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Identity
Person No.
33030
Service No.
75477661BG
Last Name
First Name
Willem Stephanus
Initials
W S
Date of Birth
Unknown
Est. Birth Year
Age at Death
19
Military Service
Rank
Trooper
Regiment
Secondary Unit
attd. 53 Battalion
Death Record
Date of Death
Cause of Death
Killed in action, during the early hours of the morning when the bungalow in which they were sleeping at Katima Mulilo received a direct hit from a Soviet GRAD-P 122mm High Explosive Katyusha Rocket. SWAPO/PLAN insurgents operating from Zambia fired 20 x 122mm GRAD-P Katyusha Rockets into the town. 18 rockets exploded harmlessly in the veld, one struck a school in the Katima Mulilo Township and the other demolished the Bungalow in which the soldiers were sleeping
Grave Reference
Location
Country
Locality
Coordinates
Additional Information
Notes
No additional information known at this time
Citation
"At Ogongo Agricultural College in Ovamboland, a labourer went down into a sewage pit to clean it. His supervisor, Mr. Brown heard him fall into the water and climbed down to help him. Three Medical Service National Servicemen were in the area and tried to save them. None of them returned as all were overcome by fumes. The three, Ptes FJ Smith, JC Jooste and B van D van Papendorp were awarded Honoris Crux medals"
External Source
Unknown
South African War Graves Project