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Kotzenberg , Rudolph Paul Gustaf (R P G)

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Photo of Kotzenberg
Identity
Person No.
31150
Old ROH no.
2150
Service No.
P1/12320
Last Name
Kotzenberg 1
First Name
Rudolph Paul Gustaf
Initials
R P G
Date of Birth
Unknown
Est. Birth Year
1921 (±1 yr) 698
Age at Death
31
Death Record
Date of Death
22 August 1952 107
Cause code
KIA 14,811
Killed in action
Cause of Death
Killed in action 14,686
Killed in action, in North American F-51 Mustang #380. Eight aircraft, led by Captain Bolitho, were assigned to attack enemy artillery positions at CT154343. Major R.P.G. Kotzenberg was in the No.4 position. The formation proceeded their bombing run at 10,000 feet, pulling out at 4,000, after which Capt Bolitho headed for the rendezvous point and called his flight to check in. All but Major Kotzenberg did so. Capt Bolitho returned to the target area and observed a secondary fire in the vicinity, which he was unable to definitely establish as the remains of the missing aircraft, and after searching a further 45 minutes he returned to base
Military Service
Branch
Air Force
Rank
Captain
Regiment
2 Squadron 109
Corps
South African Air Force 3,524
Unit
Unknown
Defence Force
UDF 24,809
Union Defence Force
Location
Country
South Africa 23,879
Locality
Mpumalanga 425
Cemetery
UNITED NATIONS PUSAN MEMORIAL 26
Grave Reference
Panel 13 23
Memorial
Approach walkways to the Wall of Remembrance, UNMCK, Busan. Photo: Bubbahotepblues, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons (https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Wall_of_Remembrance,_UN_Memorial_Cemetery,_Busan,_South_Korea.jpg)
Names on Panel 13
Memorial
United Nations Memorial Cemetery in Korea (UNMCK)
Location
Tanggok, Nam District, Busan, South Korea
Address
woonam-ro 93beon-gil 93, Nam-gu, Busan, South Korea
Coordinates
35.12845, 129.09623 · OpenStreetMap
Panel
Panel 13
On the panel
Panel 13
Unit History
Part of
Rhodesian Air Force - Squadrons
Notes

ref. 85 years of SAAF

Research notes


5 Sep 2026: Unit "2 Squadron" (a squadron, SAAF's regiment-equivalent) promoted to Regiment, per John's decision. Corps (South African Air Force) unchanged.
25 Sep 2026, Unit2 service-branch sweep: the stored Secondary Unit "Army" was CLEARED. It was not a sub-unit, it was a service-branch word, and it CONTRADICTED this record's own Branch, "Air Force". Across the roll 787 records carried such a contradiction; judged against Corps and Regiment -- independent of both columns -- the evidence backed Branch 744 times and Unit2 not once. Branch is therefore kept and the contradicting word removed. Nothing is guessed: this man's branch of service is already recorded, and his sub-unit, if any, is simply not known.

Citations
Unknown
External References
Stories 2
on 02 July 2001 · via source
Eight aircraft, led by Captain Bolitho, were assigned to attack enemy artillery positions at CT154343. Major R.P.G. Kotzenberg was in the No.4 position. The formation proceeded their bombing run at 10,000 feet, pulling out at 4,000, after which Capt Bolitho headed for the rendezvous point and called his flight to check in. All but Major Kotzenberg did so. Capt Bolitho returned to the target area and observed a secondary fire in the vicinity, which he was unable to definitely establish as the remains of the missing aircraft, and after searching a further 45 minutes he returned to base.
by Frans on 17 July 2008 · via source
Returned to basis with Hondties Joubert. One moment Joubert saw him flying next to him wing to wing - the next moment his plane was gone.
Dedications

No dedications have been added yet.