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"SAP and SADF initial military operations in Northern SWA 1965 - 1969 / Operations Dikmelk, Bombay and Crackerbox"
by Dr JP Scherman
Zoomlecture given from Stellenbosch on 15 May 2025 hosted by Johannesburg Branch
Lecture followed SA policing operations in SWA to oppose infiltration by SWAPO, operations which had to escalate
to a full military operation to protect South West Africa.
The operations were tightly connected to Portuguese operations in Angola and included supplying
the Portuguese with military equipment and support.
Details are also given of measures taken
to prevent a possible United Nations military attack on the region to try to sieze control from South Africa.
Information for this study is based on documents from the South African archives and SITREPS from commanders in the field.
Link to video file:SADF in SWA Pt1
File size:64 MBytes (20 minutes)
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Link to video file:SADF in SWA Pt2
File size:25 MBytes (10 minutes)
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Link to video file:SADF in SWA Pt3
File size:77 MBytes (33 minutes)
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"The South African Navy Sails South" by Cmdr L Steyn
Zoomlecture given from Simonstown on 10 April 2025 hosted by Johannesburg Branch
South Africa's relation with Antarctica and the islands of the southern ocean dates back to the earliest voyages of discovery. Historically the Cape of Good Hope provided the ideal staging point or stop-over for explorers, whalers and sealers on their journeys further south.
The lecture casts a historical light on the Navy' first voyages south, the arduous annexation of Marion and Prince Edward Islands, daring mercy missions to remote islands and ambitious expeditions to the ice shelves of Antarctica.
The lecture provided details of the ships involved for supporting expeditions to Antartica, Marion and Prince Edward Islands since 1948, ships that could cater for the stormy seas in this part of the globe.
The talk also included
details of a voyage by one of the submarines to patrol around Marion Island
Link to video file:Navy sails South Pt1
File size:67 MBytes (30 minutes)
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Link to video file:Navy sails South Pt2
File size:36 MBytes (16 minutes)
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"24 Squadron SAAF in North Africa and Italy 1944 & 1945" by Alan Witherden
Zoomlecture given from Johannesburg on 10 March 2025 hosted by SAMHSEC
The presentation is based on his father Lieutenant W.W. Witherden, DFC s service as Navigator/Bomb Aimer with the Squadron.
The presentation is based on logbooks and reports from actual flights as well as photographs taken
during the actual bombing runs over the targets
Link to video file:24 Squadron Pt1
File size:21 MBytes (18 minutes)
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Link to video file:24 Squadron Pt2
File size:29 MBytes (22 minutes)
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"Nazi Auxiliary Cruisers" by Errol Back Cunningham
Zoomlecture given from Johannesburg on 20 February 2025 hosted by Johannesburg Branch
Germany entered WW2 with a hastily constructed battleship fleet
and a larger U-Boat arm.
The smaller armed merchant cruisers produced
a much higher return on investment for the men deployed and
money spent on waging a predatory piratical war on Allied merchant shipping.
The lecture covers the development of the service and its exploits worldwide.
Link to video file:Raiders Pt1
File size:238 MBytes (27 minutes)
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Link to video file:Raiders Pt2
File size:98 MBytes (24 minutes)
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"WW2 Mediterranean Theatre :The Conflicts of Coalition Politics with Military Strategy" by Alan Mantle
Zoomlecture given from Johannesburg on 10 February 2025 hosted by SAMHSEC Branch
The coalition of Britain, the US and Soviet Russia was the key to victory in WW2. It was an anomalous alliance forged in war of Nations with differing structures, traditions, politics and leadership styles This often lead to competing political interests and underlying tensions that conflicted with the military strategy of the Alliance.
The Allied Combined Chiefs of Staff (CCS) was the supreme military structure of the Alliance, responsible for determining allied strategy and operational policy for the war. They convened in a series of secret wartime conferences with the active presence of Churchill and Roosevelt. Stalin only joined them in the conferences of Teheran, Yalta, and Potsdam.
The lecture follows the path of these Secret conferences, the discussions, the minutes and the operational choices that were made by the CCS for all the Mediterranean campaigns and their aftermath in the period 1942-1945.
Link to video file:CCS Pt1
File size:41 MBytes (28 minutes)
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Link to video file:CCS Pt2
File size:34 MBytes (23 minutes)
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"Kalahari Escapades: Legends, Lore and War 1900-1915" by Johann Ahlers
Zoomlecture given from George on 12 December 2024 hosted by Johannesburg Branch
The Kalahari is a small place!?
Did you know that those who entered the Kalahari during the
South African War in 1900 were also active in the area
at the start of World War I in 1914 - wearing different hats?
Did you know that one of those pursued in 1900, commanded the
pursuers in 1914?
Did you know that Manie Maritz entered 'South Africa' into a
non-aggression pact with Germany?
