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Taljaard , Pieter (P)

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No photograph available — remembrance poppy
Identity
Person No.
33207
Old ROH no.
1396
Service No.
81113730BG
Last Name
Taljaard 30
First Name
Pieter
Initials
P
Date of Birth
Unknown
Est. Birth Year
1965 (±1 yr) 279
Age at Death
19
Death Record
Date of Death
12 September 1984 155
Cause code
MVA 2,635
Motor vehicle accident
Cause of Death
Died in Military Vehicle Accident 3
Died in Military Vehicle Accident, Buffel Troop Carrier overturned in the Northern Operational Area
Military Service
Branch
Army
Rank
Rifleman
Regiment
1 Parachute Battalion 43
Corps
South African Infantry Corps 10,347
Unit
1 Parachute Battalion insignia 1 Parachute Battalion 50
Defence Force
SADF 3,838
South African Defence Force
Location
Country
South Africa 23,873
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
Airborne light infantry (paratroops)
Status
Regular Force
Part of
44 Parachute Brigade
Part of
44 Parachute Brigade
Raised 1 April 1961 at Tempe. First battalion of 44 Parachute Brigade from 1978.
Notes
Unknown
Research notes


Col (rt) Graham du Toit Last Post 12 Sep 2026 / Bushwar Books Lest We Forget 12 September (https://www.warbooks.co.za/posts/lest-we-forget-12-september/ 81113730BG Rfn Pieter Taljaard, 1 Para, Buffel overturned Northern Operational Area, age 19. CONTAMINATION CLEAR from neighbour 33206 Matthys Johannes Taljaard (Shackleton 1718, Stettynsberg, 1963-08-08, age 27, same AddInfo father D. J. Taljaard of Bredasdorp). SAWGP #33207 (verified 2022-04-13) already has 1 Parachute Battalion, age 19, Buffel overturned — matches Graham. Cleared stolen Shackleton cause/unit/age/AddInfo.
14 Sep 2026: Pro Patria Medal added -- database-wide sweep for SADF Border War operational-area deaths within the medal's gazetted window (25 Jun 1976 - 27 Apr 2003), per the warrant's died-before-qualifying-period provision. See PersonAward.Citation for the gazette references.
14 Sep 2026: Pro Patria Medal added earlier today REVERTED -- John obtained the actual Government Gazette (GG 5171/5575); the "died before completing the qualifying period" provision relied on does not exist in the primary text (it was a secondary-source claim). Actual Rule 5 requires (a) combat/enemy-caused incident, (b) a Ministerially-acknowledged operation (clasp), or (c) 55+ continuous/90+ non-continuous days in an operational area -- none of which this record's cause of death clearly demonstrates.
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 12 September 2014 · via source
12 Sep 1984: 81113730BG Rifleman Pieter Taljaard from 1 Parachute Battalion was killed when the Buffel Troop Carrier in which he was traveling, overturned. He was 19.
Dedications

No dedications have been added yet.