Calaboche Tchudá: the Balanta soldier decorated during the Guinea War and killed after independence
Portuguese Guinea, 1969–1974. Among the African servicemen who joined the Portuguese forces during the Colonial War in Guinea was Calaboche Tchudá, a Guinean infantry soldier of Balanta ethnicity, born in Pecuária, in what was then the parish of São José, in the Bissorã district.
His military career was marked by his participation in combat operations, his performance as a rocket-launcher (RL) gunner, and by conduct which, according to the military commendation awarded to him, frequently went beyond the normal duties of a soldier in his unit.
Tchudá would go on to receive the War Cross, 4th Class, one of the Portuguese military decorations awarded for deeds in the field, as well as the Governor of Guinea Prize.
He died in 1974, a few months after Guinea-Bissau's independence, in an episode whose exact location is presented differently by the available sources.
From Pecuária, Bissorã, to the Portuguese Army
Calaboche Tchudá was born in Pecuária, in the Bissorã region, territory then part of Portuguese Guinea. In 1969, he was enlisted into the Independent Territorial Command of Guinea (CTIG) with service number 82077269, holding the rank of Infantry Soldier.
He was posted to the 13th Hunters Company (CCaç 13), known as "The Black Lions," garrisoned in Bissorã and part of the deployment of the 2927th Cavalry Battalion. The company became particularly associated with the Bissorã region and with military operations carried out in the north of Guinea.
Within the unit, Tchudá served in the 4th platoon, performing the role of rocket-launcher gunner, a fire-support role requiring precision and the ability to act under pressure.
Twenty months of combat
According to the military commendation published in March 1971, over the course of some twenty months of service, Tchudá stood out for his disciplined conduct and his performance in combat situations.
The official document describes him as a soldier who, when his unit came under heavy fire, would move to the most exposed sectors, carrying with him the rocket launcher and any additional ammunition he was able to gather while advancing.
The same commendation states that he used the weapon with precision against enemy positions and that his actions helped other members of the company resume the offensive movement.
Besides his technical skill as an RL gunner, the document highlights a second trait: his capacity for leadership within the small combat group. When his section was left without ranked personnel, Tchudá would take charge of coordinating the men.
The commendation awarded by the Portuguese military authorities states that both superiors and comrades recognised in him qualities of leadership, notably calmness and composure under fire.
Operation "Red Jaguar," 1970
One of the most well-documented episodes of his career took place during Operation "Red Jaguar," carried out in 1970.
Records of the operation place one of its phases in the Morés bush, an area considered strategic and strongly associated with the presence of the PAIGC. One historical account of the operation gives the date of 9 June 1970 for the entry into the Morés region, while the military commendation describes the operation as having lasted more than 15 days.
During one of the actions, the company was crossing a bolanha (flooded rice-field) area when the last five men of the column became isolated under enemy fire.
The terrain hampered visibility and prevented the rest of the company from providing immediate support.
According to the official commendation, Tchudá, who was nearby, intervened quickly and managed to bring an end to the pressure on his comrades, allowing them to get out of a situation of grave danger.
The episode became the main documented basis for the military recognition he would later receive.
Military recognition
On 12 March 1971, the Brigadier Military Commander of Guinea awarded Calaboche Tchudá an individual commendation for his feats in combat. The commendation was published in Service Order No. 12, of 25 March 1971.
Months later, his name was again highlighted in the Jornal do Exército (Army Journal), issue No. 142, of October 1971, through the Governor of Guinea Prize.
On 1 November 1971, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces in Guinea ordered that the War Cross, 4th Class, be awarded to Calaboche Tchudá. The decoration was subsequently published in Army Order No. 3, 3rd series, of 1972.
Military decoration records identify him as follows:
Calaboche Tchudá
Rank: Infantry Soldier
Speciality/role: Rocket-Launcher Gunner
Number: 82077269
Unit: 13th Hunters Company
Theatre of operations: Guinea
Decoration: War Cross, 4th Class
Distinction: Governor of Guinea Prize.
