Identity
Person No.
2572
Service No.
1520
Last Name
First Name
Jacobus Stephanus Johannes
Initials
J S J
Date of Birth
Unknown
Est. Birth Year
Age at Death
34
Military Service
Death Record
Date of Death
Cause of Death
Died in air raid, whilst a POW in Germany. During the infamous marching column of POWs from Fallingbostel to Lubeck, where they would have been a potential "bargaining chip" with the Allies at the end of the war, a patrol of Royal Air Force Typhoons mistook the column for German troops and attacked with rockets and cannon fire. Close to 60 men were wounded and 30 were killed, as well as a few German guards. The Typhoons came back over for a second run, but brave POWs ran in the open field, waving their arms to stop a second attack, which the pilots did when realizing their terrible mistake
Grave Reference
Location
Additional Information
Notes
Son of Jan Andries and Jacoba Maria Susanna Breytenbach, of Louwsburg, Natal, South Africa. Born Louwsburg. A motor mechanic. Captured at Tobruk. Commemoration stone in Vryheid Cemetery
Citation
Unknown
External Source
Unknown
South African War Graves Project