Daniel Roxo Part 6

“The death of a legend”

“No birth is an accident, No experience is without meaning and no life is without value”

O

ne thing that we know for a fact is that Francisco Daniel Roxo and Silva Soeiro died in or soon after a landmine explosion on the  23^rd of August 1976, with Jose Ribeiro being killed in a motor vehicle accident 2 days later one would have thought that soldiers of Daniel’s, Jose’s and Ponciano’s status would have been afforded a burial befitting war hero’s and a winner of the Honoris Crux, this however was not the case. When I first started researching Daniels life, one of the first pieces of information that I received, was that Daniel, Silva and possibly Jose had been buried in the same grave, in body bags with only a piece of corrugated iron or sheet metal separating their bodies.

This story as you can imagine had not endeared the SADF to the Portuguese community, who had many fathers and sons pay the ultimate price in the defence of South Africa. My first thought was one of “sour grapes” by the Portuguese community however this version I heard may not have been far from the truth. Initial information received also suggested that Daniel’s body had been exhumed and his body flown to Portugal to be laid to rest in Mogadouro.

Over the years numerous scenarios as to what happened to the bodies of Daniel, Ponciano as well as Jose after their deaths have come to the fore and to be honest I doubt we will ever know all of  the facts. Instead of just writing what I think is the truth I have decided to re-print the various accounts that I have received, give you my interpretation and let you make up your mind. I need to point out that I believe there is an element of truth in all the versions and do not believe that any of the people that provided information would deliberately want to mislead me in any way. “Time and fading memories can lead people to forget the specifics” and this I believe is the case regards Daniels and his comrades burial.    

This was the initial “Official” version I received of Daniel’s burial from a respected ex-  member of the SADF Special Forces and at the time (2004) without having done any research on the topic, it seemed the most plausible explanation. 

“Daniel died at the scene of the ambush, near Dirico and Ponciano who was thought to have died  on the scene actually died on his way back to Woodpecker base, from a crushed Skull and Internal injuries. Daniels and Ponciano’s bodies where then flown to Pretoria and where taken to 1 Military Hospital at Voortrekkerhoogte, they were not seen by an undertaker. 2 gravesites where arranged in the military cemetery at Voortrekkerhoogte and a funeral service for Daniel and Ponciano was held at the Roman Catholic church “Our lady Queen of peace” also situated in Voortrekkerhoogte (No records have been found despite numerous attempts by myself and Mr.Paul Els to obtain such records from the church itself).

From what we can piece together The service was conducted by a Roman Catholic priest. with a high ranking officer being present. A burial detachment from the Services school that had also been detailed to assist with the funeral. The coffins where placed on a  Long wheel based Land Rover and driven the four and half kilometres to the grave site/s. Two graves had been dug, however it seems that one of the graves had been covered with planks and the soil was placed on top of this, for whatever reason, only one was utilized and two men were buried in the one grave. No corrugated iron was used to separate the two coffins.

A good friend of mine Mr. Manuel Ferreira then found an article regards the controversy of Daniel’s burial in the “Retornado” newspaper (translates to “The one who returned”. People who left the colonies and moved back to Portugal after the Coups where given the derogatory name of Retornados) The article written on 3 May 1977 by Princess Sophie Mansyreff. It is highly likely the article was published in a local Portuguese newspaper, the “Seculo” prior to it being re-published in the Retornado.

   

The article was titled “ Vida e Morte de Daniel Roxo um Portugues Que Numca Traiu “Life and death of Daniel Roxo a Portuguese who never betrayed”

Princess Mansyreff wrote.

“To my astonishment and sadness it came to my knowledge that my personal friend and one of the greatest Portuguese, Daniel Roxo, who paid one of the biggest sacrifices for the survival of his country and defending as well the ideals of South- Africa, was buried in the cemetery of Voortrekkerhoogte without any reference and in an un-Christian way. I sincerely feel that we owe to his memory and to the memory of all who died with him, that the Portuguese community should not allow that one of its biggest patriots find his eternal rest with the poorest of the poor. I hope that you Portuguese follow my example and donate what you can so that a Tombstone be erected over his grave”.

I have been unable to locate Princess Mansyreff or to dig up any information on the proposed fund for a tombstone, what I can say with certainty is that no tombstone was ever erected until 23 of August 2005. I am also in possession of a leaflet advertising a Requiem Mass to be held on 7 November 1976 at 6pm at the Santa Maria Catholic Church Pretoria West – Pretoria. As to whether this mass actually went ahead or if anyone attended this mass I have no idea as I have been unable to come across any evidence that it was held or  anyone that may have attended. (Information that I received in early September 2013 indicates that the Princess died in Pretoria in 1997) 

The next person to provide information was another high ranking, ex – Special Forces member.

“Daniel Roxo along with Ponciano Soeiro and Jose Ribeiro where transported from South-West Africa to South Africa, where all three men were dumped in to one grave in the middle of the night like “road kill” or “Just like dogs” (To quote an angry member of the Portuguese community). The three men were not buried in coffins but in body bags. The “dumping” of the bodies was discovered by a member of the SADF, who did not believe that this was the way for South Africa to treat men who had fought bravely and died for their adopted land. An anonymous telephone call was made to the police, who then came to investigate the allegations and had the three bodies exhumed, due to the injuries on the bodies they felt that there had been foul play and where ready to take the matter further, however before this could happen, Major General Loots was contacted and he in turn called the security police and requested that the bodies be handed back to the Defence Force and taken to the Mortuary at 1 Military Hospital”.