A leadership that went beyond his rank
From a military standpoint, one of the most notable aspects of Tchudá's career was not any formal rise through the ranks — he remained recorded as an Infantry Soldier — but the influence he exerted within his section.
The available documents do not allow him to be classed as the commander of a larger unit. However, his official commendation describes a form of informal leadership in combat: when no ranked personnel were available, he would take charge of the men and encourage his comrades during periods of heavy fire.
His military influence can thus be understood chiefly at the tactical, immediate level, within the combat group: his handling of support weaponry, his initiative in the face of danger, and his ability to hold his comrades together.
After the war: 1974 and the end of Portuguese rule
Calaboche Tchudá's military career unfolded during the final phase of the Colonial War. The events of 25 April 1974 brought about political change in Portugal and opened the way for the Portuguese withdrawal from its African territories.
In Guinea, this process led to Portugal's recognition of independence in September 1974.
For Guinean servicemen who had fought in the Portuguese forces, the period that followed was particularly difficult. Many had served for years within a military structure that was now being replaced by the new authorities of Guinea-Bissau.
It was in this context that the final episode of Tchudá's life took place.
Calaboche Tchudá the teacher
After his military service, Calaboche Tchudá went on to work as a teacher, associated with the Nhacra School.
In October 1974, a few months after the end of Portuguese rule in Guinea, he was intercepted by individuals linked to the PAIGC, according to the accounts available.
One source dedicated to his memory states that Tchudá was captured while on his way to the school, tied to a tree and shot. This account attributes his death to the PAIGC.
There is, however, a discrepancy in the sources regarding the exact location. The biographical record of his decoration gives Bissorã as the site of the shooting, while the testimony of his former comrade Carlos Fortunato states that Tchudá was killed on the way to the Nhacra school. Another memorial record also points to Bissorã as the place of death.
For this reason, it is more accurate to state that Calaboche Tchudá died in October 1974, after Guinea-Bissau's independence, a victim of a shooting attributed to the PAIGC, with the sources differing as to whether the execution took place in Bissorã or on the route to Nhacra.
A death set within a period of reprisals
Tchudá's death cannot be examined in isolation from the political and military context that followed independence.
The former African servicemen who had served in the Portuguese forces found themselves in a particularly delicate position.
Some remained in Guinea-Bissau, while others sought to leave the country. Memoirs of former combatants and later works report persecutions and deaths of African servicemen associated with the Portuguese forces, although the full extent of these events still requires systematic historical documentation.
For this reason, claims about the total number of servicemen executed, or about a general policy of reprisals, should be treated with caution and supported by specific historical sources.
The military legacy of Calaboche Tchudá
Calaboche Tchudá's career spans three distinct moments in Guinea's history:
1969–1971 — Colonial War:
He served in the 13th Hunters Company, took part in combat operations and distinguished himself as a rocket-launcher gunner.
1971–1972 — Military recognition:
He received an individual commendation, the Governor of Guinea Prize, and the War Cross, 4th Class, for his performance in the field.
1974 — Post-independence:
After the end of the Portuguese presence, and by then working in education, he was killed in circumstances attributed to the PAIGC, during a period marked by the political and military reorganisation of the newly independent Guinea-Bissau.
Calaboche Tchudá never rose to a senior rank. He remained an Infantry Soldier, yet the Portuguese military records show in him a capacity for informal leadership that, in combat situations, led him to take on responsibilities greater than those normally associated with his rank.
His story is, therefore, also a portrait of a generation of Guineans who took part directly in the Colonial War and who, after the change of sovereignty in 1974, faced a new and complex period in their country's history.
More than a purely military or political narrative, Tchudá's life offers insight into the path of an African combatant who stood on both sides of a historic transformation:
He fought during the Colonial War, was decorated by the Portuguese state, and ended up killed just a few months after the birth of an independent Guinea-Bissau.
Historical note: The information on his military career and decorations is drawn mainly from the transcribed official commendation and from the decoration records.
The details of his death are based on testimonies and memorial accounts, with some divergence as to the exact location of the shooting.