Identity
Person No.
29855
Old ROH no.
261
Service No.
74430166BT
Last Name
First Name
Frank Paul
Initials
F P
Date of Birth
Unknown
Est. Birth Year
Age at Death
25
Death Record
Date of Death
Cause code
KIA 14,781
Killed in action
Cause of Death
Killed in action, in Southern Angola when his convoy was ambushed by a numerically superior enemy force. The leading vehicle in which he was travelling was hit by RPG-7 Anti-Tank Rockets and as he was disembarking from the vehicle he received as fatal gunshot wound and died at the scene. At the time of his death, he was currently completing his 7th compulsory camp in the Operational Area
Military Service
Branch
Army
Rank
Rifleman
Regiment
Unit
Unknown
Secondary Unit
202 Battalion
Defence Force
SADF 3,815
South African Defence Force
Location
Country
Locality
Cemetery
Grave Reference
Coordinates
Awards
South Africa
Pro Patria Medal warrant, Government Gazette No. 5171 (25 Jun 1976), Rule 5, as amended by GG No. 5575 (3 Jun 1977); discontinued by GG No. 25213 (25 Jul 2003, Schedule corrected by GG No. 26778, 17 Sep 2004) for service on/after 27 Apr 2003. Gazette extracts: https://rohsa.co.za/award.php?id=24
Notes
Son of Mr. and Mrs. B. Couvelis. Frank was suffering of a very bad bout of Tick Fever when he was shot while on operations in Angola. We are not sure of the exact place of his death but what we do know, is that the convoy was ambushed and Frank was in the leading vehicle. He was the only casualty and was shot while disembarking from the vehicle. He died on the scene at the age of 25 leaving behind his parents, brothers, sisters and his fiance.
Citations
Unknown
External References
-
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 50-53 of 143: confirmed, no changes.
-
The War in Angola
open source ↗
War in Angola Member Dedications forum (www.warinangola.com), Excel export supplied by Johan Schoeman, 1 Sep 2026. Forum post(s): 26207.
Stories 1
F.P. Couvelis was with Regiment Erongo, SWATF when he died on May 13 th 1983, just outside Cahama Stephen Walker
Dedications 1
Factually incorrect!
I was with Regt Erongo and was the platoon radio operator in platoon 1 who conducted the attack. We were supposed to attack Ediva, 8km to the west of Cahama but a navigational error in the thick bush saw us attack Cahama in error.
The supposed 76 PLAN fighters at Ediva took off for Cahama when they heard the SWATF column headed their way to hide behind the FAPLA at Cahama....and 18 troops (an understrength platoon 1) and 2 Eland 90's took on the troops at Cahama, however many there may have been with the addition of the PLAN guys.
We had NO vehicles hit by RPG7's at all...however we were on the receiving end of RPG's and plenty 82mm mortar fire. Frank Couvelis was on the same Buffel I was on and we were vehicle #3 in the column. An RPG7 detonated over the column, probably as a direction marker for spotters for the PLAN mortars, so we debussed and were advancing on foot in an extended line when Frank was hit.
We also had 2 others wounded and 1 guy called "Duimpie" who went blind from shock who had to be walked out of the contact zone for the medics to treat. 1 guy had a round that went through his hand holding his G3 AND his G3, and another (a guy called "Jood") when an RPG hit a tree nearby and some of the casing ripped his scalp above his ear....he was carried out by our platoon Lieutenant Piet "Petot" Mudge and Paul Bustin, with me carrying 3 G3's and a M79 "snotneus" and ammo, as well as my B25 radio.
The very interesting thing was that the OC (a major) and the Troop Commander of the Elands were nowhere involved and had to interview each of us to try get enough detail to write the battle report so the veracity of this report on your page may very well be skewed.
Lt Mudge was called back to Ruacana to give a report to Col Linford (as I recall) and can corroborate these details as well if anyone knows where he is?
I was with Regt Erongo and was the platoon radio operator in platoon 1 who conducted the attack. We were supposed to attack Ediva, 8km to the west of Cahama but a navigational error in the thick bush saw us attack Cahama in error.
The supposed 76 PLAN fighters at Ediva took off for Cahama when they heard the SWATF column headed their way to hide behind the FAPLA at Cahama....and 18 troops (an understrength platoon 1) and 2 Eland 90's took on the troops at Cahama, however many there may have been with the addition of the PLAN guys.
We had NO vehicles hit by RPG7's at all...however we were on the receiving end of RPG's and plenty 82mm mortar fire. Frank Couvelis was on the same Buffel I was on and we were vehicle #3 in the column. An RPG7 detonated over the column, probably as a direction marker for spotters for the PLAN mortars, so we debussed and were advancing on foot in an extended line when Frank was hit.
We also had 2 others wounded and 1 guy called "Duimpie" who went blind from shock who had to be walked out of the contact zone for the medics to treat. 1 guy had a round that went through his hand holding his G3 AND his G3, and another (a guy called "Jood") when an RPG hit a tree nearby and some of the casing ripped his scalp above his ear....he was carried out by our platoon Lieutenant Piet "Petot" Mudge and Paul Bustin, with me carrying 3 G3's and a M79 "snotneus" and ammo, as well as my B25 radio.
The very interesting thing was that the OC (a major) and the Troop Commander of the Elands were nowhere involved and had to interview each of us to try get enough detail to write the battle report so the veracity of this report on your page may very well be skewed.
Lt Mudge was called back to Ruacana to give a report to Col Linford (as I recall) and can corroborate these details as well if anyone knows where he is?