Passing of Margie Moore
We regret the recent passing of SAMHSEC member, Margie Moore, wife of Dermot.
Walmer War Memorial restoration progress report 27 August 2023
The Port Elizabeth Branch of the SA Legion’s restoration of the vandalised Walmer Town Hall War Memorial is progressing.
Restoration is complicated by squatters living in the Town Hall precinct, in spite of it being over the road from the Walmer Police Station. Lighting has to be added to the project cost as the existing lights have been vandalised and the City Council has no funds for repair.
The TS Lanherne Sea Cadets have contributed to covering the cost of the project. Given that most Cadets are not from well-off parts of town and that TS Lanherne has problems of its own with squatters living on municipal ground adjacent to their premises, their contribution is especially appreciated.
Battle of Britain Memorial Service 17 September 2023
The annual Battle of Britain Memorial Service is at 1100 on 17 September 2023 at St Paul’s Church in Perridgevale.
SAMHSEC field trip to Jefferies Bay and Humansdorp 16 September 2023
Our next field trip is a return same day visit on 16 September 2023 arranged by SAMHSEC member Tiaan Jacobs to Jefferies Bay and Humansdorp. Further field trip correspondence will be by WhatsApp. If you are not on the SAMHSEC WhatsApp group and are interested in attending, please send me a WhatsApp to 082 331 6223.
SAMHSEC 14 August 2023 meeting
Stephen Bowker spoke about the career and military service of Margaret Susan Cheshire, Baroness Ryder of Warsaw, Lady Cheshire, CMG, OBE, best known as Sue Ryder. She was a British volunteer with the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry and Special Operations Executive in WW2, who after the war, established charitable organisations, notably the Sue Ryder Foundation
Ten years after the end of WW2 in Europe, there were more than 220 000 displaced persons living in refugee camps. They were unable to return home as their homes had either been destroyed in the war or Communists had taken over their country.
These forgotten survivors of the Nazi concentration camps found themselves foreigners in a foreign land. As foreigners, they were precluded from gainful employment and, as a result, many turned to petty crime. For them, the horrors of the concentration camps were replaced by the horrors of the refugee camps.
These displaced people desperately needed a champion. That champion came in the form of a diminutive English lady with a formidable spirit, Sue Ryder.
Sue Ryder fought for the restoration of dignity to the displaced, often at her own expense. She lived by her own maxim “Do what you can for the person in front of you.”
She was born into a wealthy upper-class family in 1924. Growing up on her father’s estates, she preferred to accompany her father around their farms in Yorkshire, involving herself in physical work rather than playing with dolls.
She frequently accompanied her mother who dedicated herself to the welfare of others, visiting and taking care of the poor in the slums of Leeds.
At night around the dinner table, she was in adult company where the conversation turned to world events. Her father spoke of the rising threat of the Nazis in Germany. At school, she learned firsthand from a fellow boarder of the Nazi threat in Germany. The physical welfare of others and the Nazi threat were to occupy her for the rest of her life.
When Hitler invaded Poland on 1 September 1939, she was too young to join for the war effort, so she worked at a local hospital. The following year, lying about her age, she joined the First Aid Nursing Yeomanry (FANY). From there, she was posted to the Polish division of the Special Operations Executive (SOE), whose purpose was espionage, sabotage and reconnaissance in Europe.
FANY provided cover for her secret activities in SOE, where she supported and trained with men and women agents who were parachuted behind enemy lines in Europe.
When the war ended, she was in Europe and discovered the horrors of the Nazi concentration camps. Unfunded, she set about looking after displaced people, often putting her own life at risk. She fed and clothed them and argued their cases when they were imprisoned for petty crimes. She often transported them to areas of safety when they ran into trouble with the law.
In 1955 she met Group Captain Leonard Cheshire VC, OM, DSO & Two Bars, DFC, founder of Cheshire Homes. Sharing similar visions, they married in 1957.
They returned to Cavendish in England where they ran separate and sometimes combined welfare operations from their home. They raised their two children there, together with an extended family of physically disabled people.
Stephen’s presentation is in SAMHS' Zoom library.
SAMHSEC RPC 28 August 2023
In session 1, we discussed participants’ suggestions for future SAMHSEC Requests
the Pleasure of your Company (RPC) meetings. We agreed that future RPCs should
be more flexible to increase interaction between participants. Thank you to all who
contributed to the discussion, the recording of which is available via the link
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1_BXnx0MYbKcIW2LsgA5RjCPRLn3_jkiW/view?u
sp=sharing
(and includes a guest appearance by David’s cat at about minute 27 and 15
seconds).
In session 2, André Crozier discussed the recently published book “20 Battles Searching for a South African Way of War” by Evert Kleynhans and David Brock Katz. The book covers selected operations in which South African forces were involved after 1913. Some members questioned whether the title was appropriate as some of the actions described could hardly be seen as battles.
SAMHSEC 11 September 2023 meeting
Anne Irwin is to talk about her recent visit to the National Army Museum in London.
SAMHSEC RPC 25 September 2023
In session 1, Nick Cowley is to tell us about his research on Dick King and his
connection with Bathurst.
25 September 2023 at 1930 South African time
Session 2
This session is available for you to share a military history related book. Please contact André at andrecrozier@gmail.com if you want to use this opportunity. 25 September 2023 at 2015 South African time
SAMHSEC