Identity
Person No.
33265
Old ROH no.
1420
Service No.
85487072BG
Last Name
First Name
Adrian Murray
Initials
A M
Date of Birth
Age at Death
19
Death Record
Date of Death
Cause code
KIA 14,779
Killed in action
Cause of Death
Killed in action, in Angola. He died while attempting to engage a T-55 tank with the Ratel's 20mm cannon. He was the gunner. The driver was also killed
Military Service
Location
Country
Locality
Cemetery
Grave Reference
Unit History
Awards
Honoris Crux (1975) (HC)
South Africa · awarded 1987-11-09
Posthumously awarded the Honoris Crux (1975) for actions on 9 November 1987 with 4 SAI in Angola. He died while attempting to engage a T-55 tank with the Ratel’s 20 mm cannon (he was the gunner; the driver was also killed). Wikipedia lists Rfn A.M. Thom among Honoris Crux (1975) recipients: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honoris_Crux_(1975)
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. Cecil Thom
Research notes
Colyn Brookes, Mibisa: Volume One – Western Cape (Lulu, 2013, ISBN 9781447682523): Bellville-Stickland Cemetery, Strand Road 1.
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
Posthumously awarded the Honoris Crux (1975) for actions on 9 November 1987 with 4 SAI in Angola. He died while attempting to engage a T-55 tank with the Ratel’s 20 mm cannon (he was the gunner; the driver was also killed). Wikipedia lists Rfn A.M. Thom among Honoris Crux (1975) recipients: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Honoris_Crux_(1975)
External References
-
MIBISA Volume One – Western Cape
open source ↗
Bellville-Stickland Cemetery, Strand Road 1
-
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 66-76 of 143: confirmed, no changes.
Stories 2
On 9 November 1987 during the SADFs attack on FAPLAs 16 Brigade, B Company of Combat Group Charlie was pinned down in front of the FAPLA positions and drawing heavy fire from assorted weapons A Ratel was surprised by a T-55 which appeared out of the bush less than 60 metres away. The Ratel gunner, Rifleman Adriaan Thom, placed some twenty armour-piercing rounds from his 20mm gun just below the tank commander cupola, some of which appeared to have penetrated, for an internal explosion destroyed the tank. The commander then ordered the infantry section to debus, soon after which the Ratel was itself knocked out by another T-55. The gunner, Rfn. Adriaan Thom from Ruyterwacht in Cape Town, and the driver Rfn. Muehlenbeck were both killed. One other member of this section, Rifleman P.G. Claasen, was killed by small-arms fire a
On 9 November 1987 during the SADF???s attack on FAPLA???s 16 Brigade, B Company of Combat Group Charlie was pinned down in front of the FAPLA positions and drawing heavy fire from assorted weapons A Ratel was surprised by a T-55 which appeared out of the bush less than 60 metres away. The Ratel???s gunner, Rifleman Adriaan Thom, placed some twenty armour-piercing rounds from his 20mm gun just below the tank commander???s cupola, some of which appeared to have penetrated, for an internal explosion destroyed the tank. The commander then ordered the infantry section to debus, soon after which the Ratel was itself knocked out by another T-55. The gunner, Rfn. Adriaan Thom from Ruyterwacht in Cape Town, and the driver Rfn. Muehlenbeck were both killed. One other member of this section, Rifleman P.G. Claasen, was killed by small-arms fire a few moments later. Rfn. Thom was later on posthumously awarded the Honoris Crux for his actions G.
Dedications 1
Just to say that we won't ever forget mate. What you did that day, the way in which you did it, remains with me always...We salute you. Ren??