NEWSLETTER NO. 341
The main November meeting was held on 13 November and this was followed on 23 November with the Battlefield Tour. This was our 3rd Battlefield Tour of 2003 (is this a record?) and was organised by fellow member Derrick Petersen. The visit was to Willow Grange, near Mooi River, and 57 members and guests attended on what was the 104th anniversary of the battle. Derrick planned the whole day and apart from leading us to all the key locations of this most interesting of battles by arranging with the local farmers to allow us to have access to their land, he also gave a series of detailed explanations of the battle as it unfolded. It was an excellent day out and the Society owes Derrick Petersen a vote of thanks for making it all possible.
The Society meeting in December was the annual End of Year Function, held this year at the Hungry Duck in Kloof. 61 members and guests spent a most cheerful and "buzzy" evening as many members described it, and with piper Thomas Fuller providing a glorious military sound to the evening, it proved to be an excellent close to an eventfull Society year. As always, our thanks are due to Vice Chairman Bill Brady, who organised the evening with his usual flair.
The main November meeting started, as has become a growing tradition, with Professor Mike Laing giving the DDH talk on an aspect of the career of General George Patton. This year his talk was entitled What Cost Patton the Third Army? Patton was relieved of his command by General Eisenhower on 28 September 1945, during a meeting in Frankfurt, Germany and bid a final farewell to his army just over a week later on 7 October. Mike Laing then gave what are regarded as the surface reasons for his dismissal, including Patton's crazy and politically motivated comments to the press, his vehement anti-Russian remarks, his anti-Jewish comments and his comments about wanting to retaining members of the Nazi Party in the Bavarian Government (he used the expression "German Troops" as a cover up). The question was posed as to whether Patton was set-up by the press - and in answering "yes" to that, the second question was raised "why and what was the REAL reason?"
Before giving a direct answer, our speaker quoted Sun Tzu and what he said about generals and their need to be "serene and in full self control", all the things that General Patton was not, and then gave examples of the extraordinary behaviour of Patton from 1925 onwards. These included a range of both social as well as military incidents that caused much laughter from the audience but made us all wonder how Patton managed to reach such high rank in the US Army.
It could only be that his brilliance as an army officer was recognised by those who were prepared to ignore his extremes of behaviour. For example, Patton was banned from a beach in 1925 for wearing swimming trunks that were designed to show off a large scar on his buttocks; in 1936 his friends had to cover up for him and get him out of the back door after swearing at a polo match; in that same year he went on a serious drinking binge; in 1942 at the time of Operation Torch his behaviour was reported to General Marshall; in 1943 he upset Eisenhower by saying that `Ike was the best general the British have" and then came the 2 famous slapping incidents in Sicily. This went on with public and detrimental comments made about the conduct of the war and about a number of the allies top generals, but all through it was Eisenhower who saved him. Patton was severely reprimanded but Ike knew that he needed his best general to take the fight to the Germans in the closing months of the war. When the war was over and Patton had performed as Ike wanted, it reached a stage where even Eisenhower had enough of the general who could not control his mouth. First it was Patton's desire to take out the Russians and finally his comment on war "God help me, I love it" was the final straw and he was sacked in September 1945, when to quote Mike Laing, Patton "destroyed himself."
Lt. Colonel Graeme Fuller gave the main talk on Medical Services During the Anglo-Boer War in Natal, and it provided us with an extensive and detailed survey of the medical operations of the time. The research was immense and fascinating as it covered areas not often discussed at Society meetings. After thanking all those who had helped with the research, our speaker then gave the important dates that led up to the war (including the founding of the Royal Army Medical Corp (RAMC) in June 1898) and then the first serious medical activity in Dundee in October 1899. After a brief description of the road to Ladysmith, more detail was given on the formation of the Indombi Neutral Camp for both military and civilian personnel. With descriptions of the senior army officers of both sides, supported by some amazing old photographs enhanced by modern graphics we were then taken back to the formation of the Natal Volunteer Medical Corps (NVMC) in August 1895. Once again some remarkable photographs of the doctors and staff present in Ladysmith were shown together with detailed CVs of many of the senior doctors and the roles they played together with their individual achievements, not just during the war, but also in the history of South African military and medical life. We were then given the statistics and individual names (again supported by photographs) of the medical staff in Natal in 1899 - both doctors and nurses - before we moved on to the remarkable story of the early use of radiography.
