Son of Mrs H. Openshaw (stepfather Mr H. Openshaw), of Altheaweg 1 / 12 Althea Road, Odendaalsrus 9480. Time of death per the casualty signal: 20 Aug 1979, 13:30 (date/time group 201330B). Parents' own enquiry letter to Home Affairs was dated 03 Dec 1979. Known as "Jimmy" to the family. Buried at Welkom Cemetery with full military honours. Military funeral held 28 Aug 1979 (tentative date per the signal), arranged via Odendaalsrus (undertakers AVBOS, under Van Wyk), officiated by Father Peter (Roman Catholic); buried at Welkom Cemetery (Welkom and Odendaalsrus are adjoining Free State goldfields towns). A telegram of condolence was also received from the Deputy Minister of Defence and Mrs Coetsee, 23 Aug 1979. A separate letter from Maj C.L.P. van Heusden, Acting OC Orange Free State Command (23 Aug 1979), responds to "different rumours and allegations" about the family's notification of death -- he received the casualty notification late on 20 Aug 1979, could not reach a Roman Catholic priest in Welkom, Kroonstad or Bloemfontein that night, and had the NG church chaplain make the notification instead. DateBirth corrected to 27 Dec 1958 per his sister Dr Janet van Eeden's own account (submitted via the site's story form, 14 Sep 2026), superseding the previous reading of the 1979 casualty signal's handwritten "GEB DATUM 27 DES 57" as 1957 -- likely a misread digit on that document, or the family's own memory is simply more authoritative here. Age recalculated to 20 (he had not yet had his 1979 birthday when he died on 20 Aug 1979).
Mike Sandham 20 Aug 2026 omissions: 73312118BT Gunner James Francois van Eeden, 6 Field Regt., South African Artillery. Committed suicide (suspected), bullet wound between the eyes, Oshivello Training Area, age 21. Mail listed this entry twice (not duplicated on the roll). New ROH record (not on SAWGP at research time). No SAWGP details.php id known.
14 Sep 2026: Photos of Van Eeden family documents, shared by John via the family (known as "Jimmy" to the family) (SADF Bloemfontein casualty signal 22 Aug 1979; personal condolence letter from Gen M.A. Malan, Chief of the SADF, 23 Aug 1979, to Mnr en Mev H. Openshaw, Altheaweg 1, Odendaalsrus 9480 -- "vir die heengaan van u seun"; Dept of the Interior/Home Affairs memorandum 25 Feb 1980 to Mrs H. Openshaw, 12 Althea Road, Odendaalsrus, explicitly captioned "RE Death Certificate: J.F. van Eeden" -- confirming this record's surname spelling against an initial misreading of the casualty signal as "Van Heerden"; a personal notebook record giving Gnr J.F. Van Eeden, service no. 73312118N (cf. this record's 73312118BT -- same base digits, suffix letter differs), 4th Field Regiment, 41 Battery, Military Base Potchefstroom 2521, dated 3 June 1975 -- likely his original call-up/attestation posting, distinct from 6 Field Regt. at Oshivello where he died in 1979).
Casualty signal (22 Aug 1979, 2 days after death) gives cause only as "skietongeval" (shooting accident), cause "nog onbekend" (still unknown) at that time. The Home Affairs memo confirms that as of 25 Feb 1980 -- over 6 months later -- the inquest had still not been finalised and no death certificate had yet issued; neither document confirms or contradicts this record's existing "committed suicide (suspected)", which must derive from the eventual inquest finding, not sourced here.
14 Sep 2026: DateBirth set to 1957-12-27 (exact, from the 22 Aug 1979 casualty signal -- 'GEB DATUM 27 DES 57'); EstBirthYear (1958, the Age-based fallback) cleared as redundant now an exact date is known. Age (21) already matched and is unchanged.
