In Memory Of

VAN DER WESTHUIZEN, JACOBUS FRANCOIS

Service Details
Date of Birth:
 -0001-11-30
Service No:
 15082V
Rank:
 Captain
Unit:
 142 Sqdn.
Regiment:
 South African Air Force
Date of Death:
 1944-08-08
Cause of Death:
 Killed in action, Wellington X LP233, forty-seven Wellingtons, nineteen Liberators, and eight Halifaxes were despatched to attack the airfield at Szombatheley. All the aircraft identified the target without difficulty in excellent illumination, and numerous sticks of bombs were seen to cover the landing ground. Direct hits followed by fires were claimed on a hangar, and other fires were started in the north-eastern dispersal area and on the landing ground. Photo reconnaissance confirmed these claims, showing the landing ground completely unserviceable due to cratering, and damaged hangars. Four aircraft failed to return. Claimed by Oblt (Rolf E.) Thun - 9./NJG 6
Commemoration
Grave Reference:
 Coll. grave II. D. 1-3.
Cemetery:
 BUDAPEST WAR CEMETERY
Country:
 Hungary
Additional Information
Son of Jacobus Francois and Dorothy Grace van der Westhuizen, of Pretoria. Born Wellington. A bank official.