In particular mention must be made of Mr A. Allerston who performed over 340 X-Rays in Pietermaritzburg during the war. Sir George White's despatch of 2 December 1899 named 9 nurses in his despatch and after the siege, 12 volunteer nurses were presented with sterling silver belts, 11 of which were traced in 1986. Other regiments gave awards to nurses (these were listed) and Royal Red Cross Awards were made to 93 nurses for their services to the sick and wounded during the war. To highlight the extent of the service by NVMC staff Graeme Fuller listed their Natal engagements from Klipkraal to Langs Neck but he concentrated mainly on their work during the Ladysmith siege with an array of excellent old photographs. Mention was also made about the medical work done by religious orders; particularly the role played by 12 catholic nuns after their Ladysmith convent had been shelled. Some of the nuns gave their lives in helping wounded soldiers.
After a CV of the famous Irishman Captain (Dr) Thomas Crean, who won a MC in December 1899, our speaker again went into fascinating detail about the role of the RAMC and again supported by photographs the work done in Indombi. This included photographs of X-Rays being carried out by a Major Bruce and of actual X-Rays of bullets in a hand and arm, a Boer photograph of the camp and a number of group photographs including, for example, Major Elliott and the staff of the 69th Native Field Hospital and Major Martin and the staff of the 24th Field Hospital. The sight of ambulance wagons in Ladysmith during the siege and nurses in their starched uniforms were of particular interest. Being wartime, the showing of the camp graves was inevitable and this section ended with a photo of the grave of Major James Minniece, RAMC, who served in the siege but died of Enteric Fever in March 1900 and gave evidence if any was needed that doctors shared the risks with their military colleagues, even when they were not with them in battle. Most haunting of all was the ending, when Graeme Fuller listed the statistics given for the siege, which were that on 2 November 1899 there were 572 officers, 12,924 other ranks and approximately 7,500 civilians in Ladysmith and that by 28 February 1900 there had been 10,673 hospital admissions, of which 583 died from disease and just 62 from wounds. The story is not yet complete and we all look forward to part 2 of this fascinating and different look at local African history, which will be given in the May 2004 meeting of the Society. No doubt it will be called "Meanwhile back at the Thukela" or something similar!
The vote of thanks was given by Dr John Cook, who warmly thanked both our speakers for an unusual and fascinating evening.
PLEASE NOTE THAT THE JANUARY 2004 MEETING WILL BE HELD ON THE THIRD THURSDAY OF THE MONTH. AND SO ALLOW THOSE WHO WILL BE AWAY ON HOLIDAY OVER CHRISTMAS AND NEW YEAR THE TIME TO RETURN.
The main talk for the start of 2004 will cover new ground for the Society. In a talk entitled A PERSONAL VIEW OF THE BOSNIA-HERZOGOVINIA CONFLICT 1992 - 1999, our guest speaker Lt COLONEL RUPERT ROBSON will start with a historical overview of the area and the crucial geo-political role of the Balkans, where Europe meets the Near East. But the bulk of the address will be concerned with his personal experiences of 4 operational tours in the country, carried out between 1994 and 1997. He cannot promise to offer any earth- shattering conclusions, or even point out a way ahead for the area, but he will convey a flavour of the difficulties faced by the British serviceman who served there in the mid 90s. This is very much in line with our "I was there" series, but one that is both modern and very topical. One not to be missed, and a great way to start our new year.
The DDH will be given by our ex-Chairman KEN GILLINGS who will give an update on the recent and excellent work being done to mark the grave of Lt. G.H.B. COULSON, VC.
Dr Ingrid Machin
Secretary: Durban Branch
S.A.MILITARY HISTORY SOCIETY
4 Hadley, 101 Manning Road, Glenwood, Durban, 4001
Telephone: 031-201-3983