Passing of SAMHSEC member Ian Uys
We record with regret the passing of fellow member Ian Uys on 28 June 2024.
SAMHSEC member achievement
BZ to SAMHSEC member Dylan Fourie on his election as Vice Chairman of the Ancient History Society in Port Elizabeth.
SAMHSEC meeting 10 June 24
Arnold van Dyk’s presentation "Viva Os Boers -the Boers in Portugal during the Anglo-Boer War" told us about Boers who crossed into Mozambique during the Anglo-Boer War and were interned in Portugal until the end of the War. The Boers were interned in Abrantes, Alcobaça, Caldas da Rainha, Oeiras, Peniche and Tomar.
The internees enjoyed considerable freedom of movement, so long walks and excursions were popular pastimes, as were various sports including target shooting. A few dexterous ones made trinkets, but not on a large scale. The relationship between the Boers and the Portuguese was very cordial and some close friendships were formed.
The Boer internees were repatriated in July I902. In I913 the Union of South Africa government had a monument erected in the English cemetery in Lisbon to those internees who had died in Portugal.
The recording of Arnold’s presentation is available in the SAMHS Zoom library,
SAMHSEC RPC 24 June 2024
In session 1, Anne Irwin’s presentation on The Art of War focused on the way visual art – as with poetry – can create a deeper understanding of the impact of war on soldiers and other individuals caught up in the conflict. Moving from the art form which attempted to provide realistic images of battles to a more impressionistic form of military art, the focus of the talk was on details from four of John Meyer’s fifteen very large paintings relating to the Anglo-Boer War. This collection is titled Lost in the Dust. A detailed analysis of these images were, in some cases, augmented by historical photographs of the time – such as the burning of Boer houses and an armoured train. The presentation was bookended by anonymous poems from Karen Batley’s edited collection, The Secret Burden. For readers who would like a closer look at the details of the paintings in this presentation – as well as some of the others – it is worth going to https://triplem.co.za/john-meyer-lost-in-the-dust.
The SAMHS Zoom library is where you will find the recording of Anne’s presentation.
In session 2, John Stevens presented 2 books by Ian Hay entitled “The First Hundred Thousand” and “Carrying On After the First Hundred Thousand”.
These two books were best sellers in the United Kingdom and the United States during WW1 and were translated into French. They are war books that only a trained novelist could have written; graphic, absorbing, full of humour and with bits of superb character-drawing that make the men at the front seem like old friends. Released in 1915 and 1917 respectively, these books are a compilation of stories showing life through the author’s eyes in a typical unit in a Division of Kitchener's first New Army K(1).... aka “The First Hundred Thousand”. Hay writes in a very engaging and humorous easy to read style which makes the books entertaining. In his own words “The characters are fictitious, but all the events described are true.”
Part 1 of the first book covers the formation and training of the unit. Part 2 describes the unit's arrival and introduction to the Western Front in 1915 and culminates with the Battle of Loos (25 September to 8 October 1915, the biggest British attack of 1915, the first time that the British used poison gas and the first mass engagement of New Army units).
The second book continues after Loos and takes us into the early phases of the Battle of the Somme. Carrying on After the First Hundred Thousand is not about successive Kitchener's Armies, but about filling ranks after losses sustained in combat.
John Hay Beith (1876 -1952), schoolmaster, novelist, playwright and soldier, was born in England of Scottish parents and, after schooling and university education, became a schoolmaster with a flair for story writing in his spare time. This led to him becoming a full-time novelist under the pen name Ian Hay.
While at university he qualified as a 2nd Lieutenant under the OTC program and was allocated to the Territorial Force. He was discharged from the TF in 1913 having completed his obligatory service. He volunteered for service when the war broke out in 1914 and was appointed as a 2nd Lieutenant in the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders serving in the 10th Service Battalion of the 9th Scottish Division. He was mentioned in dispatches and awarded the Military Cross for gallantry at the Battle of Loos. In 1916 he transferred to the Machine Gun Corps and became Machine Gun Officer of his Brigade. Later in the war as a major, his literary talents were recognised and he was sent to the British War Commission in the United States where he was involved in distributing war information. After the war he continued as a successful novelist and playwright. A number of his novels became movies and his playwriting tended towards comedy. In the late 1930s he joined the War Department as Director of Public Relations until his retirement in 1941 with the rank of Major General.
These books should be of interest to South African readers as 1 South African Brigade was allocated to the 9th Scottish Division early in 1916 after the losses the Division sustained at Loos. This resulted in the nickname of the Jock and Springbok Division. The Springboks remained in the Division for most of the war.
Some interesting points:
My view is that these books give a picture of life in the Division which would have been familiar to 1 South African Brigade veterans and these books may have adorned their bookshelves after the War. This provides readers today with a picture of how they must have lived in the same surroundings and faced with similar challenges.
These books can be obtained free online in various forms at:
• The First Hundred Thousand http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/12877
• All In It (the American Version) of Carrying On after the First Hundred
Thousand https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/12302
Found in the introduction to the First Hundred Thousand, I assume it was written by Hay, but this is not given:
K(1)
We do not deem ourselves A 1,
We have no past: we cut no dash:
Nor hope, when launched against the Hun,
To raise a more than moderate splash.
But yesterday, we said farewell
To plough; to pit; to dock; to mill.
For glory_? Drop it! _Why? Oh, well-
To have a slap at Kaiser Bill.
And now to-day has come along.
With rifle, haversack and pack,
We're off, a hundred thousand strong.
And--some of us will not come back.
But all we ask, if that befall,
Is this. Within your hearts be writ
This single-line memorial:
He did his duty--and his bit!"
SAMHSEC meeting 8 July 2024
André Crozier will tell us about the planning of D-Day.
SAMHSEC RPC 29 July 2024
SAMHSEC Requests the Pleasure of your Company to talk about military history on 29 July 2024.
RPC meetings are opportunities for you to share your knowledge of a military history 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.
Chairman’s note: Thank you for the positive responses to the call for RPC speakers in the June newsletter. There are still speaker slots available, so please contact André at andrecrozier@gmail.com if you want to share your knowledge.
South African as Scientific Adviser to 21st Army Group during the Northwest Europe Campaign
Brigadier Sir Basil Schonland's account of his experiences as Scientific Adviser to Field Marshal Montgomery's 21st Army Group during the invasion of Northwest Europe is available on https://scholars.wlu.ca/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1441&context=cmh
Anne Copley’s book published
Anne presented “Allied escapers in Italy: an untold story of WW2” to SAMHSEC’s zoomeeting on 21 May 2021.
In her e-mail received on 24 Jun 2024, Anne tells us that “I am writing to all contacts in my address book to let them know about the publication of my book “The Girl with a Peach: Courage and Compassion in Wartime Italy” about the largest mass prison breakout ever, and the subsequent bravery and kindness shown by the Italian population (mortal enemies only days before) to the ragged young men from all over the world who turned up at their doors.
Whether you haven’t heard from me in years, or we correspond frequently, my apologies for some blatant self-promotion, softened by the fact that all profits will go to my charity the Monte San Martino Trust. And apologies in advance if you get this notice through more than one source!
If you are interested, this is the Amazon UK link. Alternatively you can order it from your local bookshop ISBN-10 0957610238 or ISBN-13 978-0957610231”.
SAMHSEC