14 Sep 2026: Regiment set to 4 Field Regiment (his home regiment per the 1975 notebook record), Unit to "4 Field Regiment, 41 Battery" (matching the existing compound-naming convention for battery-level units). PersonUnitAttachment row added: attached to 6 Field Regt. at Oshivello, where he died -- home unit vs. attached unit, per John's decision.
14 Sep 2026: Unit corrected to just "41 Battery" (was wrongly "4 Field Regiment, 41 Battery", a compound that duplicated the Regiment field), per John's correction.
14 Sep 2026: Correction from the Van Eeden family, via John: these are the family's own documents, not John's -- citation text above corrected accordingly. Family also confirms James Francois was known as "Jimmy", and that he was buried at Welkom Cemetery with a full military funeral.
14 Sep 2026: Funeral arrangements signal, 27 Aug 1979 (ref 312/2/1/11 MIL BEGRAFNIS), from further family document photos: military funeral tentatively planned for Tuesday 28 Aug 1979 at Odendaalsrus, undertakers AVBOS Odendaalsrus (under Van Wyk, tel 41176), chaplain Father Peter (Roman Catholic, tel 017-26944), next of kin Mr and Mrs Openshaw (tel 017-41375). Addressee instructed to organise and provide the military funeral; "no canvas [marquee] available". Same negative also carries 6 Field Regiment's general Mobilisation Order 1/79 (4 Jul 1979, signed Kmdt L.C. Kiel) -- a standing camp call-up order, not specific to Van Eeden.
14 Sep 2026: Pro Patria Medal added -- the warrant's special provision deems a member killed/dying before completing the 55/90-day qualifying period to have rendered qualifying service; Oshivello (where he died) was a designated operational area. Per John's request to check and apply.
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.
Mike Sandham's research log ("List 1"), imported 16 Sep 2026, credited to The South Africa War Graves Project unless his entry says otherwise: gives Age 21 against this record's 20. [SUPERSEDED 19 Sep 2026 -- this entry said "RESOLVED IN THE ROLL'S FAVOUR... Mike's figure is wrong", computing age 20 from a date of birth of 1958-12-27. That date of birth has since been withdrawn by the family as a mistake and the record reverted to 1957-12-27, which gives age 21. MIKE SANDHAM'S FIGURE OF 21 WAS CORRECT and this record's original 21 was correct. See the note below.]
19 Sep 2026: DATE OF BIRTH REVERTED to 1957-12-27, Age back to 21, and the record returns to what it said before 16 September.
- Jimmy's sister wrote again, through Maj Matthew Everitt, to withdraw the correction she made on 16 Sep: "I went to look at the Roll of Honour again this morning and realised I've made a mistake about Jimmy's DOB! It was 1957 not 58! He was 21... the dates looked wrong because he was a year older than I was - I'm 1959 but because his birthday is in December, it was just 13 months between us." She asked that John forgive the error; she has had a family emergency in the meantime. No apology is owed -- a family member checking the roll and correcting herself is exactly how this record should work.
- THE LESSON IS MINE, NOT HERS. The 1957 date was never a guess: it came from the casualty signal of 22 August 1979, a contemporaneous official document, which reads "GEB DATUM 27 DES 57". On 16 Sep I overwrote that primary document with a recollection given nearly fifty years later. A family recollection is invaluable for what documents cannot hold -- character, nickname, circumstance -- but it should not override a dated official record of a fact the document states plainly. Had the signal been left standing and the recollection recorded alongside it, nothing would have needed reverting.
- Knock-on: the 17 Sep age-conflict pass used the wrong date of birth to declare Mike Sandham's Age 21 wrong. That conclusion is withdrawn above; Mike was right.
26 Sep 2026: HIS SISTER'S STORY ON THIS PAGE GIVES 1958, AND THAT IS THE WITHDRAWN DATE. The story by Dr Janet van Eeden, submitted on 14 September 2026 and approved the same day, ends "PS His birthday was on the 27 December 1958." That is the earliest written appearance of the 1958 date, two days before the correction she made on 16 September and four days before she withdrew it again on 19 September as a mistake -- see the notes above. This record holds 1957-12-27, from the casualty signal of 22 August 1979 ("GEB DATUM 27 DES 57"), which is what she confirmed. The story is left exactly as she wrote it; the discrepancy is explained here so that a reader who notices the difference is not left to guess which is right.
