PAST EVENTS

Major Darrell Hall delighted the well-attended November meeting with a supporting item under the now famous "Metro Goldwyn Hall" (Meyer is the other one) banner. The first part, dealing with ladies for the ladies, consisted of colour slides of period costumes and dress designs of the American civil war period but was enjoyed by the men as well. It provided an interesting sidelight to the TV series "North and South", presently showing. The second part was also about ladies, but for the men. It consisted of a series of WWII and post-war pin-up girls, and possibly raised some nostalgic envy even among our ladies, especially if there were any elderly ones in the audience. Tastes and fashions may change, but beauty, in whatever shape or form, is always appreciated.

The main talk for the evening centred around the genealogy of the 1820 settler William Cory, one of Darrell's own ancestors on his mother's side. A mere summary can do no justice to a talk of this nature, but, apart from presenting glimpses of contemporary history in the settler country - Grahamstown, Fort Brown, etc. - this talk was a most interesting object lesson on the detail, the pitfalls, and the intricacies of genealogical research. A great deal of patient detective work is required to unravel the tangled skein created by the repetition and duplication of first names given to children to honour close relatives, grandparents, parents, uncles and aunts, as was the custom in former times. It requires a clear mind and attention to detail to detect missing clues and to see through obscurities created by changes or errors in spelling.

While the names of people: the Corys, Bealls, Elses and Coetzers, featured prominently, there were also interesting sidelights on settler life, camping and hunting; even 'Huberta' the famous hippo merited a mention.

Fellow-member Brian Thomas, himself of 1820 settler stock, expressed an appreciative word of thanks to the speaker.

At the November meeting we were happy to welcome in our midst Miss Sue Venter and our warmest good wishes are extended to Darrell and Sue on their impending marriage in January.

FOR COLLECTORS OF SOUTH AFRICAN MILITARIA

Mr Peter Adams, Director of Adams Booksellers, has written to say:

"A new book containing a provisional list of the officers of the irregular forces of The Cape of Good Hope who were involved in the Eighth Kaffir War (1850-1853) is soon to appear in a very small edition. The author, Comdt. J.J. Hulme, ex-Officer Commanding of the Durban Light Infantry, has long studied this campaign end has assembled his brief accounts of each officer's military career from a wide variety of published and unpublished sources. The participation of several members of the same families in the wars of the period has made the interpretation of documents difficult at times - and the project one of military detective work. The result is sure to be of interest to serious students of the Eastern Cape Frontier wars and to those whose families may have been involved . Due to the small printing, the 34 page book will be produced in A4 format, and be bound in 250 gram card.

"While writing, may we also mention that we are distributing two sets each containing ten full colour prints by Mr. A. May. These depict accurately the uniforms of the Durban Light Infantry and the Natal Field Artillery as worn during their histories."

LIST OF OFFICERS Price R15,00 + R1,80 GST

Price of Prints (sets of 19) 280 m x 200 m A4 DLI (limited edition 300 sets) n40,DO + R4,87 GST

Price of Prints NFA R37,50 + R4,50 GST

Available from Adams & Co. (Pty) Ltd.
P.O. Box 466 DURBAN 400
341 West Street, Durban.
Telephone 304.... Telegrams "ADAMSCO"

FUTURE EVENTS

1988

JANUARY 14TH       Our Chairman, Comdt 'SB' Bourquin will present a slide talk entitled "SHAKA'S HERITAGE": its nature, what has become of it, and its influence on the geo-political development of southern Africa.

February 11th         Fellow-member Vic Conrad - "The Birth of Israel".

March        Fellow-member Darrell Hall - "The Coral Sea"

The venue for all meetings will be the 'Bourq Inn', lower ground floor, 'SB' Bourquin Building, on the corner of Jan Smuts Highway and Buro Crescent, Mayville, on the second Thursday in the month (unless otherwise announced), commencing at 7.30 p.m. (19h30) PLEASE BRING YOUR OWN GLASS and canned or bottled refreshments. Ice and water jugs will be supplied. There is ample parking, under guard, in the grounds. FRIENDS AND INTERESTED PERSONS ARE WELCOME TO COME ALONG.

SEASON'S GREETINGS

We wish all members and friends a joyous Christmas and a fruitful and active Society year in 1988.

(Mrs) Tania van der Watt,
Secretary, Durban Branch,
S.A. Military History Society,
Box 870, HILLCREST, 3650.
Tel. (031) vvvvvv