Did you know that the famous Boer general Christiaan de Wet
was eventually captured in the Kalahari?
Did you know that South Africa's Robin Hood was active in the
area and that he probably was a British spy?
Link to video file:Kalahari Escapades Pt1
File size:39 MBytes (33 minutes)
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Link to video file:Kalahari Escapades Pt2
File size:46 MBytes (38 minutes)
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"Horsing the British Army: Die Tweede Anglo-Boere Oorlog 1899-1902" by Graham Winton
Zoomlecture given from UK on 14 November 2024 hosted by Johannesburg Branch
Horsing the British Army during the war of 1899-1902 was a complicated affair. The late 19th century saw the creation of central Army Remount and Veterinary Departments. These embryo services would be tested during the War and although in part successful they were found seriously wanting.
Link to video file:Horsing the British Army Pt1
File size:61 MBytes (30 minutes)
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Link to video file:Horsing the British Army Pt2
File size:54 MBytes (25 minutes)
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"East Cape Frontier Wars Signal Towers" by Pat Irwin
Zoomlecture given from Grahamstown on 11 November 2024 hosted by SAMHSEC
Signal towers for communication between the military headquarters in
Grahamstown and the garrisons at Fort Beaufort and Fort Peddie were built
after the Sixth Frontier War (1834 to 1836).
The system, which had been successful in Europe, was not suited to
local conditions where line of sight between towers was frequently
disrupted by weather conditions and smoke from veld fires.
Link to video file:Signal towers Pt1
File size:47 MBytes (19 minutes)
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Link to video file:Signal towers Pt2
File size:53 MBytes (23 minutes)
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"Fact, fiction or myth: A reinterpretation of the Springfontein Concentration Camp Children's Cemetery" by Dr Vicky Heunis
Zoomlecture given from Bloemfontein on 31 October 2024 hosted by Johannesburg Branch
In the past there has been quite a lot of speculation about the origin
of the Springfontein Concentration Camp Children's Cemetery and why
the children have been buried separately, away from the larger
Springfontein Military Cemetery.
The lecture detailed the history of the camps and the research that was done using actual camp records and other official documents saved after the camp closed.
In this lecture various hypotheses are discussed and evaluated
to try and unravel the mystery that has shrouded the cemetery for
so long.
Link to video file:Springfontein Pt1
File size:66 MBytes (33 minutes)
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Link to video file:Springfontein Pt2
File size:58 MBytes (28 minutes)
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"German Weather Stations in the Far North during WW 2" by Helmoed Heitman
Zoomlecture given from Cape Town on 14 October 2024 hosted by SAMHSEC
Weather information is critical for both naval and air force operations, and particularly so in Arctic and North Atlantic waters where there were important Allied convoy routes, and through which German ships had to pass to break out into the wider Atlantic.
The Kriegsmarine deployed weather ships and established weather stations along the coast of Spitsbergen and Greenland and on Jan Mayan and Hope islands and on Franz Josef Land. Automated weather stations were deployed on Bear Island and even on the coast of Labrador.
Some teams were caught early, and others forced to evacuate their stations when Allied forces found them, but many spent months in their Arctic outposts, one a nearly a full year, and one wound up being the last Germans to surrender, having been overlooked at the end of the war and finally being rescued in September 1945 by Norwegian fishermen.
Link to video file:German Weather Stations Pt1
File size:32 MBytes (19 minutes)
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Link to video file:German Weather Stations Pt2
File size:21 MBytes (12 minutes)
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"The War Underground" by Andriza Liebenberg
Zoomlecture given from Johannesburg on 19 September 2024 hosted by Johannesburg Branch
This is NOT about gold or similar mining, rather
an overview of the techniques used in WW1 on the Western Front to tunnel and place
very large mines under enemy installations; listening
for sounds of enemy mining activity; explosives technology
and usage, and a few examples of successes.
Analysis of the Battle of Messines is provided.
Link to video file:Tunnelling Pt1
File size:61 MBytes (23 minutes)
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Link to video file:Tunnelling Pt2
File size:50 MBytes (20 minutes)
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"Signalling in Southern Africa" by Dr Brian Austin
Zoomlecture given from UK on 15 August 2024 hosted by Johannesburg Branch
The first use of wireless in warfare was during the Anglo-Boer War.
And the Boers so nearly had it too. Then, in 1923, the SA Corps of
Signals came into being and Marconi's sparks were replaced by the
high-tech of the time.
When sanctions hit hard in the 1970s, world-beating South African-manufactured
equipment took over. And the Rhodesian Corps of Signals used it too.
