Identity
Person No.
33870
Old ROH no.
1665
Service No.
72372642BA
Last Name
First Name
Alfred Robert
Initials
A R
Date of Birth
Unknown
Est. Birth Year
Age at Death
19
Death Record
Date of Death
Cause code
DOW 2,734
Died of wounds
Cause of Death
Died of wounds, during the Battle of Bridge 14 in December 1975 during Operation Savannah. He was critically wounded in the head when the Bridge building team was attacked by Cuban Infantry. Despite the best efforts from his comrades to keep him alive, he succumbed to his wounds a short while later while on the casevac helicopter flight to the SADF Surgical Hospital located at Cela
Military Service
Branch
Army
Rank
Sapper
Regiment
Corps
Unit
Unknown
Secondary Unit
"A" Coy.
Defence Force
SADF 3,839
South African Defence Force
Location
Country
Locality
Cemetery
Operation
Operation
Dates
1975-10-14 to 1976-03-27
About
SADF intervention in the Angolan Civil War following Portugal's withdrawal, in support of UNITA and the FNLA against the Soviet/Cuban-backed MPLA. South African armoured columns (Task Force Zulu and others) advanced deep into Angola, reaching within striking distance of Luanda, before withdrawing by late March 1976 amid international and domestic political fallout. South Africa's first large post-WWII conventional deployment and the opening chapter of the Border War's Angola phase.
Unit History
Role at time of death
Field Engineers
Status
Permanent Force (Regular)
Part of
Formed 1973 from 17 Field Squadron (relocated from Potchefstroom to Bethlehem, 1967); listed as the primary deployment unit of the SA Army Engineer Formation's regular units.
Notes
Son of Mr. A. R. Willemse, of Geluksburg.
Research notes
4 Sep 2026: Unit leftover "2 Field Engineer Regiment" (a named regiment, not a sub-unit) moved to Regiment. Corps unchanged.
Citations
Unknown
External References
-
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 78 of 143: confirmed, no changes.
Stories 2
Sapper Alfred Robert Willemse was a member of 2 Field Regiment, and was involved in the Operation Savannah battles surrounding Bridge 14 in December 1975. On the 11th, he was part of the bridge building team which was attacked by enemy infantry, and during these exchanges he was badly wounded in the head. Despite his comrades best efforts, he later succumbed to his wound. Information extracted from Avontuur in Angola by Sophia du Preez (J.L. van Schaik 1989) Peter
Sappers Willemse and von Schmettau , I have never forgotton you guys , still have vivid memories on the train taking us to a place we should never have been , issued with green uniforms and takkies , dog tags with only our blood group scratched on . Rest in Peace with our Lord . R K Stevenson , 2 Field Engineers .
Dedications
No dedications have been added yet.