Identity
Person No.
31332
Old ROH no.
812
Service No.
78373362BG
Last Name
First Name
Pieter Marius
Initials
P M
Date of Birth
Unknown
Est. Birth Year
Age at Death
21
Death Record
Date of Death
Cause code
KIA 14,778
Killed in action
Cause of Death
Killed in action, near Cuvelai in Southern Angola, during Ops Askari when his Ratel 20 was hit in the command cupola by an armour-piercing round from a Soviet 23mm ZU-23-2 Anti-Aircraft Gun being utilised in the ground attack role
Military Service
Branch
Army
Rank
Second Lieutenant
Unit
Unknown
Defence Force
SADF 3,836
South African Defence Force
Location
Country
Locality
Cemetery
Grave Reference
Coordinates
Operation
Operation
Dates
1983-12-09 to 1984-01-19
About
Major SADF operation into southern Angola against SWAPO and, for the first time on this scale, directly-engaged FAPLA forces around Cuvelai and Cahama; unexpectedly heavy FAPLA/Cuban resistance and losses on both sides contributed to the diplomatic track that produced the February 1984 Lusaka Accord.
Unit History
Awards
South Africa
Pro Patria Medal warrant, Government Gazette No. 5171 (25 Jun 1976), Rule 5, as amended by GG No. 5575 (3 Jun 1977); discontinued by GG No. 25213 (25 Jul 2003, Schedule corrected by GG No. 26778, 17 Sep 2004) for service on/after 27 Apr 2003. Gazette extracts: https://rohsa.co.za/award.php?id=24
Notes
Son of Prof. and Mrs. B. J. Liebenberg, of Pretoria. Born in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Studying Architecture at the Orange Free State University. He had 2 sisters
Research notes
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
-
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 54-56 of 143: confirmed, no changes.
-
The War in Angola
open source ↗
War In Angola Roll of Honour Member Dedication page for Liebenberg P.M. (SN 78373362BG): killed in action near Cuvelai during Operation Askari when his Ratel 20 was hit in the command cupola by a Soviet 23mm ZU-23-2 round — matches ROH's existing record. Operation link added.
Stories 4
As part of Operation Askari in 1983/1984, the first attack by South African mechanised infantry on Cuvelai began on the morning of 31 December 1983. During the initial assault an 81mm mortar platoon and the artillery were tasked to provide indirect fire support. The South Africans, who were not visible directly from the Cuvelai base, were met by intense 23mm fire. The officer in command of the mortar section, Second Lieutenant P.M. Liebenberg, lifted the mortar fire by 50 metre leaps to try and suppress this fire, but shortly after the beginning of the attack, the mortars suddenly became quiet as an enemy 23mm gunner hit the tower of Liebenberg's Ratel, fatally wounding him.
Piet was 'n stil voorbeeldige leier. Lt Anton Melck het net oor die radio gese "Moenie vir Piet roep nie-hy is nie meer daar nie" Johan v/d Spuy
Killed in Action (23mm in the head) 31 st December 1983 Niel Wiid
28 Jaar vandag.Mag ons jou nooit vergeet nie!Rus in vrede Johan v/d Spuy
Dedications 1
Piet was a couple of years ahead of me at Affies.. He then went to study in Bloem and we met up again in basics. I found some pics of us the other day in an old dusty box. I remember Piet from school as artistic and Mr. Deichman.. the art teacher.. always held him in high praise. In basics, Piet was more sure of himself.,.. not just fresh out of school like the rest of us. Piet was a very amazing guy and his passing was a loss to all of us...