Prince Alfred’s Guard Memorial Service 3 December 2023
The Prince Alfred’s Guard (Comrades) Association annual Memorial Service for the Regiment’s Fallen is on Sunday 3 December 2023 at 1000 at the Regimental Memorial, St Georges Park, Port Elizabeth.
SAMHSEC 13 November 2023 meeting
Brian Klopper spoke about the Centenary Congress of the South African Legion of Military Veterans held in Cape Town in 2021 during his tenure as National President of the SA Legion. The British Empire Services League was founded in Cape Town in February 1921. The local organisation was known as the British Empire Services League South Africa, which subsequently became the SA Legion.
SAMHSEC RPC 27 November 2023
In session 1, Pat Irwin gave an illustrated talk on three British War Memorials and their connections to South Africa, namely those of the Highland Light Infantry in Glasgow (aka City of Glasgow Regiment), the 6th Dragoon Guards (aka ‘The Carabiniers’) on the Thames Embankment in London and the Cameronians (aka The Scottish Rifles) in Kelvin Grove Park in Glasgow.
In each case, the origins of the regiment were outlined, followed by a brief discussion of the monument itself and the information on it. The service record of the unit in South Africa, largely in the East Cape Frontier Wars and the Anglo-Boer War, were described and related to memorials to these units in South Africa.
Special attention was given to the Cameronians’ affiliation with the Witwatersrand Rifles between the 1930s and 1968, when the former chose to disband rather than be amalgamated with or absorbed into other regiments. Aspects of the close relationship between the two regiments were briefly described.
Useful sources on this subject are:
McIntyre Colin 1990 Monuments of War London Robert Hale
A distinctly British, but useful, overview.
Monick S 1989 A Bugle Calls - The story of the Witwatersrand Rifles and its predecessors 1899-1987 Germiston Witwatersrand Rifles Regimental Council.
Swinson Arthur (Ed) A Register of the Regiments and Corps of the British Army London The Archive Press.
The recording of Pat’s talk is in the SAMHS zoom library.
In session 2, Nick Cowley told us about SAMHSEC’s field trip to Bathurst on 4 November 2023.
Bathurst was founded in 1820 as an administrative seat for the Settlers of that year, but soon lost that status and grew only slowly thereafter. It retains a certain ‘English village’ character to this day.
Thirty three SAMHSEC members and others took part in the field trip. The first stop was the Methodist Church, built in 1832 and initially known as the Wesleyan Chapel.
Next was St John’s Anglican Church, where Maryna Shepherd, a Church Warden, explained its rich history. It was completed just before the outbreak of the 6th Frontier War in 1834 and served as a refuge for Settlers who had fled from their homes and farms, even before it became a place of worship. A monument in the church garden bears the names of men from the congregation who were killed in the 6th, 7th and 8th Frontier Wars. Plaques inside the church honour men from the congregation who died in the Basutoland Gun War of 1880, at Delville Wood and in German East Africa during World War 1 and as a SAAF pilot in World War 2.
The group then moved to the powder magazine, originally part of the former Bathurst Military Post, which existed from 1820 to 1864. Local historian Rod Hooper-Box of the Historic Bathurst Society explained its outlay. The powder magazine, built from stone, is the only surviving feature of the Bathurst Military Post. Two star forts and other buildings were made of wattle and daub and have long since disappeared.
Lunch break followed, which some field trip participants spent at the famous historic Pig and Whistle Inn. It was called the Bathurst Inn until the 1940s, when RAF pilots from the nearby 43 Air School named it the Pig and Whistle after their local pub back in England. Other trip participants joined me on a Historical Walking Trail around Bathurst’s original core. This took in five Settler-era buildings, including the Bathurst Primary School, which dates back in concept to 1821 and has a claim to be the oldest school in the country,
After lunch the field trip moved to the Toposcope, located on a hill just outside Bathurst. The real historical feature here is Bailey’s Beacon in the centre, erected by Captain William Bailey of the Royal Engineers during surveys he conducted along the entire Cape Colony coast around 1859. The Beacon, a stone and concrete mound, is surrounded by the Toposcope, which is a circular wall built in 1968 with plaques indicating where the various 1820 Settler parties were located.
The outing concluded at Bradshaw’s Mill, South Africa’s oldest water-powered textile mill, with its lowest part dating back to the late 1820s. The mill was built by Settler brothers Samuel and Richard Bradshaw. Sam Bradshaw went on to become a Field Cornet in the local militia, serving in the Frontier Wars as well as the frequent pursuits of cattle reivers and skirmishes that punctuated the wars. David Forsdyke of Historic Bathurst explained the mill’s history and operation.
The highly successful and enjoyable field trip saw participants learning a good deal about the 1820 Settlers and Bathurst’s history as a cradle of Anglophone culture in South Africa. SAMHSEC made generous donations to both the historic churches visited, while trip participants contributed individually to Historic Bathurst’s expenses in maintaining the Powder Magazine, Toposcope and Mill. SAMHSEC extended its thanks and appreciation to Historic Bathurst and its guides for their help and collaboration on the day, as well as their devoted upkeep of significant 1820 Settler-linked sites.
The recording of Nick’s report on the field trip is in the SAMHS zoom library.
Bathurst defences 1820-1864
Received from Rod Hooper-Box, who was our guide during SAMHSEC's visit to the Bathurst powder magazine on 4 November 2023
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1mCcf8NOxur_veaaDmWMVf75ka4gAJx0I/view? usp=sharing
SAMHSEC 11 December 2023 meeting
Dylan Fourie will be telling us about U-boat operations off the South African coast during World War 2.
SAMHSEC RPC meetings
SAMHSEC Requests the Pleasure of your Company to talk about military history on the last Monday of the month.
Average attendance of our RPC meetings in 2023 was 31.
SAMHSEC will again Request the Pleasure of your Company to talk about military history on 29 January 2024.
RPC meetings are opportunities for you to share your knowledge of a military history related subject or book with fellow military historians. Presentations should last approximately 15 minutes to allow time for sharing the pleasure of one another’s company. You can do any number of RPC presentations per year. Please contact André at andrecrozier@gmail.com if you want to share your knowledge.
Book review
David Brock Katz, General Jan Smuts and his First World War in Africa, 19141917. Jonathan Ball Publishers, Johannesburg, 2022. ISBN 978-1-77619-230-4 (paperback); 978-1-77619-231-1 (eBook)
An Excellent Military Biography of Jan Smuts's Role as Soldier-Statesman in Africa During the First World War (scielo.org.za)
Assistance request for old Eastern Cape map between King Williams Town and Port Elizabeth
Kindly assist with the old Eastern Cape map between King Williams Town, Grahamstown Town to Port Elizabeth before the last frontier war in 1878. I am trying to trace down the region Chief Siyolo was ruling.
I am trying to find out about the region ruled by Chief Siyolo during that period.
Please also share any kind of information you may have on Xhosa Chief Siyolo
(Grandson of Ndlambe).
Thank you so much.
Sibusiso Rali
067 073 3219
sibusisorali9@gmail.com
Note: Please contact Sibusiso directly if you can assist him.
This is the Captain speaking
Thank you for your continuing interest in and contribution to SAMHSEC. I look forward to your company in 2024. With my best wishes to you and your families for a Blessed Christmas.
SAMHSEC