File type:mp4
"Mussolini, his removal from power, Hitler's rescue, his cruel death" by Robin Smith
Zoomlecture given from Howick,KZN on 14 December 2023 hosted by Johannesburg Branch.
Covers Mussolini's rise to power with the help of the Black Shirts, his ambitions to expand
the Italian Empire, his take over of the government and his forming a pact with Hitler. His unsuccessful
invasion of Greece, and his loss of popularity and his removal from power via the King and his imprisonment.
The lecture covers the negotiations with the Allies about the surrender of Italy and the failure at the last
minute which resulted in the Germans taking over the northern sections of Italy. It covers his
rescue by German troopers from his prison and his reinstatement in a northern province of Italy,
until the war was about to end with his fleeing to the north, being captured by the partisans
and shot. Long after the war his body was entombed in a memorial in his home town. An excellent
talk putting together the big picture.
Link to video file:Mussolini Pt1
File size:59 MBytes (31 minutes)
File type:mp4
Link to video file:Mussolini Pt2
File size:57 MBytes (30 minutes)
File type:mp4
"The Wolfpacks off South Africa's coast" by Dylan Fourie
Zoomlecture given from Port Elizabeth on 11 December 2023 hosted by SAMHSEC Branch.
Operation Eisbar: German submarine offensive off the South African coast in 1942
By 1942, Allied anti-submarine operations in the North Atlantic limited the
employment of German submarines in that theatre. Because of the amount of
shipping which rounded the Cape of Good Hope, Operation Eisbar was aimed at
disrupting shipping off the South African coast. By December 1942, an
estimated 310 000 tons of shipping had been sunk through Operation Eisbar.
The lecture covered the organisation from the military parties as well as stories from some of the survivors
of the 82 ships sunk.
Link to video file:U-boats Pt1
File size:30 MBytes (20 minutes)
File type:mp4
Link to video file:U-boats Pt2
File size:30 MBytes (20 minutes)
File type:mp4
"Robey Leibbrandt and Operation Weissdorn - The plot against Jan Smuts" by Andriza Liebenberg
Zoomlecture given from Johannesburg on 16 November 2023 hosted by Johannesburg Branch.
Operation Weissdorn was a plot by the German Abwehr to assassinate Jan Smuts and to be implemented by Robey Leibbrandt,
a South African Olympic boxer who was recruited and trained while participating in the 1936 Olympic Games in Berlin.
The lecture covered the movements of Robey and his eventual formation of the National Socialist Rebels in opposition to the Ossewabrandwag.
Link to video file:Robey Leibbrandt Pt1
File size:47 MBytes (28 minutes)
File type:mp4
Link to video file:Robey Leibbrandt Pt2
File size:27 MBytes (17 minutes)
File type:mp4
"Feeding an Army: South Africa 1914-1918" by Dr Anne Samson
Zoomlecture given from UK on 19 October 2023 hosted by Johannesburg Branch.
A Comparison of Logistics across the various SA Theatres: German South West Africa (GSWA), German East Africa (GEA), Egypt, Palestine and the Western Front.
The lecture covered the ration requirements specified for the different armies
and the challenges in getting those supplies to the forces taking into account logistic challenges caused
by the lack of infrastructure and wartime conditions. Different forces from different regions required
different diets and this led to the withdrawl of some groups as their dietary requirements could not be met and they were
getting ill because of the incompatibility with the available foods. Getting water to the units or men and horses was a major challenge in the desert areas. The lecture also covered the adminstrative organisation that had to be created to supply the armies.
Link to video file:Feeding an Army
File size:89 MBytes (38 minutes)
File type:mp4
"South African Air Force, Warsaw Airlift, 13 August - 16 October 1944" by Martin and Jean Urry
Zoomlecture given from Johannesburg on 15 September 2023 hosted by Johannesburg Branch.
On 3 August 1944, the Polish partisans in Warsaw called for urgent help from the Allies.
British Prime Minister Winston Churchill decided to send assistance.
He ordered 205 Group, commanded by a South African officer, Brigadier J T (Jimmy) Durrant,
to start with extensive flights to Warsaw, despite the extremely difficult circumstances
that would seriously hamper these supply flights. This operation became known as the
Warsaw Airlift. It involved 85 aircraft dropping some 485 containers (72 tons) of supplies.
The lecture covers the history of the airlift and the fate of many of the crews that crashed in the venture.
