The South African
Natie Greeff's family and friends were shocked and deeply saddened to learn of his illness and untimely passing in Austria on 27th April 2023.
Meeting Natie on a visit to the S.A. National Museum of Military History (now the Ditsong NMMH) in Johannesburg, the author, having been Staff Officer Military and Naval Museums in Western Province Command, based at the Castle of Good Hope in Cape Town from 1975 until 1987, mentioned to Natie that the Cape Town Castle Museum post was vacant. Natie applied for it and was appointed, though by then the Military and Maritime Museums had been physically dismantled as part of the Castle restoration project being undertaken by architects Mr Gawie Fagan and his wife Dr Gwen Fagan.
Natie had earlier done his national service in the S.A. Army, serving during the Border War. The Castle Museum post was a uniformed Permanent Force one, with rank of Captain in the S.A. Army. Natie later decided not to attend an army officer's orientation course, remaining a civilian instead. As Curator, he re-branded the 'Military Museum The Castle' as the 'Castle Military Museum' with its own logo.
As part of the restoration, the new museum was moved from the Inner Square to the Outer Square within the Castle. This was a very wise move because not only was it more visible to the public but it also incorporated two very important features, namely the Water Gate, which was the original entrance to the Castle from the seaward side, and King Cetshwayo's quarters when he was a political prisoner there after his capture during the Anglo-Zulu War in 1879.
Natie recruited a most talented team of artists and model builders for the new museum, which covered the early Cape Military history in far greater detail than the previous museum had done. He approached the S.A. Cultural History Museum in Cape Town and succeeded in obtaining on loan several important exhibits and paintings from this and other museums.
The new museum was opened by the Hon. Joe Modise, Minister of Defence, on 31st August 1995. It soon became clear that the funds allocated to the museum by the SANDF would be limited due to its other priorities. Natie was undeterred and enlisted the aid of the Roland and Leta Hill Trust and the National Lotteries Board. These bodies made it possible for him to acquire rare and costly artefacts and books for the museum, and so built up a collection that was the envy of many other museums.
This expansion of the collection was made possible by the establishment of the Castle Military Museum Foundation in 2000 (Trust Nr. IT 692/2000) which entered into grant agreements with the National Lotteries Board. Natie was one of the original trustees. The most important acquisitions included rifles, swords, pistols, books, badges & war medals. The most important medals were the Gordon Everson Collection of South African 1853, British Campaign Medals which were awarded for service in the Frontier Wars from 1834 - 53, the silver King's Medal for Bravery awarded to Hendrik Snell during the Second World War, and the Cairncross Family Medal Collection.
Natie was particularly interested in the Town Guards who served in the Cape Peninsula between 1901-1902. Very few of the badges and arm bands which these units wore have survived and the Castle Military Museum's collection of them may be the most comprehensive one of its kind.
Highlights of Natie's twenty-two years as Curator of the Museum include the visit by members of the Zulu Royal Family to view the displays of King Cetshwayo's room at the Castle and the presentation of the medals of C.G. Finch-Davies to the museum by his family. Finch-Davies was a Permanent Force Officer who was Southern Africa's finest bird artist. He died at the Castle in 1920.
Natie Greeff outside his
office at the Castle,
June 2014, courtesy of
Mrs Jessie Blackshaw.
Under Natie's curatorship, the museum's small reference library was greatly expanded to include very many rare books on S.A. Military History as well as photographs and maps. A librarian was appointed to assist with the management of the collection. In 1995 Natie launched a series of Castle Military Museum books on Cape Military History which fill important gaps therein. One was published every year until he resigned and took early retirementin 2014.
Natie initiated a research project into the history of the Town Guards and District Mounted Troops which were raised during the Anglo-Boer (South African) War of 1899-1902. He planned to publish the medal rolls of these units, as well as group photographs and histories of each of them. He continued to work on this book after he moved to Austria. The book honours the men who served in these units and who never received the recognition they deserved.
Prior to Natie's appointment
at the Castle, he had
written several articles on
different topics which were
published by the S.A. Military
History Society and the Ditsong
Museum of Military History. Their
titles give some idea of the varied aspects
of military history in which Natie took an interest:
During Natie's tenure at the Castle Military Museum, a 'Friends of the Castle Military Museum Association' was established which published newsletters and organized activities.
Both Ditsong and the Castle Museum staffs will greatly miss this qualified and totally dedicated colleague and curator.
By W.G. ‘Mac’ Bisset
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