Identity
Person No.
33436
Old ROH no.
1710
Service No.
77263739BG
Last Name
First Name
Petrus (pierre)
Initials
P
Date of Birth
Unknown
Est. Birth Year
Age at Death
19
Death Record
Date of Death
Cause code
KIA 14,779
Killed in action
Cause of Death
Killed in action, south of Mutuanjamba (approximately 80km inside Angola) during first phase of Operation Sceptic, specifically area clearing and domination as well as establishment of tactical HQ at Mulemba
Military Service
Branch
Army
Rank
Second Lieutenant
Regiment
32 (Buffalo) Battalion 275
Later renamed
32 Battalion
Unit
Unknown
Defence Force
SADF 3,832
South African Defence Force
Location
Country
Locality
Cemetery
Grave Reference
Coordinates
Memorial
Memorial
Location
Within the Voortrekker Monument heritage precinct, Pretoria
Address
Coordinates
Panel
On the panel
No. 58
Operation
Operation
Dates
1980-06-01 to 1980-06-30
About
Large mechanised operation into southern Angola against SWAPO bases around Chifufia and Mongua, notable as an early large-scale combat use of the Ratel infantry fighting vehicle and Olifant tank.
Unit History
Attached To
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
Joao was badly wounded and Braz and Van Der Walt were killed when their patrol crossed a gravel road in the kill zone of a vehicle ambush. Large force of dug in SWAPO with mortars and machine guns were able to inflict casualties and pin the patrol down. Reinforcements dislodged the ambushing force, but were forced to secure the immediate area and attend to casualties rather than pursue the enemy. When 2Lt Van Der Walt was instantly killed by a dug in PKM machine gun, Braz went to his aid and was hit multiple times by the same weapon. Van Der Walt had previously been wounded in the head by ground fire while on a C160 flight Eenhana to Ondongwa. ref. "Die Buffel Struikel" by L. J. Bothma. Came from Winburg
Citations
Unknown
External References
Stories 1
On 21 May, 32 Battalion were tasked to support a UNITA attack on the FAPLA base at Savate, Angola. Unknown to them, the FAPLA strength had been badly underestimated by UNITA and there was over 1000 heavily armed soldiers at Savate, rather than the 300 estimated. However, the assault went in as planned, and after a bloody day of fighting, Savate was captured and FAPLA routed with more than 550 dead and hundreds more wounded. Sadly, the battle cost 32 Battalion dearly, fifteen officers and men being killed in the fighting that day. 2nd Lieutenant P. van der Walt was one of those who made the supreme sacrifice. Information extracted from 32 Battalion: The Inside Story of South Africa's Elite Fighting Unit ,
Dedications
No dedications have been added yet.