Identity
Person No.
33443
Old ROH no.
1546
Service No.
75411140BG
Last Name
First Name
Abraham Daniel
Initials
A D
Date of Birth
Unknown
Est. Birth Year
Age at Death
18
Military Service
Rank
Trooper
Regiment
Secondary Unit
attd. 53 Battalion
Defence Force
SADF 3,296
South African Defence Force
Death Record
Date of Death
Cause code
KIA 14,414
Killed in action
Cause of Death
Killed in action, during the early hours of the morning when the bungalow in which they were sleeping at Katima Mulilo received a direct hit from a Soviet GRAD-P 122mm High Explosive Katyusha Rocket. SWAPO/PLAN insurgents operating from Zambia fired 20 x 122mm GRAD-P Katyusha Rockets into the town. 18 rockets exploded harmlessly in the veld, one struck a school in the Katima Mulilo Township and the other demolished the Bungalow in which the soldiers were sleeping
Location
Country
Locality
Cemetery
Grave Reference
Memorial
Memorial
Location
On a koppie at the Voortrekker Monument, overlooking Pretoria
Address
Coordinates
Panel
On the panel
1978 Army. Right column. 35th name from the top (Van Der Merwe A.D.)
Unit History
Notes
Son of Mr. D. B. van der Merwe
Research notes
SADF Wall of Remembrance (Voortrekker Monument): named on photograph "1978 SAA (Castle–Havenga, Mennigke–Wolfgang)". 1978 Army. Right column. 35th name from the top (Van Der Merwe A.D.). | Bushwar Books 23 Aug 2026: confirms Van der Merwe A.D., 1 SSB, Katima Mulilo Katyusha rocket attack, age 18.
Citations
Unknown
External References
-
Bushwar Books - Lest We Forget
Bushwar Books 23 Aug 2026 Lest We Forget post.
- South African War Graves Project
Stories 1
My name is Bobby Thomson. I was in Katima Mulilo that night. I was a gunner and served at the mortar locating radar (32 Loc Battery) which was situated on a tower next to the heli pad. The second red eye landed between us and the heli-pad . We then directed fire onto pre-listed targets along the river and in Sesheke and the guns at golf wiped out all their long and medium range weapons within the first 10 - 15 minutes after the attack. I remember that we were in a direct line between Golf firebase and some of the targets in Zambia. We would see the firing of the guns, then hear the shells come overhead and hear the explosions when they landed. Lt Schalekamp gave mopping-up fire orders the next day. The next day we went to look at the bungalow and what we saw remained with me for many a
Dedications
No dedications have been added yet.