Leon's Special Achievements
RSA 20 Photo Exhibition May 1981
Leon Clemons was appointed as an artist at the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) Shows and Exhibitions on 1 September 1980 with the rank of Sergeant. On the first working day of January 1981, the then officer commanding of the SANDF Shows and Exhibitions, Kmdt. Japie Lutz, handed Leon a file with the command: “Go and do this job and be on time!”
The job was to design, take photos, have them developed, and ready for an erection team to erect them in Durban. Leon had to portray the successes of the Army, Air Force, Navy, and Medical services over the past 75 years. The photos and exhibition had to be of international quality, ready to be opened officially by the then Prime Minister of South Africa, P.W. Botha, on 31 May 1981.
Despite the fact that Leon Clemons had to finish his work in record time, he did it on time with excellent quality.
The original plan was to only show the exhibition in Durban. Prime Minister P. W. Botha was so impressed with the exhibition that he ordered that the exhibition then had to be shown in all the main cities in South Africa.
The image above shows the address honouring Leon Clemons for completing the RSA 20 Photo Exhibition with excellent quality and in record time of four months.
Leon's artwork selected for the FNB Millennium Calendar
Leon's artwork featured on the front cover of the Militaria magazine
Leon Clemons' painting of the South African Infantry Fighting Vehicle (IFV), The Ratel, appeared on the front page of the Militaria magazine.
Read through the following letters for details of some of Leon's achievements.
Leon's Certificates of Achievement
Photograph of achievement certificates against the side wall of Leon's study, followed by enlarged images of each certificate.
