[6] Woodburne completed the Specialist Mine Warfare and Clearance Diving Course in the United Kingdom where he came top of the class.

[5] On his return to South Africa he became the Officer in Charge of the Naval Diving School[5] in Simon's Town for two years.

[2] In 1972, the SAS Emily Hobhouse landed Special Forces troops led by Commandant Jan Breytenbach near Dar es Salaam as part of a raid on the Tanzanian port.

[15] On 1 July 1990 he was promoted to Vice-Admiral and appointed as Chief of the South African Navy, a position he held until retirement on 31 August 1992.

The citation for the Van Riebeeck Decoration reads:Lieutenant Commander Lambert Woodburne distinguished himself by displaying outstanding leadership, perseverance and devotion to duty in a special task of a delicate and dangerous nature during 1972.One occasion, during that year, he was placed in command of an extremely sensitive task in the interest of the security of the State, in the execution of which a great deal had to be relied upon his own judgement and initiative and which demanded positive and dynamic leadership from him.

His positive leadership, perseverance in the face of great odds and his outstanding devotion to duty undoubtedly played a decisive role in the successful execution of the task.