Identity
Person No.
31311
Old ROH no.
808
Service No.
67327700N
Last Name
First Name
Peter Alfons Ernst
Initials
P A E
Date of Birth
Unknown
Est. Birth Year
Age at Death
19
Death Record
Date of Death
Cause code
MVA 2,660
Motor vehicle accident
Cause of Death
Died in Military Vehicle Accident, while being transported in a Gladiator Troop Carrier back to Ladysmith Army Camp. Their vehicle was involved in a head-on collision with a Newspaper Delivery Van between Colesburg and Philippolis and the vehicle immediately burst into flames with the men still trapped inside and unable to escape
Military Service
Location
Country
Locality
Grave Reference
Unit History
Notes
Son of Mr. P. H. J. Leonhardt
Research notes
Col (rt) Graham du Toit Last Post 13 Sep 2026 / Bushwar Books Lest We Forget 13 September (https://www.warbooks.co.za/posts/lest-we-forget-13-september/ 67327700N Rifleman Peter Alfons Ernst Leonhardt, 5 SAI, same Gladiator MVA, age 19. Exact match.
25 Sep 2026, Unit2 service-branch sweep: the stored Secondary Unit "Army" was CLEARED as a duplicate. It was not a sub-unit, it was a service-branch word repeating what the Branch column already says. Secondary Unit is for sub-units -- a company, a squadron, a commando -- and this record's branch of service is unchanged at "Army".
Citations
Unknown
External References
-
Bushwar Books - Lest We Forget
open source ↗
Lest We Forget 13 September
-
Col (rt) Graham du Toit Last Post
Graham Last Post 13 Sep 2026
-
SADF.info Border Roll of Honour
open source ↗
SADF.info Border RoH
- South African War Graves Project open source ↗
-
The War in Angola
open source ↗
War In Angola Roll of Honour (warinangola.com, tabid=1175), pages 82-84 of 143: confirmed, no changes.
Stories 3
Died in a Military Vehicle Accident, involving his section being transported in a Gladiator. There was a bad crash and fire, with the troops trapped in the rear. The army vehicle he was in collided head-on with a newspaper delivery van between Colesberg and Philippolis, on their way back to Ladysmith army camp.
6732700N Rifleman Peter Alfons Ernst Leonhardt (5 SAI). He was 19.
13 Sep 1970: Six members from 5 SAI and one member from 3 SAI were killed while being transported in a Gladiator Troop Carrier back to Ladysmith Army Camp. Their vehicle was involved in a head-on collision with a Newspaper Delivery Van between Colesburg and Philippolis and the vehicle immediately burst into flames with the men still trapped inside. The casualties were:
Dedications
No dedications have been added yet.