In Memory Of

FRY, GORDON HUGH

Service Details
Date of Birth:
 -0001-11-30
Service No:
 729689
Rank:
 Corporal
Unit:
 1st Battalion
Unit 2:
 1 Commando
Regiment:
 Rhodesian Light Infantry
Date of Death:
 1979-09-06
Cause of Death:
 Killed in action, shot down in Mozambique (at Mapai). Believed to have been carrying explosives to be used in Operation Uric and hit by a RPG7 or AAA., in Aerospatiale SA3330 Puma C #164. Also killed was the SAAF aircrew and 14 Rhodesian soldiers.
Commemoration
Grave Reference:
 Body not recovered - crash site coordinates are: S22 06' 48.2" E31 39' 12.1"
Cemetery:
 Buried at the crash site near Mapai (Rail), Mozambique by the local population
Country:
 Mozambique
Additional Information
Cpl. Gordon Fry joined 12 Troop 3 Commando in mid 1978. In 1979 Gordon completed a Medical Assistant Class 3 (MA3) course at the Rhodesian Army Medical School in Llewellen Barracks. He was posted back to RLI as a Commando Paramedic and attached to 1 Commando. Cpl. Gordon Fry was tragically killed along with 16 other servicemen of whom 8 were RLI when their helicopter was shot down on Operation Uric at Mapai in Mozambique. The Rhodesian Army Medical School named a classroom in Cpl. Gordon Fry's honor with another 2 classrooms named in honor of RLI medics Cpl. John Coey and Cpl. Peter Rice respectively.