Paul Els and I then decided to see what records we could find at the Church, 1 Military Hospital or at the Services school, that could perhaps confirm any of the above information. We were not able to get information at any of the 3 places but we did find 3 unmarked graves in the Voortrekkerhoogte military cemetery, that fitted in with the time frame of Daniels’s death and his subsequent burial.

We then decided to see if we could find any information at the General Services Brigade and asked for records on the burials at the cemetery over the period that Daniel was buried.  To our surprise we were given an old dusty ledger dating back to 1976. All the grave sites had numbers attached to them and next to the numbers were the names and force number of the persons buried there, all except for grave sites 898 and 899, here there were no force numbers or names, just a note that said “Verwys na Colonel Botes’ (Refer to Colonel Botes). Paul and I looked at each other and knew that one of these two graves is where Daniel and his comrades had been buried.

Grave 897 is dated 19/8/1976 and 901 is dated 13/9/1976 with 900 having the name Major Viljoen next to it in the register. So with these dates corresponding with the dates of Daniel, Ponciano and Jose’s deaths it made sense to Paul and I that we had found the unmarked grave of Daniel and Ponciano and possibly Jose. Attempts to verify if Colonel Botes was still alive where unsuccessful, however we are reasonably sure that he has passed away. We were also unable to obtain records from what was the then Services school, that could verify or deny whether the initial  version of events did or did not occur.

In April of 2012 new information came to the fore as to this mystery, this came about due to Paul Els requesting information on a military veterans website looking for clarity on who had in fact been buried and who had been exhumed.

A lady who had worked as a captain in the SADF personnel department  in 1976 sent Paul the following information. “Ek wou al vroeër reageer toe jy in ‘n berig navraag gedoen het oor die 2 Portugese se grafte. Ek het in 1976 as ‘n kaptein in die destydse personeelafdeling by Leër HK gewerk by die afdeling wat as Staande Mag Manskappe bekend gestaan het. My direkte senior was Maj Dave Kriel – later kolonel.  Op ‘n dag is  hy baie geheimsinnig by die kantoor weg. Toe hy later teruggekom het, het hy my vertel dat hy Voortrekkerhoogte begraafplaas toe is om toesig te hou oor die begrawe van 2 gesneuwelde Portugese soldate wat aan ons kant geveg het. Hy het my vertel dat alles onder groot geheimhouding geskied het en dat die proses en die grafte (natuurliik op daardie stadium) nie bekend gemaak mag word nie. Dave sou baie meer van die besondere dag kon vertel maar hy is natuurlik ook al oorlede.  Ons hoofklerk op daardie stadium was Willem Brits – wat ek glo nog leef en ek weet hy en Dave het baie nou saamgewerk”.

A brief translation is “My direct senior Major David Kriel – later Colonel on a certain day (date unknown) left the office very secretly and when he returned he informed me that he had been to the graveyard at Voortrekkerhoogte to ensure that two Portuguese men  who had fought for the SADF and had been killed were buried” he also indicated that the gravesite could not be made public due to the sensitivity and circumstances of their deaths”

Then  soon after and out of the blue this information was sent to Paul. “I have been away for a few days hence the late reply to your request about the info on Roxo's burial. The facts are as follows” (this information will be in a book that will be published later this year in Portugal).

Unfortunately I have not been able to find or access any official records regards the burial of Daniel, Ponciano and Jose from that era due to paperwork either having gone “missing” or been destroyed, nor has anyone come forward that may have attended the church service or subsequent funeral. After re checking the little information or documentation that I have received or been able to find,  the following is a version of what I feel  may have happened.

On 23 August 1976 Daniel died at the scene of the landmine blast with Ponciano (Silva) dying later that day from wounds sustained in the same blast. 2 days later on 25 August Jose (Robbie) was killed in a car accident near Rundu. Daniel and Ponciano  and possibly Jose were flown to Pretoria around  26 or 27 August, it’s possible that the bodies either lay in 1 Military hospital or a private mortuary for a day or two.

For whatever reason the two bodies “possibly 3” were then taken and buried in the dead of night by person/s in a freshly dug or possibly a shallow grave. This was reported to the SAP “it’s been suggested, by a member of the Special Forces who was disgusted at the way the burials had taken place” who then exhumed the bodies. Major General Loots* contacted the Security Police and ask them to transport the bodies to a private mortuary. It was at this stage that the Officer from Durban was contacted by Major General Loots to ensure that Daniel, Ponciano and possibly Jose were given a decent burial.

So the question that needs to be asked and I assume that you are also wondering is “What happened to Jose” is he buried at Voortrekkerhoogte or is he not?. Manuel believes that its possible Jose after his horrific accident was so mutilated that his remains or what was left could have been put in the casket with either Daniel or Silva, as Jose’s wife told him, “Jose is buried at VTH and was not exhumed”. Manuel is also of the opinion that they were not buried in South West Africa as a high ranking person or persons felt they should not be dumped in an unmarked grave.

So what is the truth? Who’s version of events does one believe?, which version makes the most sense? these are questions I have asked myself many times and probably will until concrete proof can be presented. Until that happens I will leave it up to you to make your own conclusions, but if you ever get the opportunity to visit the military cemetery at Voortrekkerhoogte be sure  to pay your respects to not only Daniel, Ponciano and Jose but to all the other brave men and women who paid the ultimate price in the defence of South Africa. 

Stephen Dunkley

Port Elizabeth

17/3/2013