Identity
Person No.
33837
Old ROH no.
1648
Service No.
80023898PP
Last Name
First Name
John Andrew
Initials
J A
Date of Birth
Unknown
Est. Birth Year
Age at Death
24
Death Record
Date of Death
Cause code
KIA 14,778
Killed in action
Cause of Death
Killed in action, approximately 40 miles inside Matabeleland during Operation Drama, a clandestine mission in Zimbabwe. Force of 18 SADF members ambushed by Zimbabwean Army forces; conflicting reports of KIA versus captured and later murdered; Zimbabwean government later said it had disposed of the bodies as next-of-kin had failed to claim them. No known grave
Military Service
Location
Country
Locality
Grave Reference
Memorial
Memorial
Location
On a koppie at the Voortrekker Monument, overlooking Pretoria
Address
Coordinates
Panel
Not listed against a numbered panel
On the panel
Position on the panel will be added with photographs
Operation
Operation
Dates
1983
About
Special Forces operation into Matabeleland, Zimbabwe, reportedly involving 5 Reconnaissance Regiment/ex-Selous Scouts elements against ZIPRA-linked targets during the post-independence Zimbabwean unrest.
Unit History
Role at time of death
Airborne Infantry
Status
Mixed: 1 Parachute Battalion Permanent Force (Regular); 2 & 3 Parachute Battalion Reserve Force
Part of
1 Parachute Battalion established 1 April 1961 (Regular Force). 44 Parachute Brigade formed April 1978 with the addition of 2 and 3 Parachute Battalions (Reserve Force); redesignated 44 Parachute Regiment in 2000. Status varies by battalion -- check Unit field for which battalion a given record belonged to before assuming Regular vs Reserve.
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
According to news reports at the time, the bodies "were disposed of" by the Zimbabwean Government as the relatives did not claim them.
Research notes
Col (rt) Graham du Toit Last Post 18 Aug 2026: 80023898PP Sergeant John Andrew Wessels, 44 Parachute Pathfinder Company, ex Rhodesian Light Infantry, Operation Drama Matabeleland, age 24. Same ambush as Berry P.D. PN 29413, Beech R.T. PN 29375 and Khiwa PN 48604. Unit was 1 SAI / Unit2 Air Force — set to Pathfinder Company / Army. Regiment already 44 Parachute Regiment. | Mike Sandham 18 Aug 2026 omissions: TRC names a fourth casualty Private Khiwa (PN 48604) whom SADF never admitted; Fireforce Ventures names tracker Khiwa Sibanda and claims he survived and later testified. Same Operation Drama ambush.
25 Sep 2026, Unit2 service-branch sweep: the stored Secondary Unit "Army" was CLEARED as a duplicate. It was not a sub-unit, it was a service-branch word repeating what the Branch column already says. Secondary Unit is for sub-units -- a company, a squadron, a commando -- and this record's branch of service is unchanged at "Army".
Citations
Unknown
External References
-
Col (rt) Graham du Toit Last Post
Col (rt) Graham du Toit Last Post 18 Aug 2026: 80023898PP Sergeant John Andrew Wessels from 44 Parachute Pathfinder Company (ex Rhodesian Light Infantry) was Reported Missing during Operation Drama in Matabeleland. He was 24.
-
Mike Sandham
OMISSIONS 18 Aug 2026: same Op Drama ambush as Private Khiwa PN 48604 (TRC fourth casualty / Fireforce survival claim).
-
Other web source
open source ↗
TRC Volume 2: Op Drama Matabeleland; four former Rhodesians including Private Khiwa.
-
SADF.info Border Roll of Honour
open source ↗
SADF.info Border RoH
- South African War Graves Project open source ↗
-
The War in Angola
open source ↗
War In Angola Roll of Honour (warinangola.com, tabid=1175), page 77 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): 23973.
Stories 2
Killed in Action 2001-05-30 13:37:59 <a href="main.php?page=
A number of ex-Rhodesian soldiers, now serving with the SADF since Zimbabwean independence, were located in camps in the northern Transvaal. The SADF recruited and trained these men, primarily for sabotage operations designed to destroy infrastructure, damage the economy and undermine the military capacity of Zimbabwe?s armed forces. This series of planned operations, called Operation Drama, had the objective of ensuring that the new Zimbabwe government did not provide concrete support to the ANC and PAC in their armed struggles. Sgt John Andrew Wessels was a member of a team of 18 SADF soldiers, sent into Zimbabwe on a clandestine mission. They were ambushed by the Zimbabwean army 40 miles inside Matabeleland, and three men, including Sgt Wessels, were killed in the
Dedications 3
Sgt Wessels & I served in 44 Para Pathfinder Company together. We went thru selection & served in the RLI. He was a great soldier and I was a funny guy sometimes. Always remember the fallen soldiers.
We will always remember you one of the elite .Gone but not forgotten a true freind .
From Mara Marx: General Viljoen said that the soldiers were former Rhodesian Army men and that they had crossed into Zimbabwe on an unauthorized mission apparently aimed at trying to free friends held in a detention camp. He said they had been accompanied by 14 black soldiers who were also former Rhodesian troops and that both whites and blacks were attached to a South African battalion camped just south of the Limpopo River, which forms the border between South Africa and Zimbabwe. Clash 18 Miles From Border. The mission began, the general said, about Aug. 15. The patrol clashed with Zimbabwean troops on Aug. 18 about 18 miles north of the border, and, after the three sergeants were shot and killed, the blacks returned safely to South Africa. The bodies of the three men were displayed to the press in Harare, the Zimbabwean capital, last weekend. General Viljoen identified the men as Staff Sgt. David Berry, the leader of the patrol, and Sgts. Andrew Wessels and Robert Beech.