Tombo

Identity

Person No.

33311

Old ROH no.

2105

Service No.

Unknown

Last Name

Tombo 1

First Name

Unknown

Initials

F

Date of Birth

Unknown

Est. Birth Year

1956 (±1 yr) 385

Age at Death

25

Death Record

Date of Death

15 October 1981 147

Cause code

KIA 14,778

Killed in action

Cause of Death

Killed in action 14,654

Killed in action, against terrorists in the operational area. Killed whilst apart of a small Special Forces team carrying out an operation against the Harare-Beira railway near Doeroi, in Mozambique, some 300 miles from the South African border. It would appear there was a premature detonation whilst they were laying their demolition charges, and he and three of his comrades were killed. FRELIMO found their bodies and equipment, but as per SOPs, nothing was being carried which would enable them to identify the men

Military Service

Branch

Army

Rank

Rifleman

Regiment

5 Reconnaissance Regiment 72

Later renamed 5 Special Forces Regiment (1995)

Corps

South African Infantry Corps 10,347

Unit

Unknown

Defence Force

SADF 3,839

South African Defence Force

Location

Country

South Africa 23,872

Locality

Gauteng 9,374

Cemetery

SADF WALL OF REMEMBRANCE, VOORTREKKER MONUMENT, PRETORIA 1,926

Grave Reference

Body not recovered 79

Memorial

SADF Wall of Remembrance

Location

On a koppie at the Voortrekker Monument, overlooking Pretoria

Address

Voortrekker Monument, Eeufees Road, Groenkloof, Pretoria, 0181, South Africa

Coordinates

-25.77639, 28.17583 · OpenStreetMap

Panel

Not listed against a numbered 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

ref. "The Silent War" by Peter Stiff

Research notes

Col (rt) Graham du Toit Last Post 15 Oct 2025: Rifleman F. Tombo, 5 Reconnaissance Regiment, age 25. Graham: Reported Missing on the Harare-Beira railway near Doeroi, Mozambique; premature detonation while laying charges; bodies later found by FRELIMO; no known grave. ROH already records the Doeroi demolition incident. ROH name is Kambala Tombo (F); unit was 32 Battalion (regiment already 5 Recce). Names not overwritten.
SASFA In Memoriam (operators): confirmed Special Forces operator. SASFA: Tombo F KIA 1981. https://www.recce.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/4.1.-Memoriam.pdf SN CORRECTION 25 Aug 2026 (year-prefix method): ServiceNo 78911203SP cleared -- per the documented SA force-number convention (data/SA_SERVICE_NUMBER_NOTES.md), the prefix '78' implies registration circa 1978 (usually age 16), i.e. birth circa 1962. This record's own Age/DateDeath implies birth circa 1956, a mismatch; PersonNumber 33310 (Tomas, implied birth circa 1964) fits instead. Original value: "78911203SP".
5 Sep 2026, FirstName-contamination revisit (folding into the 31 Aug 2026 scan): Graham du Toit's own 15 Oct 2025 citation and SASFA In Memoriam both name him "F. Tombo"/"Tombo F" -- initial only, matching stored Initials "F" exactly; the Graham citation was left "not overwritten" pending confirmation, which this is. Cleared rather than guessed -- correct first name still unknown.
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

Col (rt) Graham du Toit Last Post
Col (rt) Graham du Toit Last Post 15 Oct 2025: Rifleman F. Tombo, 5 Reconnaissance Regiment, age 25. Graham: Reported Missing on the Harare-Beira railway near Doeroi, Mozambique; premature detonation while laying charges; bodies later found by FRELIMO; no known grave. ROH already records the Doeroi demolition incident. ROH name is Kambala Tombo (F); unit was 32 Battalion (regiment already 5 Recce). Names not overwritten.
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), page 77 of 143: confirmed, no changes.
Unit veterans association open source ↗
SASFA In Memoriam: Tombo F KIA 1981 — confirmed Special Forces operator

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