- The story reached this record only on 26 September 2026, when a pull tool was written for RemoteUpdate. Contributions submitted through the live site had never been copied back to the working database, so it had been sitting unseen here for twelve days -- including while this record's date of birth was being argued over.
Gnr. J.F. Van Eeden. 73312118N. 4th Field Regiment. 41 Battery. Military Base. Potchefstroom 2521. 3rd June 1975.
DEPARTEMENT VAN VERDEDIGING / DEPARTMENT OF DEFENCE 6 VD REGIMENT — 22-8-1979, Bloemfontein GVS 942/AUG 79 — VERTROULIK/CONFIDENTIAL PR1 KOMDT OVS / 73 BDE / 6 VD REGT / H LEER 1(.) LNS/19/24/2/1 NOTIKAS(.) 2(.) NO 73312118BT ERR J.F. VAN EEDEN, 6 VD REGT, GEB DATUM 27 DES 57(.) 3(.) BESONDERHEDE VAN VERLIES(:) A(.) AARD: SKIETONGEVAL(.) B(.) DATUM TYD GROEP 201330B AUG 79(.) C(.) OORSAAK: NOG ONBEKEND(.) BESONDERHEDE VAN NAASBESTAANDES(:) A(.) VERWANTSKAP: OUERS(.) B(.) NAAM: MNR EN MEV H. OPENSHAW(.) C(.) ADRES: ALTHEAWEG 1, ODENDAALSRUS, TEL(:) [unclear](.) 4(.) NAASBESTAANDES IS REEDS VERWITTIG DEUR HIERDIE HK(.) 5(.) H LEER GELIEWE OP TE LET DAT 6 VD REGT ONDER KOMDT OVS BEVEL IS, MAAR WEL 73 BDE(.) MAJ G.L.P. VAN HEUSDEN, ADJ [English translation: Casualty signal, 22 Aug 1979, confidential. Service no. 73312118BT, Rifleman J.F. Van Eeden, 6 Field Regiment, born 27 Dec 1957. Nature of loss: shooting accident, date/time group 20 Aug 1979 13:30, cause still unknown. Next of kin: parents, Mr and Mrs H. Openshaw, Altheaweg 1, Odendaalsrus. Next of kin already notified by this HQ. Note that 6 Field Regt. is under Komdt OVS command, but administratively 73 Brigade. Signed Maj G.L.P. van Heusden, Adjutant.]
GENERAAL M.A. MALAN [Coat of arms] HOOF VAN DIE SA WEERMAG Privaatsak X414 Pretoria 0001 23 Augustus 1979 Mnr en Mev H. Openshaw Altheaweg 1 Odendaalsrus 9480 Geagte Mnr. en Mev. Openshaw, Namens die Suid-Afrikaanse Weermag wil ek u verseker van ons opregte meegevoel met die heengaan van u seun. Mag u sterkte en leiding van Bo ontvang in die moeilike tyd wat voorlê. [signed] M.A. Malan [English translation: General M.A. Malan, Chief of the SA Defence Force. Dear Mr and Mrs Openshaw, On behalf of the South African Defence Force I wish to assure you of our sincere sympathy on the passing of your son. May you receive strength and guidance from above in the difficult time that lies ahead.]
POST OFFICE TELEGRAPHS -- POSKANTOORTELEGRAAFDIENS RECEIVED / ONTVANG PBP4 BURGERSPARK 24/22 23 1020 MNR J F VAN EDEN, POSBUS 532, WELKOM INNIGE MEEGEVOEL MET DIE VERLIES VAN U SEUN ADJ-MINISTER VAN VERDEDIGING EN MEV COETSEE FIGS J F 532 PBP4 #58-1591 WKM BBB A [Sincere sympathy on the loss of your son -- Deputy Minister of Defence and Mrs Coetsee. Addressed to Mr J.F. Van Eden (sic), P.O. Box 532, Welkom; office stamp dated 23 [Aug] '79, 10:29.]
