Identity
Person No.
32809
Old ROH no.
1258
Service No.
73553505N
Last Name
First Name
LEON JOHANNES de WIT
Initials
L J d W
Date of Birth
Unknown
Est. Birth Year
Age at Death
18
Death Record
Date of Death
Cause code
DROW 1,200
Drowned
Cause of Death
Died in Freak Accident: while part of a patrol clearing islands down-river from the Calueque Dam, accidentally fell into the Kunene River and drowned before he could be rescued
Military Service
Branch
Army
Rank
Rifleman
Unit
Unknown
Secondary Unit
Army
Defence Force
SADF 3,815
South African Defence Force
Location
Country
Locality
Grave Reference
Memorial
Memorial
Location
On a koppie at the Voortrekker Monument, overlooking Pretoria
Address
Coordinates
Panel
On the panel
Position on the panel will be added with photographs
Unit History
Notes
Son of Mr. J. Scheepers.
Research notes
Col (rt) Graham du Toit Last Post 6 Sep 2026: confirmed; CauseDeath enriched with the fuller circumstance (clearing islands down-river from the Calueque Dam) -- consistent with, not contradicting, the existing record.
Citations
Unknown
External References
- South African War Graves Project open source ↗
-
The War in Angola
open source ↗
War In Angola Roll of Honour (warinangola.com, tabid=1175), pages 17-18 of 143: confirmed, no changes.
Stories 2
If i'm right, I think Scheepers was killed in a drowning accident at Ruacana while crossing the border. He was'nt in my unit but if I,m right, was in C company 2 SAI from Walvis Bay vic Betteridge
Vic Betteridge is quite correct. Rfn Scheepers was part of a group who were clearing all the islands downriver from Calueque Dam and fell into the water and drowned. He was with 2 SAI Bn Gp.
Dedications
No dedications have been added yet.