The men who made it all happen will feature prominently in this talk
Link to video file:Signalling Pt1
File size:39 MBytes (27 minutes)
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Link to video file:Signalling Pt2
File size:30 MBytes (21 minutes)
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"Jeanne D Arc: the French girl soldier of the Hundred Years War" by Barbara Ann Kinghorn
Zoomlecture given from Port Elizabeth on 12 August 2024 hosted by SAMHSEC Branch
Jeanne d Arc was the French girl soldier of the Hundred Years War who was both condemned and canonised by the Catholic Church
She inspired an army to fight and drive out the English from regions of France and to allow the Dauphin to be crowned King.
She was seen as such a threat that when she was captured the English had to make a spectacle of her death
as she was such a rallying symbol for her followers.
Later she became a national hero of France.
The lecture covers her life story and the impact it made on the conflict at that time.
Link to video file:Jeanne D Arc
File size:68 MBytes (37 minutes)
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"Jan Smuts letter - Bittereinder Boer forces" by Arnold van Dyk
Zoomlecture given from Paarl on 29 July 2024 hosted by SAMHSEC Branch
The presentation is based on a letter written to W.T. Stead by Jan Smuts whilst in the field with his commando at Vanrhynsdorp on 4 January 1902.
Smuts explained that justification for being a Bittereinder held by the bulk of the Boers was a spirit akin to that of the early Christian martyrs. They heard reports of defeat and plunder, of the suffering of their wives and children in the concentration camps, with the resignation which springs from the assurance that such is God s will.
Link to video file:Jan Smuts letter
File size:93 MBytes (18 minutes)
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"New Perspectives on South Africa's First World War" by Prof I van der Waag and Dr A Garcia
Zoomlecture given from Abu dhabi and Edinburgh on 25 July 2024 hosted by Johannesburg Branch
South Africa was geographically far from political discord
in Europe and Asia - something that alleviated the immediate
fears of the pre-war defence planners. However, when the war
erupted in August 1914, the newly formed Union tumbled
into a civil war. Botha and Smuts, who embodied the political
and military leadership, took unprecedented steps to defeat the
forces of a burgeoning rebellion, redesign the armed forces
along more modern lines, and commit on the longer term to
support Britain in winning the war against the Central Powers.
Their war-time policy was controversial then, and both remain
controversial historical figures.
New research sheds new light on the measures they took to
defeat the rebels of 1914, and secure a firmer hold on the
levers of political and military power.
Information was drawn from their book "Botha,Smuts and The First World War"
Link to video file:Perspectives Pt1
File size:43 MBytes (33 minutes)
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Link to video file:Perspectives Pt2
File size:53 MBytes (37 minutes)
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"The planning of D-Day 6 June 1944" by Andr Crozier
Zoomlecture given from Port Elizabeth on 8 July 2024 hosted by SAMHSEC
The planning for an invasion in northwest Europe began years in advance,
although it was not until December 1943, when General Dwight D. Eisenhower
was appointed Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionary Force, that
preparations for the future operation, code-named Overlord, intensified.
Link to video file:D-Day Pt1
File size:68 MBytes (35 minutes)
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Link to video file:D-Day Pt2
File size:45 MBytes (27 minutes)
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"The Art of War" by Anne Irwin
Zoomlecture given from Grahamstown on 24 June 2024 hosted by SAMHSEC.
The Art of War focuses on the way visual art can create a deeper
understanding of the impact of war on soldiers and other individuals caught
up in the conflict.
Details of four of John Meyer s paintings from his Lost in the Dust
series are used to illustrate this.
Link to video file:The Art of War
File size:40 MBytes (21 minutes)
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"SS Mendi and S A Native Labour Corps" by Prof Kathy Munro
Zoomlecture given from Johannesburg on 24 June 2024 hosted by Johannesburg Branch.
Remembering the SS Mendi and the role of
the South African Native Labour Corps in the First World War
The loss of the SS Mendi in February 1917 was a tragedy that
reverberates to the present. 646 men died. Today the
Order of the Mendi is South Africa's highest honour awarded
for bravery.
They died bravely standing side by side in the death drill.
As Sons of Africa we raise our war-cries,
our assegais left in our kraals.
But like brothers we die as Sons of Africa
The lecture is about the story of these soldiers
sent to France to support King and Country in the Great war and also deals with memorials built
to commemorate this loss.
Link to video file:Mendi Pt1
File size:36 MBytes (28 minutes)
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Link to video file:Mendi Pt2
File size:35 MBytes (27 minutes)
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"Viva Os Boers - the Boers in Portugal during the Anglo-Boer War" by Arnold van Dyk
Zoomlecture given from Paarl on 10 June 2024 hosted by SAMHSEC.
Boers who crossed into Mozambique during the Anglo-Boer War were
interned and sent to Portugal until the end of the War.
The lecture detailed the arrangements made by the Portuguese to accomodate the internees.
