Identity
Person No.
29710
Old ROH no.
1721
Service No.
76237734BG
Last Name
First Name
Christopher Bruce
Initials
C B
Date of Birth
Unknown
Est. Birth Year
Age at Death
20
Death Record
Date of Death
Cause code
FF 52
Friendly fire
Military Service
Branch
Army
Rank
Corporal
Unit
Unknown
Secondary Unit
Army
Defence Force
SADF 3,817
South African Defence Force
Location
Country
Locality
Grave Reference
Coordinates
Memorial
Memorial
Location
On a koppie at the Voortrekker Monument, overlooking Pretoria
Address
Coordinates
Panel
On the panel
1980 Army. Left column. 22nd name from the top (Catto C.B.)
Memorial
Memorial
Location
Pinetown Library grounds, Pinetown, KwaZulu-Natal
Address
Coordinates
Panel
On the panel
Position on the panel will be added with photographs
Unit History
Notes
Son of Mr. T. B. Catto, of Kloof. On Pinetown, Kwazulu Natal Memorial
Research notes
SADF Wall of Remembrance (Voortrekker Monument): named on photograph "1980 Army (Abel–Ralikwatha). Photograph: South African War Graves Project.". 1980 Army. Left column. 22nd name from the top (Catto C.B.).
13 Sep 2026: Pinetown Roll of Honour confirms exactly by date: Cpl C.B. Catto, died in the operational area 25-10-1980, attended Durban High School (1st team cricket and rugby), Kloof resident. Their unit "8 SAI Bn" conflicts with this record's Regiment (5 South African Infantry Battalion) -- not resolved. Named on the Wayside Cross, Pinetown.
Citations
Unknown
External References
-
Pinetown Roll of Honour (Pinetown Museum)
Pinetown Roll of Honour (Pinetown Museum), Wayside Cross
-
SADF.info Border Roll of Honour
open source ↗
SADF.info Border RoH
- South African War Graves Project open source ↗
-
The War in Angola
open source ↗
War In Angola Roll of Honour (warinangola.com, tabid=1175), pages 125-128 of 143: confirmed, no changes.
Stories 2
My Brother Rifleman IR Whitehead was wounded in the same incident as the death of Corporal Chris Catto. He never really recovered from his experiences during the border war and passed away in 2005. The sad part is that there are so many unseen and unheard stories of the issues of Post traumatic stress syndrome that was a definate cause of my brothers demise many years after the incident took place. Corporal Catto was a member of 5 SAI and the incident happened in 1980.
Died in a Shooting Incident, in Sector 10. Corporal Catto was shot by one of his own platoon when he heard something moving outside his TB. He shot at it and someone woke up, turned around and shot Corporal Catto. Roy Evans did basics at 5SAI in 1979. (He was from Boston) Sadly as a consequence of this incident during his time on the border he never really was able to get this incident out of his mind. He passed away some 3 years ago in 2011.
Dedications
No dedications have been added yet.