Identity
Person No.
33836
Old ROH no.
1646
Service No.
79435277BG
Last Name
First Name
Edgar Sydney
Initials
E S
Date of Birth
Unknown
Est. Birth Year
Age at Death
19
Military Service
Rank
Lance Corporal
Regiment
Secondary Unit
Air Force
Defence Force
SADF 3,296
South African Defence Force
Death Record
Date of Death
Cause code
ACC 1,522
Accident
Cause of Death
Died of accidental injuries, at Oshivello, during a weapons familiarisation accident. A supposedly "safe" foreign grenade exploded and killed several men
Location
Country
Locality
Cemetery
Grave Reference
Notes
Son of Mattheus Gerhardus and Hermina Magdalena Wessels, of Kroonstad.
Research notes
Col (rt) Graham du Toit Last Post 11 Oct 2024: 79435277BG Lance Corporal Edgar Sydney Wessels, 1 SAI Mechanised Leadership Wing, Oshivello: during familiarisation training on foreign weapons a Soviet hand grenade was accidentally detonated, killing five. Same incident as Geustyn, Venter, Jones, Meyer and Wessels. He was 19.
Citations
Unknown
External References
-
Col (rt) Graham du Toit Last Post
Col (rt) Graham du Toit Last Post 11 Oct 2024: 79435277BG Lance Corporal Edgar Sydney Wessels, 1 SAI Mechanised Leadership Wing, Oshivello: during familiarisation training on foreign weapons a Soviet hand grenade was accidentally detonated, killing five. Same incident as Geustyn, Venter, Jones, Meyer and Wessels. He was 19.
-
SADF.info Border Roll of Honour
SADF.info Border RoH
- South African War Graves Project
-
The War in Angola
War In Angola Roll of Honour (warinangola.com, tabid=1175), pages 136-137 of 143: confirmed, no changes.
Stories 1
Edgar was at MLW (Mechanised Leadership Wing) with me at 1SAI. On the 11 October 1982, at Oshivello, during a familiarization with weapons used by PLAN, one of the soldiers pressed a button on a Russian grenade that exploded killing 4 soldiers. Candidate Officer CASPER WILLEM JOHANNES GEUSTYN Lance Corporal ALAN RODGER JONES Lance Corporal JACOBUS THEODORUS MEYER Lance Corporal EDGAR SYDNEY WESSELS Doug Beveridge
Dedications
No dedications have been added yet.