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Milinga , Richard (R)

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Identity
Person No.
31898
Old ROH no.
2109
Service No.
Unknown
Last Name
First Name
Richard
Initials
R
Date of Birth
Unknown
Est. Birth Year
Age at Death
19
Death Record
Date of Death
Cause code
KIA 14,779
Killed in action
Cause of Death
Killed in action, during a 5 Recce Regt pseudo mission as part of Operation Slyk.As per General Francisco Pereira Furtado, ex Chief of Staff, Angolan Armed Forces: "From consultations with former members of the 19 FAPLA Infantry Brigade in Mulondo, on the evening of 20/21 October 1983 with a reconnaissance group about 5 kilometres south of the defence position of Brigade, They confirm that when the presence of the reconnaissance group was discovered on the ground, the 19 Brigade artillery fired in the same area, followed by the advance of 3 T-55 tanks that probably caused the death or dispersal of the SADF military and the abandonment of their bodies on the ground. It is noteworthy that Mulondo is located in the Bicuar reserve with ferocious animals among lions, leopards, hyenas and other felines." From this it appears that the four soldiers may have died an honourable soldier's death in facing a superior force of the enemy, which included artillery and tanks. All four seems to have been killed in action
Military Service
Branch
Army
Rank
Corporal
Unit
Unknown
Defence Force
SADF 3,832
South African Defence Force
Memorial
Memorial
Location
On a koppie at the Voortrekker Monument, overlooking Pretoria
Address
Coordinates
Panel
On the panel
Position on the panel will be added with photographs
Unit History
Role at time of death
Special Forces (reconnaissance)
Status
Regular Force
Each numbered Reconnaissance unit was renamed over time: "X Reconnaissance Commando" -> "X Reconnaissance Regiment" (1981) -> briefly a Parachute Battalion designation (1992/93, under "45 Parachute Brigade", a Special-Forces-only designation distinct from the real 44 Parachute Brigade) -> "X Special Forces Regiment" (1995). The parent formation itself changed name several times before 1995 (Special Forces Headquarters, then Directorate Reconnaissance(Forces)) with disputed exact dates between sources -- 1995 is the one date sources agree on. Corps classified as SAIC (South African Infantry Corps) per this site's own records; no independent source found confirms that for Special Forces units specifically -- treat as owner-asserted pending a better citation.
Awards
Pro Patria Medal
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

No additional information known at this time

Research notes

SASFA In Memoriam (operators): confirmed Special Forces operator. SASFA: Milinga Richard KIA/MIA 1983. https://www.recce.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/4.1.-Memoriam.pdf SN CORRECTION 25 Aug 2026: ServiceNo 81952004HV cleared -- the pantser.cmvo.org.za SADF deaths PDF lists that number under "MIKAEL, HEILIA" (RFN, Sterf 03 04 85), matching PersonNumber 31897 (Mikael, DateDeath 1985-04-03) by surname and exact date, not this record. Original value: "81952004HV". Left as an unresolved collision otherwise -- this correction is specific to this one PDF-confirmed case, not a general claim this record's other data is wrong. 26 Aug 2026: Unit was leftover "101 Battalion". SAWGP Regiment 5 Reconnaissance Regiment with no separate unit.
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
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