Son of Willem Stephanus and Maria (nee Meyer) van der Merwe. Born in Gwelo, Rhodesia. He finished his education at Mafeking high school in South Africa. He spent his formative years growing up in Zambia and Botswana as his father was a railway worker. Edward worked on a mine at Chakari in central Rhodesia and did call up duty in the Engineers on a regular basis. Much loved and sorely missed. - from Tony van der Merwe 2015. 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.
4 Sep 2026: Regiment leftover "Rhodesian Corps of Engineers" (a branch, not a specific regiment) moved to Corps, per John's decision on the broader Regiment/Corps field-swap review.
25 Sep 2026, Rhodesian squadron split: this record was moved from the combined entity "2 Squadron (RSF)" to "2 Squadron, Rhodesian Corps of Engineers". 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 Corps column naming the Rhodesian Corps of Engineers outright, not on the squadron number.
***Submitted for War Grave Status to CWGC, awaiting acceptance
No stories have been added yet.
No dedications have been added yet.