Kommandement Oranje Vrystaat / Orange Free State Command Privaatsak/Private Bag X20599, Bloemfontein 9300 Telefoon/Telephone: 81171, Bylyn/Extension: 101 23 August 1979 Mrs H. Openshaw 1, Althea Avenue Odendaalsrus Dear Mrs Openshaw, My deepest sympathy with the death of your son James who was taken away from his loved ones recently. Different rumours and allegations have been made regarding the notification of death to the next-of-kin and I am thus directing this letter to you to rectify the matter. At Orange Free State Command Headquarters I am the staff officer in charge of military funerals and notification of casualties. I received the casualty notification on Monday 20 August 1979 at approximately 22h00. After obtaining all the particulars of the person involved I tried to contact a Roman Catholic priest at Welkom, Kroonstad and Bloemfontein. There was no-one available at Welkom or Kroonstad. Furthermore I endeavoured to contact a minister from one of the English churches but to no avail. The time was now in the region of 23h00 and I was getting very anxious to have the necessary parties notified. Subsequently the Defence Force NG church chaplain was phoned who was able to do the necessary notification and report back. I wish to put on record that my actions were in the interest of the next of kin and that I at no stage tried to embarrass the Roman Catholic religion. I pray that you will be given the necessary strength from above during these hard and trying periods and that you will overcome these difficulties. Yours sincerely, C.L.P. van Heusden : Maj Acting Officer Commanding Orange Free State Command : Col
Negative strip, two documents:
LEFT — page 66:
6 VELDREGIMENT
MOBILISASIE ORDER NO 1/79
DEUR
KMDT L.C. KIEL
BEVELVOERDER: 6 VELDREGIMENT
Telefoon: 81171 6 Veldregiment
Bylae: 73A Privaatsak X20599
BLOEMFONTEIN
9300
4 Julie 1979
MOBILISASIE
1. Soos in meegaande BB 305 word u vanaf 14 Augustus 1979 tot 6 November 1979 vir grensdiens opgeroep.
2. U moet op 14 Augustus 1979 om 06h00 by die versamelpunt Bloemfontein stasie rapporteer.
3. U moet so min moontlik van eie vervoer gebruik maak aangesien hier nie bergingsplek vir motors voorsien kan word nie.
4. Vrystelling sal slegs in die uitsonderlike gevalle gegee word. Indien u wel om vrystelling wil aansoek doen, moet dit vergesel word van bevoegde verklarings en direk aan hierdie HK gestuur word. Geen onderhandelinge sal met buitestaanders gevoer word nie (ouers, prokureurs, parlementslede ens.).
5. Lede moet sorg dat hul uitrusting in gereedheid gebring word. Indien enige tekorte ondervind word, sal uitreikings hier gedoen word.
6. Fikaheid moet as prioriteit beskou word. Dit word as 'n belangrike aspek van u paraatheid beskou.
..../2
[English: 6 Field Regiment, Mobilisation Order No 1/79, from Kmdt L.C. Kiel, Officer Commanding 6 Field Regiment, 4 July 1979. Members are called up for border duty from 14 Aug to 6 Nov 1979, to report to the assembly point at Bloemfontein station at 06h00 on 14 Aug. Own transport discouraged (no parking available); exemptions only in exceptional circumstances via this HQ (no dealing with outside parties -- parents, attorneys, MPs etc.); equipment must be made ready; fitness is a priority.]
