 |
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this articlebyadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed.
Find sources: "Danny Roxo" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (January 2013) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
Danny Roxo
| |
|---|---|
 | |
| Nickname(s) | The Phantom of the Forest, The White Devil[1] |
| Born | (1933-02-01)1 February 1933 |
| Died | 23 August 1976(1976-08-23) (aged 43) |
| Allegiance |  Portugal South Africa |
| Rank | Staff Sergeant |
| Battles/wars | Portuguese Colonial War Operation Savannah |
| Awards |    [1][2] |
Francisco Daniel "Danny" Roxo (1933–1976) was a Portuguese hunter, safari guide, and soldier.[2] Born in Mogadouro, he emigrated to Niassa Province, Portuguese Mozambique during the 1950s, where he established himself as a professional hunter.[2] Roxo later fought in the Mozambican War of Independence against nationalist guerrillas.[2] After Mozambican independence he served as a foreign volunteer in 32 Battalion, a Portuguese-speaking unit of the South African Army.[3]
Daniel Roxo was born in Mogadouro, Trás-os-Montes, on 1 February 1933.[3] As a young man he immigrated to Niassa Province in 1951, where he settled as a professional hunter and safari guide.[3] When the Mozambican War of Independence broke out in 1964 Roxo formed his African trackers, servants, and European acquaintances into a private militia, hunting FRELIMO combatants for government bounties.[1]
Disillusioned by Portugal's promise to hand Mozambique to Samora Machel's incoming government, Roxo supported an abortive coup d'état by anti-FRELIMO forces in Lourenço Marques on September 7, 1974. He went into exile in South Africa the following November, joining the South African Defence Force. After completing Special Forces selection, Danny was seconded to Bravo Group (later 32 Battalion).[1]
Roxo was awarded the Honoris Crux for bravery during Operation Savannah for an action during the Battle of Bridge 14at11°03′00″S 15°04′56″E / 11.05°S 15.0822°E / -11.05; 15.0822 (Bridge 14), an engagement during which he single-handedly killed eleven enemy soldiers.[1]
Bridge 14 was situated on the Nhia River, en route from CelatoQuibala. South African mechanized contingents deploying to the south had routed a unit of the People's Armed Forces for the Liberation of Angola (FAPLA) some time prior, and the retreating Angolans had demolished the existing structure. However, since Colonel Jan Breytenbach could not ascertain this from his forward positions, he ordered Roxo to conduct a more thorough reconnaissance.[4] Roxo arrived at the river with four Eland-90 armoured cars; his patrol came under heavy mortar fire from an opposite bank and two of the vehicles withdrew, leaving Roxo's platoon to retire on foot.[1] Having scouted the bridge alone and determined it was no longer intact, he inadvertently walked into an FAPLA ambush, but he managed to dispatch his attackers. Two escaped South African prisoners later claimed that aside from the Angolan casualties, four Cuban troops were reported killed in the encounter.[4]
During a patrol near the Okavango river, his personnel carrier struck a landmine and overturned, killing one man and crushing Roxo beneath it. The rest of the vehicle's crew tried to lift it free, but it was too heavy. Breytenbach wrote:
Honoris Crux (1975) (HC) (South Africa) [1]
War Cross (Class II) [a] (Portugal)
War Cross (Class III) [b] (Portugal) [2]
