Identity
Person No.
31296
Old ROH no.
1804
Service No.
77260578BG
Last Name
First Name
Francis John
Initials
F J
Date of Birth
Unknown
Est. Birth Year
Age at Death
19
Death Record
Date of Death
Cause code
DOW 2,733
Died of wounds
Cause of Death
Died of wounds, in Operation Sceptic, as a result of severe shrapnel wounds caused by anti-aircraft rounds that had penetrated the inside compartment of the Ratel he was in
Military Service
Location
Country
Locality
Grave Reference
Coordinates
Operation
Operation
Dates
1980-06-01 to 1980-06-30
About
Large mechanised operation into southern Angola against SWAPO bases around Chifufia and Mongua, notable as an early large-scale combat use of the Ratel infantry fighting vehicle and Olifant tank.
Unit History
Notes
Son of Mr. F. J. Lello, of Clydesdale Avenue, North Park, Pietermaritzburg.
Research notes
25 Sep 2026, Unit2 service-branch sweep: the stored Secondary Unit "Army" was CLEARED as a duplicate. It was not a sub-unit, it was a service-branch word repeating what the Branch column already says. Secondary Unit is for sub-units -- a company, a squadron, a commando -- and this record's branch of service is unchanged at "Army".
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 36-41 of 143: confirmed, no changes.
Stories
No stories have been added yet.
Dedications 1
A great friend and comrade. An absolute tradgedy happened this day 10th June 1980.The Maritzberg crew were proud of you. I was proud to be your friend and immensely enjoyed your wit and intelligence as I shared your last months, days and seconds. Few will ever know the truth of your final brave moments. Its long past now , but never will be forgotten. Dear friend, rest in peace. gareth