NEWSLETTER - SEPTEMBER 2023

Brian Austin, speaking from the UK, had chosen to speak about E W in Southern Africa as his subject for our August Zoominar. This was the topic of a recent privately published limited edition book by Murphy and Labuschagne of which he had received a copy. Much later one of the guests at the Zoominar indicated that the book will be published by the Pro Patria Museum.

Electrical warfare and later electronic warfare had been around for a long time, he explained, because the electromagnetic spectrum included light waves as well as radio and radar waves. For example, searchlights bounced signals off clouds during the siege of Ladysmith, using shutters to convey Morse Code as on and off signals.

WWII saw activities by German Spies and much energy was spent trying to track down the position of the transmitter used by Lothar Sittig (aka Felix) to communicate with Berlin.

Brian touched on the involvement of South Africa in Rhodesia in 1968-76. Intercepting signals, using them to triangulate and pinpoint the position of the transmitters and jamming the signals were all parts of the exercise. Translation especially from Portuguese - in Angola and Mozambique - became so important that several translaters later joined the SADF.

Mobility was often crucial such that vehicles e.g. Ratels, Casspirs and Buffels were equipped with radio equipment. Their tall mast antennas - necessary to receive signals - had to fold down in bush conditions.

He mentioned Project Bowie in 1978 and proudly showed some of the locally produced receivers and transmitters - SA was the subject of an embargo at that time.

He showed a map of radio receiving, radio direction finding and radio jamming sites during the Border War - not all in Namibia either!

A lively question and answer session followed in which some present relayed their personal experiences of using EW in their army activities - not always following official orders, to be sure!

The recordings of the Zoominar are on the website in the Video Library.

Thursday 15th September 2023 at 19h30 and then 20h15

Speaker: Martin Urry
Subject: "South African Air Force, Warsaw Airlift, 13 August - 16 October 1944".

Monday 11th September at 19h30 and then at 20h15:

Speaker: Anne Irwin is to talk about her recent visit to
Subject: the National Army Museum in London.

are held on the second Saturday afternoon of a month, at St Cyprian's Church Hall in Umbilo Road, Durban, from 13h30 for 14h00. For details please contact
Prof Phil Everitt 084-437-1636 everitt@iafrica.com

Let scribe@samilitaryhistory.org know in order to be sent an invitation to the next ZOOMinar

Approximately 200 of our members receive announcements of forthcoming meetings and are invited to join the meetings. We wish to encourage more of those who are missing out to become involved. The Society holds three ZOOMinars a month.

All you need is a computer, OR A CELLPHONE, and a data connection and you can become part of the meetings. You will need to contact the Society to be added to the invite list and then you are all fitted out. You then click on the link in the invitation just before the meeting starts and it will hook you up to join the meetings.

A big thank you to those members who offered to serve as distribution hubs for the latest Journal.
The courier company exceeded expectations - hubs in Bloemfontein and one in Durban received their parcels less than 20 hours after collecting in Johannesburg.

To help hubs remind members who might have forgotten to collect their Journals timeously,
Joan would like a contact telephone number from all members.
To those many who have already sent their phone numbers to her, many thanks!

Charles Ross e-mailed:
Vandals recently removed all the Cast Iron grave markers of the British casualties from the Anglo-Boer War that are buried in the Ficksburg Cemetery. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission South Africa (CWGC SA) plans to replace these grave markers with a small granite marker on a piece of concrete. However, the challenge is that while they have the names of the casualties buried in the cemetery, the original location of the graves is difficult to establish.

I am aware that there are many members of the Society that have an interest in the Anglo-Boer War. My request is that if any member has photos of the grave markers in the Ficksburg Cemetery that they send them to me, and I will forward them to the CWGC SA.
Charles Ross Cell Phone: 082 785 5013 E-mail. chross@iafrica.com

Christopher Morgan-Jones e-mailed:

I am a UK based naval blogger and I am researching the life of a Royal Navy submariner and VC holder. The person I am looking for is Edward Maples Linton, his father.
He had been a Lieutenant Colonel in his county artillery regiment and having been gassed in 1917 he emigrated to South Africa around 1920 and died in Johannesburg in 1943. Prior to his death he had been the former secretary of a soldiers club according to his death certificate. His address in Johannesburg was 24 Banket Street and he is buried in West Park Cemetery in grave 505.

I would be interested to hear more about this soldiers club and also his life in South Africa.
email=cc.morgan.jones@gmail.com

Joan Marsh comments - none of my contacts have been able to help identify the 'soldiers club'.

Eastern Cape details contact    Malcolm Kinghorn    041-373-4469    culturev@lantic.net

Gauteng details contact    Joan Marsh     010-237-0676    joan@rfidradar.com

KwaZulu-Natal details contact    Prof Phil Everitt    084-437-1636     everitt@iafrica.com

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