RIGHT — page 67:
[Reg No.] G7/687
71
PR1
KMDT OVS
GENIESKOOL
ONGELAS
H LEER (PERS OPS) - 73 MOT BDE KB5/160 /24 AUG 79
6 VD REGT
1(.) 312/2/1/11 MIL BEGRAFNIS(.) 73312118BT ERR J.F. VAN EEDEN(.) 6 VD REGT(.) TEL GESPREK MAJ VAN HEUSDEN - KAPT DU PISANI (H LEER PERS OPS) VERWYS(.)
2(.) TENTATIEF WORD BEGRAFNIS BEPLAN VIR DINSDAG 28 AUG 79 TE ODENDAALSRUS(.)
3(.) ONDERNEMERS AVBOS ODENDAALSRUS(.)
4(.) A(.) NOK(.) MNR + MEV OPENSHAW(,) ALTHEAWEG 1(,) ODENDAALSRUS TEL(:) 017 - 41375(.)
B(.) KAPELAAN FATHER PETER, ROOMS KATOLIEK, TEL(:) 017 - 26944(.)
C(.) ONDERNEMERS AVBOS TEL(:) 41176 ODENDAALSRUS (ONDER VAN WYK)(.)
5(.) U WORD OPGEDRA OM DIE MIL BEGRAFNIS TE REEL EN AAN TE BIED(.)
6(.) GEEN KANVAS IS BESKIKBAAR NIE(.)
27-08-1979
[signature] 236/1050 A.
[English: Signal to Komdt OVS, Engineering School, re military funeral for SN 73312118BT Rifleman J.F. Van Eeden, 6 Field Regt (telephone discussion Maj van Heusden - Capt du Pisani, HQ Land Forces Personnel Ops, refers). Funeral tentatively planned for Tuesday 28 Aug 1979 at Odendaalsrus. Undertakers: AVBOS Odendaalsrus. Next of kin: Mr and Mrs Openshaw, Altheaweg 1, Odendaalsrus, tel 017-41375. Chaplain: Father Peter, Roman Catholic, tel 017-26944. Undertakers AVBOS tel 41176 Odendaalsrus (under Van Wyk). Addressee instructed to arrange and provide the military funeral. No canvas [marquee] available. Dated 27-08-1979.]
[Motorised Brigade HQ letterhead] REGISTERED To: Chief of Staff Personnel 25 September 1979 OORHANDIGING VAN DOKUMENTE VAN GEBALLIEERDES / RETURN OF DOCUMENTS OF NATIONAL SERVICEMEN Personnel files, kit record covers and clinical files of the undermentioned national servicemen are enclosed herewith. No and Rank | Name | Unit | Remarks 73312118BT | Gnr J.F. Van Eeden | 6 Fd Regt | Killed on ... (remainder illegible on this scan) Commander: Motorised Brigade : Col [Left frame on the same negative strip duplicates the 22 Aug 1979 casualty signal already held as a separate, clearer citation image -- not re-added.]
REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA — REPUBLIEK VAN SUID-AFRIKA MEMORANDUM Van/From: [Privaatsak/Private Bag stamp] Dept. of the Interior and Immigration My verwysing/My reference: No. 80/3149 [handwritten, partly unclear] 25.02.1980 Aan/To: Mrs. H Openshaw 12 Althea Road Odendaalsrus 9480 U verwysing/Your reference: — Gedateer/Dated: — INSAKE/RE: Death Certificate: J.F. van Eeden With reference to your letter of 1979.12.03, I have to inform you that the inquest proceedings in respect of the above-named has not as yet been finalised. A death certificate reflecting the causes of death will be issued as soon as the inquest has been finalised. Yours faithfully, [signature] G.P.S. (M.L.) 81/142390 (Z 36) VIR SEKRETARIS VAN BINNELANDSE SAKE [for Secretary for the Interior]
-
Mike Sandham
OMISSIONS 20 Aug 2026: 73312118BT Gnr James Francois van Eeden, 6 Field Regt., suspected suicide, Oshivello Training Area, age 21. Mail listed twice; one record.
PS His birthday was on the 27 December 1958.
No dedications have been added yet.