PDF
« Previous

Nelson , Robert George (R G)

Next »
No photograph available — remembrance poppy
Identity
Person No.
40080
Service No.
6526
Last Name
First Name
Robert George
Initials
R G
Date of Birth
Unknown
Est. Birth Year
Age at Death
21
Death Record
Date of Death
Cause code
KIA 14,778
Killed in action
Cause of Death
Killed in action, air ops in Alouette III #R3042. Aircraft was hit by groundfire during Operation Grapple in the Gokwe Area and caught alight. Although the pilot managed to land the chopper, Nelson apparently jumped from the aircraft before it landed and died on impact
Military Service
Rank
Senior Aircraftsman
Secondary Unit
Air Force
Defence Force
RSF 2,789
Rhodesian Security Forces
Location
Grave Reference
Unknown
Memorial
Memorial
Location
Ste. Marguerite des Loges, Normandy, France
Panel
Not listed against a numbered panel
On the panel
Position on the panel will be added with photographs
Unit History
Notes

ref. "Pride of Eagles" - History of the Rhodesian Air Force 1920 - 1980 by B. Salt. 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.
Rhodesian Air Force Operations Roll of Honour: KIA — Alouette. Shot down with Roger Watt [Alouette R5725 (ASR 693)].

Research notes

Geldenhuys, Prop. Rhodesian Air Force Operations with Air Strike Log. Just Done Productions / Lulu, 2007 (ISBN 978-1-920169-61-9).
5 Sep 2026: Regiment/Unit swapped -- "7 Squadron (RSF)" (the specific squadron) moved to Regiment; "Rhodesian Air Force" (the force-wide designation) moved to Unit, per John's decision.
6 Sep 2026: GraveRef was corrupted with the Mapai Puma 164 crash-site text ("Body not recovered - crash site coordinates are: S22 06' 48.2\" E31 39' 12.1\"") -- discovered while fixing that text's encoding on the genuine 17 Puma 164 casualties. This record's own DateDeath has nothing to do with that 6 Sep 1979 incident; the crash-site text does not belong here. Cleared rather than guessed -- the real GraveRef value is unknown. This record's own Cemetery/CemeteryLat/CemeteryLong were not affected and are unchanged.
25 Sep 2026, Rhodesian squadron split: this record was moved from the combined entity "7 Squadron (RSF)" to "7 Squadron, Rhodesian Air Force". That entity held both the Rhodesian Air Force flying squadron and the Rhodesian Corps of Engineers squadron of the same number, which are unrelated units; it was created by a cleanup that split shared squadron names by Force alone, and Force does not separate two Rhodesian squadrons. This record is assigned on the evidence of its own Unit or Regiment column naming the Rhodesian Air Force outright, not on the squadron number.

Citations
Unknown
Stories 1
by Prop Geldenhuys (Air Force Operations Roll of Honour) on 26 August 2026
Rhodesian Air Force Operations — Roll of Honour

KIA. Alouette. Shot down with Roger Watt Aircraft/serial: Alouette R5725 (ASR 693). Listed in Prop Geldenhuys, Rhodesian Air Force Operations with Air Strike Log (2007), Roll of Honour.
Dedications

No dedications have been added yet.