Identity
Person No.
33259
Old ROH no.
1416
Service No.
72481856BA
Last Name
First Name
Matthys Jacobus
Initials
M J
Date of Birth
Unknown
Est. Birth Year
Age at Death
19
Death Record
Date of Death
Cause code
KIA 14,778
Killed in action
Cause of Death
Killed in action, their artillery gun position received a direct hit from a salvo of 122mm Soviet BM-21 Katyusha rockets, during Ops Savannah
Military Service
Location
Country
Locality
Cemetery
Grave Reference
Operation
Operation
Dates
1975-10-14 to 1976-03-27
About
SADF intervention in the Angolan Civil War following Portugal's withdrawal, in support of UNITA and the FNLA against the Soviet/Cuban-backed MPLA. South African armoured columns (Task Force Zulu and others) advanced deep into Angola, reaching within striking distance of Luanda, before withdrawing by late March 1976 amid international and domestic political fallout. South Africa's first large post-WWII conventional deployment and the opening chapter of the Border War's Angola phase.
Awards
South Africa
Pro Patria Medal warrant, Government Gazette No. 5171 (25 Jun 1976), Rule 5, as amended by GG No. 5575 (3 Jun 1977); discontinued by GG No. 25213 (25 Jul 2003, Schedule corrected by GG No. 26778, 17 Sep 2004) for service on/after 27 Apr 2003. Gazette extracts: https://rohsa.co.za/award.php?id=24
Notes
Son of Mr. M. P. Theunissen, of Klerksdorp.
Research notes
4 Sep 2026: Unit leftover "14 Field Regiment" (a named regiment, not a sub-unit) moved to Regiment. Corps unchanged. | Gunners Association RoH lists them (South African Border War 1975 Gunner M.J. Theunissen) - https://www.gunners.org.za/home-2/roll-of-honour/
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
-
Gunners' Association of South Africa Roll of Honour
open source ↗
South African Border War 1975 Gunner M.J. Theunissen
-
SADF.info Border Roll of Honour
open source ↗
SADF.info Border RoH
- South African War Graves Project open source ↗
-
The War in Angola
open source ↗
War In Angola Roll of Honour (warinangola.com, tabid=1175), pages 26-28 of 143: confirmed, no changes.
-
The War in Angola
open source ↗
War in Angola Member Dedications forum (www.warinangola.com), Excel export supplied by Johan Schoeman, 1 Sep 2026. Forum post(s): 12505.
Stories 1
Two nights before he died he said to me that he feel he is not going to see his parents again.We were in Angola in 1975 with ops savanna and already saw a lot of fighting. He was the best no 1 on the 5.5 atillery gun.On the 24th December 1975 he and Muller were killed in the trench by a "Red eye'' as we named the rockets about 4m from me.We were a good crew that was always ask to do the shoot in.That was a very sad day in our border experience. eddie doyle
Dedications 1
On 23 December 1975 the locating radar equipment that had been requested, arrived. It was deployed in front of a hill some four to six kilometres from Tietkop. The enemy had noticed its presence, as it was quickly drawing a high volume of enemy rocket fire. Fortunately it was not damaged, but observation was affected negatively. On the same day the battle group started another engagement with the enemy at 13h45. All known enemy positions were bombarded but it did not stop the enemy fire.
Gradually the fire from both sides diminished in intensity. Just before dark the last ripple of 122mm rockets was fired by the enemy. The crews at the gun position were busy carrying ammunition towards the guns when the alarm was made, “Gate toe, 20 rooi oë op pad” [Go to your holes, 20 red eyes on the way!]. Everyone did not make it to their bomb shelters when the rockets fell between them. The tragic result was that Gnrs M.J. Theunissen and S.M.J. Muller, both from 14th Field Regiment, were killed and five others wounded. [Second Lieutenant D.E. Wessels received the Honoris Crux (Gold) decoration for his brave actions on that day. “Daar is nie beter soldate”, Uniform, 3 May 1976] Another two had to be treated for shock. Despite the losses the medium troop carried on with their fire mission until about 19h00, but there wwer no further responses from the enemy.
Gradually the fire from both sides diminished in intensity. Just before dark the last ripple of 122mm rockets was fired by the enemy. The crews at the gun position were busy carrying ammunition towards the guns when the alarm was made, “Gate toe, 20 rooi oë op pad” [Go to your holes, 20 red eyes on the way!]. Everyone did not make it to their bomb shelters when the rockets fell between them. The tragic result was that Gnrs M.J. Theunissen and S.M.J. Muller, both from 14th Field Regiment, were killed and five others wounded. [Second Lieutenant D.E. Wessels received the Honoris Crux (Gold) decoration for his brave actions on that day. “Daar is nie beter soldate”, Uniform, 3 May 1976] Another two had to be treated for shock. Despite the losses the medium troop carried on with their fire mission until about 19h00, but there wwer no further responses from the enemy.