Ruiter was not found.
Dedications
No dedications have been added yet.