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Botha , Petrus Philipes Johannes (P P J)

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Photo of Botha
Identity
Person No.
38972
Service No.
1249
Last Name
Botha 263
First Name
Petrus Philipes Johannes
Initials
P P J
Date of Birth
Unknown
Est. Birth Year
1957 (±1 yr) 431
Age at Death
20
Death Record
Date of Death
11 March 1977 155
Cause code
KIA 14,780
Killed in action
Cause of Death
Killed in action 14,654
Killed in action, in a contact in the North East Operational Area, near St Barbara's Mission, enemy group was moving in the opposite direction on the same path system (probably going back to Mozambique via Honde Valley), when they bumped into one another. A burst of automatc fire at close range caught Malcom in the face killing him instantly. The man behind him, Petrus Botha, was hit in the throat and died
Military Service
Rank
Rifleman
Regiment
Rhodesia Regiment 487
Formerly Royal Rhodesia Regiment (1970)
Unit
1st Battalion 459
Secondary Unit
"C" Coy.
Defence Force
RSF 2,789
Rhodesian Security Forces
Location
Country
Zimbabwe 2,787
Locality
Harare (Salisbury) 1,462
Cemetery
HARARE (WARREN HILLS) CEMETERY 279
Grave Reference
Unknown
Unit History
Part of
Rhodesian Army - Infantry
Notes

ref. "Rhodesian Roll of Honour" by P. Geldenhuys (Roll compiled by Dr. J. R. T. Wood). Amendments from "Rhodesian Combined Forces Roll of Honour 1966-1981", by Adrian Haggett and Gerry van Tonder.

Research notes

Geldenhuys, Prop. Rhodesian War Casualties. 3rd printing. JustDone / Lulu, 2009 (Rhodesia: Roll of Honour).
7 Sep 2026: GraveRef ("Cremated, ashes placed in brother's grave") is identical across 16 consecutive PersonNumbers with unrelated surnames and different actual cemeteries already on file -- cannot literally be true for 16 different people. Same forward-fill contamination pattern as the Mapai Puma 164 crash-site text (fixed 6 Sep 2026). Cleared rather than guessed; the real GraveRef value is unknown.

Citations

***Not yet accepted for War Grave Status by CWGC, need service file

External References
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