Link to video file:Boers in Portugal Pt1
File size:77 MBytes (33 minutes)
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Link to video file:Boers in Portugal Pt2
File size:66 MBytes (23 minutes)
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"Field Marshal Montgomery and World War 2" by Ian Binnie
Zoomlecture given from UK on 23 May 2024 hosted by Johannesburg Branch.
History has not been kind to Montgomery, particularly
over the last 50 years as one historian after another
has lined up to crucify both his character and military reputation.
The talk tries to address this by analysing the contribution
of one of the U.K.'s finest general to the defeat of the
Axis powers.
Link to video file:Montgomery Pt1
File size:49 MBytes (32 minutes)
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Link to video file:Montgomery Pt2
File size:38 MBytes (24 minutes)
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"Three Boers denied amnesty in terms of the Peace of Vereeniging 31 May 1902." by Robin Smith
Zoomlecture given from Howick,KZN on 20 May 2024 hosted by SAMHSEC Branch.
The Peace of Vereeniging signed on 31 May 1902, stipulated that 'No proceeding, Civil or Military, will be taken against any of the Burghers so surrendering for any acts in connection with the prosecution of the war'. But there were exceptions: three Boers wanted for murder were indicated verbally by Kitchener to Botha and Smuts for having committed deeds 'against the usages of war'. The three cases were investigated and one of the accused was found guilty, sentenced to death and executed, one was tried and released, the third was never found.
Link to video file:Amnesty Pt1
File size:64 MBytes (28 minutes)
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Link to video file:Amnesty Pt2
File size:52 MBytes (23 minutes)
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"Adding flesh to the bones" by Anne Irwin
Zoomlecture given from Grahamstown on 29 April 2024 hosted by SAMHSEC.
Anne Irwin posts the notion that reading poems written about war can enhance our understanding of the condition of those who participate in, and study, combat in a way that official reports and researched historical accounts do not. She reads several poems to illustrate her view that poetry adds flesh to the bones of what is military history.
Link to video file:Flesh to the Bones
File size:48 MBytes (26 minutes)
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"The British Officer and the Johannesburg Gentleman" by Robin Smith
Zoomlecture given from Howick,KZN on 25 April 2024 hosted by Johannesburg Branch.
Concerns the campaign of Maj-Gen Bruce Hamilton (the British
officer) and Sir Aubrey Wools Sampson (the Johannesburg gentleman).
The partnership of an energetic younger Major General and the effective intelligence
officer who knew the area, spoke both Afrikaans and the local African
languages caused the Boer commandos to leave the eastern Transvaal
and seek safety in the rugged terrain around Vryheid.
Hamilton pursued them
there but by early 1902 peace was more than just a possibility. The
objective now was to persuade the Boer leaders to enter negotiations.
Thus
Hamilton was now told to merely contain the Boers and not to carry out
any
aggressive actions.
This successful campaign rather puts the lie to
the
statement by several historians of the war that Kitchener's tactics
were to
use cumbersome, lumbering columns to pursue the swift Boer commandos.
While
this may have been so under Lord Roberts's command, night raiding was
a
tactic to Play the Boers at their own game.
Link to video file:Boer Guerrilla Campaign Pt1
File size:41 MBytes (23 minutes)
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Link to video file:Boer Guerrilla Campaign Pt2
File size:47 MBytes (24 minutes)
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"The Rand Revolt and Constable FJHD van Wyk" by Andrew van Wyk
Zoomlecture given from Port Elizabeth on 8 April 2024 hosted by SAMHSEC.
The Rand Revolt, also known as the Miners Strike or the Rand Rebellion, was an armed uprising of white miners on the Witwatersrand in March 1922. What started as a strike in December 1921 became an open rebellion against the state, which was crushed when the Union Defence Force was deployed in support of the South African Police. Andrew s presentation included photographs taken by his grandfather, Police Constable FJHD van Wyk, during the Revolt.
Link to video file:Rand Revolt Pt1
File size:53 MBytes (27 minutes)
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Link to video file:Rand Revolt Pt2
File size:47 MBytes (24 minutes)
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"Pretoria at War 1914-1918" by Dr Anne Samson
Zoomlecture given from Boksburg on 14 March 2024 hosted by Johannesburg Branch.
Ever wondered how the capital fared in the war?
Discover state funerals, rebellious activity,
celebrations and bespoke medals.
Link to video file:Pretoria during the war
File size:72 MBytes (40 minutes)
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"Edward, Mrs Simpson and the 3rd Reich" by Errol Back-Cunningham
Zoomlecture given from Johannesburg on 15 February 2024 hosted by Johannesburg Branch.
How the Nazis seduced Western Royals, Aristocracy and Capitalism
Link to video file:Royals Pt1
File size:42 MBytes (27 minutes)
File type:mp4
Link to video file:Royals Pt2
File size:42 MBytes (26 minutes)
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