Staff Sergeant Francisco Daniel "Danny" Roxo was born in Portugal in 1933 and moved to Mozambique in 1951. He began working as a civil servant, then became a big game hunter in the Niassa Province, before he offered his services to the Portuguese army. He fought the FRELIMO insurgents in Northern Mozambique with great success and was decorated by the Portuguese government for his actions.
In 1974, he joined the SADF and after completing the Special Forces Selection Course was attached to Bravo Group (later to become 32 Battalion)
Daniel was awarded the Honoris Crux for bravery during Operation Savannah for an action during the Battle of Bridge 14, in which he single-handedly killed 12 enemy soldiers
In 1976, during a patrol near the Okavango river, his Wolf (APC) hit a landmine and was tipped over, killing one man and crushing Roxo beneath it. The rest of the crew tried to lift it free, but it was too heavy. His unit commander, Col. Jay Breytenbach, later wrote in his book "They Lived by the Sword": "Danny Roxo, in keeping with his dauntless character, decided to make the best of things, lighting a cigarette and smoking it calmly until it was finished, then he died - still pinned beneath the Wolf. He had not complained once, nor uttered a single groan or moan, although the pain must have been excruciating. Thus Sergeant Danny Roxo died, a man who had become a legend in the Portuguese Security Forces in Mozambique, and who had rapidly become another one in the South African Special Forces." Side note: During one of his hunting trips in the wilderness, he was attacked by a leopard. With both knife and gun out of his reach, he had no choice but to defend himself with bare hands. Despite suffering heavy wounds, he managed to strangle the beast. #fuckit #smokebreak