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Spence , Don Andries (D A)

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Photo of Spence
Identity
Person No.
33054
Old ROH no.
1335
Service No.
77363927BG
Last Name
Spence 14
First Name
Don Andries
Initials
D A
Date of Birth
Unknown
Est. Birth Year
1962 (±1 yr) 358
Age at Death
20
Death Record
Date of Death
24 September 1982 89
Cause code
SHOT 546
Shot
Cause of Death
Died in Shooting Incident 289
Struck in the neck by a bullet from the accidental discharge of a fellow soldier's rifle, after a contact with SWAPO/PLAN insurgents in Southern Angola
Military Service
Branch
Army
Rank
Rifleman
Regiment
1 Parachute Battalion 43
Corps
South African Infantry Corps 10,347
Unit
"B" Coy. 27
Defence Force
SADF 3,852
South African Defence Force
Location
Country
South Africa 23,872
Locality
Western Cape 2,137
Cemetery
CAPE TOWN (DURBANVILLE) CEMETERY 8
Grave Reference
10 1
Unit History
Role at time of death
Airborne light infantry (paratroops)
Status
Regular Force
Part of
44 Parachute Brigade
Raised 1 April 1961 at Tempe. First battalion of 44 Parachute Brigade from 1978.
Notes

Son of Mr. and Mrs. W. E. J. Spence. June 1981 - July 1983 intake

Research notes

Colyn Brookes, Mibisa: Volume One – Western Cape (Lulu, 2013, ISBN 9781447682523): Cape Town, Durbanville Cemetery, Durban, Hero's Acre 10.
Col (rt) Graham du Toit Last Post 24 Sep 2026: "77363927BG Rifleman Don Andries Spence from Bravo Company, 1 Parachute Battalion was killed after being struck in the neck by a bullet resulting from an accidental discharge of a fellow soldiers rifle after a contact with SWAPO/PLAN insurgents in Southern Angola. He was 20." Cause of death filled out -- the stored text said only "accidental discharge after a contact", without where he was hit or that the contact was with SWAPO/PLAN in Southern Angola. His company is already on the record as "B" Coy, which is Graham's Bravo Company.
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 2
by Louis Eloff on 07 January 2007 · via source
Rfn D A Spence died 1982. Bravo Company 1 Para Bn as a result of an accidental discharge by a Rfn Rossouw after a contact with SWAPO in Angola approximate age 20.
by Graham Du Toit on 25 September 2014 · via source
24 Sep 1982: 77363927BG Rifleman Don Andries Spence from Bravo Company, 1 Parachute Battalion was killed after being struck by a bullet from an accidental discharge of a fellow soldiers rifle after a contact with PLAN insurgents in Southern Angola. He was 20.
Dedications 1
by Rob Abbett on 14 January 2009 · via source
Don and myself met each other in Pretoria at TDK and became friends,we both joined the Parabats and did basics ,jump coarse,and all the training,we went up to the border mid 82 where we split from our platoon as a result of me going to grootfontein hospital,when I returned I ended up in another platoon,during one of our operations Don was tragically taken from us just after a contact in a AD,Don you are missed by all of us in B coy and the rest of the airborne.Will meet you one day in the big DZ in the sky mate.