Son of Mr. And Mrs. D. J. van Niekerk
Col (rt) Graham du Toit Last Post 15 Oct 2025: 78416906BG Rifleman Martin Johannes Lodewyk Kruger van Niekerk, 4 SAI, killed in an accidental hand grenade explosion in Northern Owamboland, age 19.
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.
-
Col (rt) Graham du Toit Last Post
Col (rt) Graham du Toit Last Post 15 Oct 2025: 78416906BG Rifleman Martin Johannes Lodewyk Kruger van Niekerk, 4 SAI, killed in an accidental hand grenade explosion in Northern Owamboland, age 19.
- South African War Graves Project open source ↗
-
The War in Angola
open source ↗
War In Angola Roll of Honour (warinangola.com, tabid=1175), pages 117-119 of 143: confirmed, no changes.
No stories have been added yet.
No dedications have been added yet.