Identity
Person No.
33632
Old ROH no.
1520
Service No.
73340051BT
Last Name
First Name
Leon Francois
Initials
L F
Date of Birth
Unknown
Est. Birth Year
Age at Death
30
Death Record
Date of Death
Cause code
KIA 14,780
Killed in action
Cause of Death
Killed in action, during a contact with enemy forces in Southern Angola, when his Olifant Tank was knocked out by a Soviet 130mm field gun
Military Service
Branch
Army
Rank
Lance Corporal
Regiment
Unit
Unknown
Secondary Unit
Army
Defence Force
SADF 3,817
South African Defence Force
Location
Country
Locality
Cemetery
Grave Reference
Unit History
Part of
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
Husband of Mrs. C. van Wyk, of Nigel.
Research notes
Col (rt) Graham du Toit Last Post 25 Feb 2026: 73340051BT Lance Corporal Leon Francis van Wyk, Regiment Molopo, Killed in Action during a contact with enemy forces in Southern Angola when his Olifant Tank was knocked out by a Soviet 130mm field gun, age 30. ROH second name is Francois.
4 Sep 2026: Unit leftover "Regiment Molopo" (a named regiment, not a sub-unit) moved to Regiment. Corps unchanged.
Citations
Unknown
External References
-
Col (rt) Graham du Toit Last Post
Col (rt) Graham du Toit Last Post 25 Feb 2026: 73340051BT Lance Corporal Leon Francis van Wyk, Regiment Molopo, Killed in Action during a contact with enemy forces in Southern Angola when his Olifant Tank was knocked out by a Soviet 130mm field gun, age 30. ROH second name is Francois.
- South African War Graves Project open source ↗
-
The War in Angola
open source ↗
War In Angola Roll of Honour (warinangola.com, tabid=1175), pages 66-76 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): 12425.
Stories
No stories have been added yet.
Dedications 2
Served with Leon on camps and did tank training together. Died during ops Hooper 26th Feb 1988.
Rus in vrede, kryger!