Durban Branch July 1997 News Sheet No 270
PAST EVENTS:
Our DDH Memorial talk for June was given by fellow-member, Philip Everitt
and covered 'THE SINKING OF HMS VICTORIA" off Tripoli in 1895. The whole
disaster was a complete enigma. How two major battleships of the Royal
Navy's Mediterranean fleet could collide on a clear summer's day with
resultant loss of not only HMS Victoria~ but nearly half her crew, forever
remains a mystery. Briefly our speaker outlined the enormous changes that
had occurred in naval warfare from the time of Nelson nearly a century
before. Ships had changed from timber, mufti-decked sailing vessels
carrying over 100 guns firing broadsides to steel-hulled, steam-driven
turreted battleships capable of firing heavy shells over long distances in
all directions. These vast changes affected naval tactics radically and
called for innovative thinking in all aspects of ship handling. It was
thought by our speaker, that maybe on that fateful day, it had all got
beyond the control of the Admiral in command and in trying to be too
innovative, he had committed an error of judgement which even in terms of
simple arithmetic was catastrophic. He ordered two lines of battleships
steaming in-line-astern six cable lengths apart to turn 180 degrees
inwards towards each other notwithstanding the fact that their turning
circles were 4 cables! The resultant collision and subsequent capsizing
of HMS Victoria caused the loss of half her crew including the life of
Admiral Tron who went down with his ship saying "It is all my fault!"
Fortunately some benefit did come out of this disaster: the Royal Navy
sought to develop flag-officers who would be more critical of their
superior officers' orders and not follow them with blind obedience.
Our main talk for the evening was given by our Cape Town-based, fellow-
member, Alan Mountain and covered "THE BAPEDI AND THE SEKHUKHUNE
CAMPAIGNS
1876 -1679".
The baPedi tribe lived in a flat bottomed valley between the
confluence of the Steelport and Olifants Rivers and the Leolo mountains in
what was then known as the north-eastern Transvaal. Their ruling dynasty,
the Maroteng hegemony dated back to 1500 AD. However., in 1845 the Voortrekkers
under Hendrik Potgieter established a settlement at Ohrigstad in
terms of a treaty with the baPedi. Unfortunately this did not stop the
beeped from stealing their cattle and very soon there were problems with
grazing rights and labour. This situation festered for many years until in
1876 the ZAR was forced to wage war on the beeped under Sekhukhune. The
Voortrekkers' main objective was to capture their capital, but it was so
well defended that they had no option but to lay siege and try to starve
the baPedi into submission. They harassed them in every way possible,
including crop cultivation and the grazing of their cattle. The Voortrekkers, inter alia,
demanded 2000 head of cattle as reparations, but
Sekhukhune refused to pay. They had hoped for a quick peace, but this
indecisive situation obtained until the British annexed the Transvaal in
April 1877. This situation continued for the rest of that year, but early
in 1878 the war was resumed - this time by the British under Theophilus
Shepstone, who saw Sekhukhune as a thorn in the side of British Imperial
ambition in Southern Africa.
The war was divided into three phases. The first phase was initiated by an
attack on Sehukhune's sister, Lekgolane who after defecting, rejoined her
brother fearing he would attack her. But the British underestimated the
bePedi resistance and the action ended in stalemate.
The second phase took place in August 1879 after the completion of the
Angle-Zulu War when the British tried to dislodge Sekhukhune with a force
of 139 infantry and 338 mounted men - all regular Army. The bePedi
ambushed them and using the rugged mountainous terrain thwarted the
British advance so much that they were forced to retire to Fort Burgers.
The third and final phase took place after the Zulu War in November 1879
when 3500 British regular troops and 3000 Transvaal levies combined
forces with 8000 Swazi warriors to dislodge Sekhukhune from his strong-
hold. While the British and Transvalers made a frontal attack the Swazi
swarmed over their entrenched positions on the mountains at their rear. In
a battle lasting over five hours the Swazi were trapped and defeated.
However a number of baPedi were able to escape in the rain and misty
conditions that prevailed, but Sekhukhune was captured and sentenced to a
long term of imprisonment. However, he was released soon afterwards when
the British withdrew from the Transvaal after the first Angle-Boer War.
Fellow-member, Bill Brady thanked both our speakers for a most
entertaining and informative evening.
KIMBERLEY BATTLEFIELDS' TOUR:
Details of the tour have been sent to those
members who responded to our previous request and anybody else who is
interested should contact Ken Gillings (031) 267 0008 immediately. It has
been suggested that we as a Branch of the SAMHS should stay at the
Kimberley Club but it is up to individual members to decide what
accommodation, tours and lectures they would like to attend and book
accordingly. Please note this tour will take. place from 8th-11th Oct 1997.
BRANCH COMMITTEE:
The result of the election of Offire bearers was as
follows; Chairman: Ken Gillings; Vice Chairman: Paul Kilmartin: Secretary:
Tania van der Watt; Committee Members: Bill Brady, Philip Everitt, Col
Justin Hulme, Prof Mike Laing and Dave Matthews; Scribe: John Yelland
The venue for all meetings will be the 1st Floor lecture theatre, Dept. of
Civil Engineering, University of Natal, Durban, which is housed in the
building on the right of the Memorial Tower Building (opposite the entrance
to the Elizabeth Sneddon Theatre), commencing at 19h30 on the second
Thursday in the month. Please bring your own refreshments and glass.
VISITORS AND INTERESTED PERSONS ARE WELCOME TO ATTEND. Charge R2,00 -
Students and Scholars free.
Tania van der Watt (Mrs)
Secretary: Durban Branch
S.A.MILITARY HISTORY SOCIETY
Box 870 Hillcrest 3650
Telephone: (031) 764 2970
South African Military History Society
/
military.history@rapidttp.com