Identity
Person No.
29275
Old ROH no.
26
Service No.
77547784BG
Last Name
First Name
Peter Wayne Bowry
Initials
P W B
Date of Birth
Unknown
Est. Birth Year
Age at Death
17
Death Record
Date of Death
Cause code
SHOT 546
Shot
Cause of Death
Died in Shooting Incident, from a gunshot wound accidentally sustained at Jan Kemp Dorp as a result of an accidental discharge of a fellow soldier's rifle
Military Service
Location
Country
Locality
Grave Reference
Coordinates
Memorial
Memorial
Location
On a koppie at the Voortrekker Monument, overlooking Pretoria
Address
Coordinates
Panel
On the panel
1979 Army. Left column. 3rd name from the top (Atherton P.W.B.)
Unit History
Role at time of death
Infantry (area defence)
Status
Commando (Area Bound Reserve)
Part of
SADF Commando System
category
Generic Regiment-field text used across hundreds of records whose actual unit is a specific local Commando (e.g. Rustenburg Commando, Boksburg Commando -- captured in Unit). Post-WWII, "Commando" is its own force-component category alongside Regular/Permanent Force and Active Citizen Force -- area-bound, part-time reserve units tied to a specific district, mobilised for local counter-insurgency/area protection duties during the Border War era. Not a single regiment; this Status applies to the whole category.
Notes
Son of Mr. and Mrs. E. R. B. Atherton, of Malvern, Johannesburg
Research notes
SADF Wall of Remembrance (Voortrekker Monument): named on photograph "1978 SAA (Hitchens–Human, Wolmarans) to 1979 SAA (Akaando–Djolomien, Maarman–Saal)". 1979 Army. Left column. 3rd name from the top (Atherton P.W.B.).
Citations
Unknown
External References
-
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 125-128 of 143: confirmed, no changes.
Stories 3
Jimmy (my Uncle) fought and was killed in Italy in the last stages of WWII. My late father (Arthur Aberdein) volunteered for the British Army (as many apparently did) and fought in an armoured division at the same time in Italy. Jimmy was a Spitfire pilot. My father sometimes talked about wondering if "that Spitfire up there might be Jimmy" at the time. My father rarely mentioned his war expereinces - I think perhaps many of them are best left forgotton.
Peter (Punchie) Atherton was a Jeppe Old Boy. He was a gentle kind kid. I considered him to be one of the nicest you could meet. Not many people know that Peter Atherton was an amateur boxer of note. I regret the fact that Brian Mitchell forgot about Peter. As an amateur, Peter Atherton boxed with Brian. I believe that had Peter not been killed during National Service, he would undoubtedly have ranked among our greatest boxers ever. Peter was blessed with determination and grit, he also possessed a deep humility, but above all, Peter stood above Brian in one crucial respect, he had a knockout punch. Hence the nickname (Punchie). RIP Punchie, I remember you with fondness and respect still to this day.
I was there when Peter was killed in a stupid, careless accident near Jan Kempdorp. If there were correctly trained medics present, his death might have been avoided. I remember that even the ambulance battery was dead. The price we paid...for what?
Dedications
No dedications have been added yet.