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Coetzee, John Henry (J H)

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Identity
Person No.
4148
Service No.
759
Last Name
First Name
John Henry
Initials
J H
Date of Birth
Unknown
Est. Birth Year
Age at Death
33
Military Service
Death Record
Date of Death
Cause of Death
Killed in action
Grave Reference
Additional Information
Notes

Husband of Amy Coetzee, of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. Born in Cape Town, South Africa. Previous service with Cape Mounted Rifles and Cape Field Artillery. Survived the fierce fighting on Bellewaerde Ridge only to be killed in the town of Ypres 9 May 1915. Shortly after mail call, he and several others wandered off to look at the town ruins when they were caught by an artillery shell. Sweeney J E (#805) and O'Keefe D (#23562) caught the full blast of the shrapnel and where killed instantly, while Mould A (#813) and Coetzee J H (#759) were mortally wounded. They were brought back to the ramparts to wait for the ambulance but both died before it arrived. All four originally buried in the Ramparts. Three were found after the war and buried together in Ypres Reservoir Cemetery, while Pte. Mould is commemorated on the Menin Gate Memorial.[source: "With The Patricia's In Flanders- Then and Now 1914-1919" by Stephen K. Newman, pg.72.]

Citation
Unknown
External Source
Unknown
South African War Graves Project

southafricawargraves.org — record #4148