The South African
Military History Society
Die Suid-Afrikaanse Krygshistoriese Vereniging


Military History Journal
Vol 4 No 5 - June 1979

MUSEUM NEWS

75th Anniversary of the Transvaal Horse Artillery

In March the Museum set up a special display to mark the occasion of the 75th Anniversary of the Transvaal Horse Artillery.
Preceded by a talk on the history of the THA presented in the Library by Major Darrell Hall and Mr Peter Fox accompanied — in typical Major Hall fashion — by excellent slides and appropriate military ‘noises off’ the display was officially opened on the evening of 15 March by Col. Roger Berry — the Regiment’s Honorary Colonel. Following the opening the guests enjoyed refreshments in the form of a cheese and wine party and spent a pleasant hour or two recalling the past and considering the future.

New Displays

A small display was set up to commemorate the Centenary of the Isandlwana and Rorke’s Drift engagements.
The mini-theatre designed to present on tape the story of the 1st and 2nd South African Wars has been constructed complete with carpeting, seating and a large relief map. The theatre forms part of the proposed re-arrangement of Adler Hall to introduce a series of displays presenting in chronological order the major wars and engagements which have taken place in South Africa.

Museum Conference

The Director and other members of Staff attended the annual conference of the Southern African Museums Association held in Stellenbosch early in April.
The occasion provided an excellent opportunity for exchanging ideas with Officers from other Museums and the papers delivered at the Conference stimulated thought and discussion on many aspects of Museum Management.

Overseas Study Tour

Two members of the Staff have recently returned from visiting Overseas museums where they have been studying developments in methods of preserving and displaying material of historical interest.

New Acquisitions

Many items covering a wide spectrum were received by the Museum including a number of small arms, edged weapons, medals and relics. Of particular interest are the acquisitions referred to hereafter.

A Vickers Maxim machine gun with brass water jacket of the type used by Major Allan Wilson’s patrol in their fight against the Matabele.

Amongst the many medals added to the Museum’s collection was the Polish Freedom Fighters Medal awarded to Brigadier J.T. Durrant, CB, DFC.

The Art Collection was enriched by a fine portrait in oils of a South African pilot painted by Dorothy Kay; a water colour of a Hawker Hurricane by Peter Fox and an oil painting by Ron Belling showing South African Liberators dropping supplies over Warsaw.

A uniform of the Cape Peninsular Rifles worn by the late Lt-Col C. Graham-Botha, VD when serving as a Sgt (c1911) was donated by his daughter and although badly moth-eaten is an item of considerable historical value.

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