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Steyn , Diederick Arnoldus (D A)

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No photograph available — remembrance poppy
Identity
Person No.
33105
Old ROH no.
2020
Service No.
78422318BG
Last Name
Steyn 103
First Name
Diederick Arnoldus
Initials
D A
Date of Birth
Unknown
Est. Birth Year
1962 (±1 yr) 354
Age at Death
19
Death Record
Date of Death
17 September 1981 108
Cause code
MVA 2,635
Motor vehicle accident
Cause of Death
Died of injuries 578
Died of injuries, received whern he fell out of military vehicle on 8 September 1981, at 1 Mil Hospital
Military Service
Branch
Army
Rank
Trooper
Regiment
Unknown
Corps
South African Armoured Corps 438
Unit
2 Special Service Battalion 51
Defence Force
SADF 3,839
South African Defence Force
Location
Country
South Africa 23,872
Locality
Gauteng 9,374
Cemetery
SADF WALL OF REMEMBRANCE, VOORTREKKER MONUMENT, PRETORIA 1,926
Grave Reference
Alternative Commemoration until grave found 1,612
Memorial
Memorial
SADF Wall of Remembrance
Location
On a koppie at the Voortrekker Monument, overlooking Pretoria
Address
Voortrekker Monument, Eeufees Road, Groenkloof, Pretoria, 0181, South Africa
Coordinates
-25.77639, 28.17583 · OpenStreetMap
Panel
Not listed against a numbered panel
On the panel
Position on the panel will be added with photographs
Unit History
Role at time of death
Armour (Armoured Car)
Status
Permanent Force (Regular)
Part of
Other listed units (not nested under a brigade above) › Units
Re-established 1 October 1973 out of C Squadron 1 SSB, itself formed as C Squadron of 2 Armoured Car Regiment in February 1962 and renamed 22 December 1966. Regimental HQ and C Squadron at Zeerust; D Squadron detached to 2 SAI at Walvis Bay. Squadrons served in Namibia and Angola from 1974: B, C and D Squadrons on Operation Savannah, 8 October 1975 to 31 January 1976, and later Operations Protea, Daisy, Hooper and Modular. On 25 January 1988 it became the first unit in South Africa granted the Right of Free Admission to a coloured community, Henryville. Most of the men on this roll who point at 2 SSB belong to this period. Also took part in Operation Adding on 10 February 1988, the intervention restoring the Bophuthatswana government after the coup attempt against President Mangope. Equipped with the Ratel IFV and, from May 1990, the Rooikat; received national colours 30 June 1990.
Notes

Son of Mr. and Mrs. M. T. Steyn

Research notes


Col (rt) Graham du Toit Last Post 17 Sep 2026: 78422318BG Trooper Diederick Arnoldus Steyn, 2 SSB, fell from a moving military vehicle and died in 1 Military Hospital. Graham dates the fall 07 September 1981; this record's cause text says 8 September. Flagged, not changed.
Bushwar Books "Lest We Forget 17 September" (warbooks.co.za/posts/lest-we-forget-17-september/), cross-checked 17 Sep 2026: dates the injury "7 September 1981", agreeing with Graham against this record's 8 September -- two sources to one. Describes it as a "military vehicle accident" rather than a fall from a moving vehicle. Flag stands; the 7th is now the better-supported date.
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 Graham Du Toit on 17 September 2014 · via source
17 Sep 1981: 78422318BG Trooper Diederick Arnoldus Steyn from 2 Special Service Battalion was critically injured in a military vehicle accident on 7 September 1981 and succumbed to his injuries on 1 Military Hospital on 17 September 1981. He was 19.
Dedications

No dedications have been added yet.