PDF
« Previous

Dickson , Gary (G)

Next »
Identity
Person No.
41721
Service No.
75428227
Last Name
First Name
Gary
Initials
G
Date of Birth
Unknown
Est. Birth Year
Age at Death
23
Death Record
Date of Death
Cause code
MURD 455
Murdered
Cause of Death
Died in Animal Attack. He was trying to photograph an elephant and her calf when the elephant attacked and killed him, at Fort Doppies on the Caprivi Strip, South West Africa
Military Service
Branch
Army
Rank
Lieutenant
Unit
Unknown
Defence Force
SADF 3,822
South African Defence Force
Unit History
Attached To
Role at time of death
Engineers (Construction)
Status
Permanent Force (Regular)
Part of
Per John, 4 Sep 2026: 1 Construction Regiment is a Permanent Force (Regular) unit -- no Wikipedia source found for this one; confirmed directly.
Notes

Son of Mr. N. G. and Mrs. M. W. Dickson, of Durban North, Durban. Born Durban. A qualified Civil Engineer. He was unmarried.

Research notes


4 Sep 2026: Unit leftover "1 Construction Regiment" (a named regiment, not a sub-unit) moved to Regiment. Corps unchanged.
14 Sep 2026: Pro Patria Medal added -- database-wide sweep for SADF Border War operational-area deaths within the medal's gazetted window (25 Jun 1976 - 27 Apr 2003), per the warrant's died-before-qualifying-period provision. See PersonAward.Citation for the gazette references.
14 Sep 2026: Pro Patria Medal added earlier today REVERTED -- John obtained the actual Government Gazette (GG 5171/5575); the "died before completing the qualifying period" provision relied on does not exist in the primary text (it was a secondary-source claim). Actual Rule 5 requires (a) combat/enemy-caused incident, (b) a Ministerially-acknowledged operation (clasp), or (c) 55+ continuous/90+ non-continuous days in an operational area -- none of which this record's cause of death clearly demonstrates.

Citations
Unknown
External References
Stories

No stories have been added yet.

Dedications

No dedications have been added yet.