KWAZULU-NATAL BRANCH

Newsletter No. 547
May 2024

NOTICE OF MONTHLY MEETING THIS SATURDAY 11th May, 2024

DURBAN DURING WWII

Members may remember that the newsletter last month advised that Roy Bowman would be giving 3 DDH short talks that had been prepared already. However, one of these has grown to a main talk and hence this meeting will now be a feature afternoon of events in Durban during the period 1939-45.
Thus, the meeting will consist of a short introductory talk and a main as follows:

The Wreck of the SS Ovington Court on Addington Beach Durban, on 26 November, 1940. Waiting in the outer anchorage with other ships, her anchor dragged that evening at around 6pm in the very heavy surf and the ship began to drift towards the beach which it struck about four hours later.This generated much excitement in the local population due to the proximity to the main beach and the exttensive efforts to save the crew. The boiler of the wreck is still visible close to shore at low tide and many Durbanites will recall swimming out to it.

Fortress Durban

Durban, in line with its position as a vital and strategic port,was forced to install defences to protect the harbour and anchorage from enemy raiders, and the beaches from offensive landings. Extensive upgrading of previous obsolete defences together with ground-breaking innovations to detect surface, underwater and aerial intruders were installed.

Many of these were, and remain to this day, unknown to the majority of the people of Durban. In many instances the remains still exist, or have only recently been demolished. They ranged from batteries of long-range guns, to moveable anti-submarine nets across the harbour entrance to prevent entry by submarines, and shortrange weapons to engage any forced to surface.

In addition to the construction of defences, the lives of Durbanites were affected in many ways, from restrictions to movement in certain areas, to food rationing to allow provisioning of the large convoys passing through to the Middle Eastern and Indian Ocean theatres.Beach defences impinged on the traditional day at the beach, and the strictly enforced blackouts affected night time activities.

Many Durban families either worked voluntarily atharbour canteens serving the passing troops and/or entertained them in their homes.
Expect to be privileged to be treated to the interesting and fascinating story of Durban during WWII.

The starting time is 1.30 for 2.00pm on SATURDAY 11th May, 2024.
The venue remains the St Cyprians Church Hall off Umbilo Rd, with secure parking and liquid refreshments available for cash.

Entry is free and open to all, but a donation of R10 for the raffle and R10 for the car guard are requested from all attendees.

NEWSLETTER

April Meeting

Our April monthly meeting featured a well-illustrated and highly detailed talk by Robin Smith, author, reviewer and speaker on Military History. Unfortunately, due to an accident at home travel to Durban from Howick for Robin, with two ribs cracked on the Thursday, was not an option! The talk then had to be given as a recorded video presentation with voice over by Robin. The topic was the World War II Siege of Malta.

The key to the campaign in the Mediterranean theatre, was the island of Malta. The “fixed aircraft carrier” from which the Allies were able to serious disrupt supply convoys from Italy to the Italian/German forces in Africa. Robin who is a frequent visitor to the island, due to family connections, described the defence of the island against waves of Italian and German bombers and especially the relief convoys which, suffered grievous losses. In particular he detailed the incredible effort and sacrifices made in the vital Pedestal convoy of August 1942. Over six days the Allies fought off aircraft, sailed around minefields, and defended against surface vessels and submarines. When they finally straggled into to Malta, it was at the costof 400 lives and 9 of the original 15 merchant ships. The vital tanker, Ohio, the subject of frenzied aerial attacks and in a sinking condition, was finally dragged in by others. This tremendous story of courage, and fortitude allowed the island to finally hold out until the Torch landings in North Africa turned the tide of the war.

Branch AGM

The afternoon presentation was preceded by the Branch AGM. Unfortunately, the attendance of 13 members and 3 visitors fell far short of the required quorum and the financial statements, although indicating that the Branch is well positioned arrived too late to produce a proper Financial Report. Thus, it was decided that similarly to last year the meeting beadjourned, for all documentation to be circulated to members by email for comment and questions. Once these are satisfied if necessary via further circulation,the meeting will be considered complete and closed. Expect this process to proceed within the next week or so. This is not an ideal situation, but is considered preferable to the traditional alternative of re-scheduling the AGM and taking however many (or few!) present to constitute a quorum.

Call for Volunteers

We are still in need of volunteers for the committee and helpers at meetings.
Note that it is not an onerous task. We normally only have committee meetings when required usually not more than twice a year, and the tasks will generally only relate to assistance at meetings. (Doorman/petty cash, barman, raffle etc). If you can be available please contact me on 0844371636 (phone or WhatsApp) or email everitt@iafrica.com . Please consider volunteering for the committee or to undertake one of these tasks.

ADVANCE NOTICE OF JUNE MEETING

This meeting will take place on Saturday, 8th June almost exactly 80 years since the D-Day landings in Normandy, the largest sea-borne invasion ever undertaken. The logistic arrangements were unprecedented, and includedtwo pre-fabricated “Mulberry” Harbours, towed across the channel and positioned to rapidly unload supplies played a major role. Phil Everitt will describe the planning, construction, and operation of this feat of harbour engineering and how it was integrated into the landings.

That’s all for now folks, see you on Saturday!
Please spread the news of the meetings and encourage others to come along
Regards
Phil

Phil Everitt
Chair KZN Branch SA Military History Society
Cell: 0844371636
Email: everitt@iafrica.com