Skip to content
Resistênciaby Onofriana.pt
Menu

Walk

Explore

The project

Appearance

People

Fernando Sottomayor

Fernando Gomes Sottomayor

Revolutionofficer of the 7th Cavalry Regimentrefused to fire on Salgueiro Maia on 25 April 1974

An officer of the 7th Cavalry Regiment, at the Ribeira das Naus on 25 April 1974 he refused Brigadier Junqueira dos Reis’s order to fire on Salgueiro Maia, and was placed under arrest for it.

Fernando Gomes Sottomayor was an officer of the 7th Cavalry Regiment.3 On the morning of 25 April 1974 he was in command of the two M47 tanks that Brigadier Junqueira dos Reis, at the head of the forces loyal to the government, sent forward along Avenida da Ribeira das Naus against the column of Salgueiro Maia.21

When Maia came forward with a white handkerchief, the brigadier ordered Sottomayor to open fire on him. Sottomayor refused and was immediately placed under arrest. The tank gunners refused too, and the troops and the tanks ended up going over to the side of the MFA.21

On the walks

Places

In the timeline

  1. 25 Apr 1974

    Ribeira das Naus: os soldados recusam disparar

They crossed paths with him

  • Junqueira dos Reis

    A brigadier called in to command the forces loyal to the regime on 25 April 1974, he gave orders to open fire at the Ribeira das Naus and on Rua do Arsenal, and his own men disobeyed.

  • Salgueiro Maia

    1944–1992

    A 29-year-old captain, he commanded the Cavalry Practical School column that occupied the Terreiro do Paço, faced down the regime’s forces without firing a shot and besieged the Carmo Barracks until he obtained Marcelo Caetano’s surrender.

  • Alfredo Assunção

    A lieutenant in Salgueiro Maia’s column, he was assaulted on Rua do Arsenal by Brigadier Junqueira dos Reis while trying to negotiate — and responded with a salute. In the afternoon, he brought Spínola’s emissaries to the Carmo.

Notes on the sources2
  • His rank: officer cadet (aspirante), according to the 25 April Association and the Commemorative Commission for the 50th Anniversary of 25 April; conscript second lieutenant (alferes miliciano), according to the chronology by Jofre Alves, which gives his full name.
  • His dates of birth and death, and what happened to him after 25 April.

Do you know more, or do you have a document? Tell us.

Sources

  1. 1Operação Viragem Histórica. Comissão Comemorativa 50 Anos 25 de Abril — consulted on 2 October 2026
  2. 2Movimentações do dia 25 de Abril. Associação 25 de Abril — consulted on 2 October 2026
  3. 3Cronologia do 25 de Abril, por Jofre Alves (blogue Abril de Novo, 2010), na Biblioteca Digital do CD25A. Centro de Documentação 25 de Abril – Universidade de Coimbra — consulted on 2 October 2026