Every year there are commemorative services in South Africa and Poland to honour those involved.
The lecture included details of some of these services and the close bond between the South African
and Polish communities.
Link to video file:Warsaw Airlift Pt1
File size:49 MBytes (31 minutes)
File type:mp4
Link to video file:Warsaw Airlift Pt2
File size:41 MBytes (25 minutes)
File type:mp4
"Electronic Warfare(EW):the South African experience" by Dr Brian Austin
Zoomlecture given from UK on 17 August 2023 hosted by Johannesburg Branch.
Dominating and controlling communications via radio is an important part of winning a war. Dr Austin reviewed the systems
that were developed in South Africa to monitor and disrupt the insurgents communications. He described the various elements
needed in Electronic Warfare and how these were implimented by the SADF in its border war.
Much of the information was drawn from a recent book written by two former Directors of Signals in the SADF
who had first hand involvement in setting up the system.
His explanations were clear and structured and persons wanting to get an undestanding of electronic warfare
would find this lecture enlightening.
Link to video file:Electronic warfare in Africa Pt1
File size:40 MBytes (30 minutes)
File type:mp4
Link to video file:Electronic warfare in Africa Pt2
File size:16 MBytes (15 minutes)
File type:mp4
"A History of the Gallipoli Campaign in 13 Objects" by Ian Binnie
Zoomlecture given from UK on 13 July 2023 hosted by Johannesburg Branch.
Ian describes the events of this WW1 campaign which are illustrated by 13 objects that
were in use at that time.
Link to video file:Gallipoli Pt1
File size:44 MBytes (33 minutes)
File type:mp4
Link to video file:Gallipoli Pt2
File size:58 MBytes (28 minutes)
File type:mp4
"German Navy capital ships in WW2" by Helmoed Heitman
Zoomlecture given from Cape Town on 10 July hosted by SAMHSEC Branch.
German Navy capital ships in WW2: the fates of Graf Spee, Bismarck and Scharnhorst are well known, but the actions and fates of the other capital ships less so and there are some interesting bits of information even about the better known ships
Link to video file:German Navy Pt1
File size:47 MBytes (25 minutes)
File type:mp4
Link to video file:German Navy Pt2
File size:48 MBytes (30 minutes)
File type:mp4
"Veterinary history of the Anglo-Boer War" by Dr Arnold van Dyk
Zoomlecture given from Cape Town on 8 June 2023 hosted by Johannesburg Branch.
Almost half a million horses and mounts were involved in the Anglo-Boer War.
The lecture consists of short overview of sources, an introduction (mainly on horses),
services on Boer side (Theiler - ZAR and Henning - OFS), Army
Veterinary Department - including prominent officers and the 12
casualties on British side.
Link to video file:ABWvets Pt1
File size:67 MBytes (34 minutes)
File type:mp4
Link to video file:ABWvets Pt2
File size:58 MBytes (35 minutes)
File type:mp4
"Capture of General Pieter Hendrik Kritzinger on 16 Dec 1901" by Dr Arnold van Dyk
Zoomlecture given from Cape Town on 8 May 2023 hosted by SAMHSEC Branch.
General Pieter Kritzinger was probably the only senior Boer
officer to invade the Cape Colony four times during the war. He did so as
a burgher of the Rouxville commando in November 1899, during the failed
attempt of General Christiaan de Wet during the second
Boer invasion of the Cape Colony on 16 December 1900,and returned to the Cape Colony for a
third time on 15 May 1901 as a General until withdrawing 15 August 1901.
After recuperating and resting in the Ladybrand district, he made a fourth
and last attempt to invade the Cape Colony via Sand drift on the
night of 14/15 December 1901. With his commando he
crossed the Noupoort - de Aar railway line late afternoon of 16 December
1901. Whilst turning around for the third time to pick up stragglers he
was shot through the chest and captured by soldiers of the third battalion
Grenadier Guards.
Link to video file:Kritzinger Pt1
File size:44 MBytes (27 minutes)
File type:mp4
Link to video file:Kritzinger Pt2
File size:55 MBytes (24 minutes)
File type:mp4
"Maynie Fleck and concentration camps in the Free State" by Dr Vicky Heunis
Zoomlecture given from Bloemfontein on 13 April 2023 hosted by Johannesburg Branch.
Maynie Fleck (1877-1975): The South African associate of
the British philanthropist and pacifist, Emily Hobhouse who contributed to humanitarian aid provided
during and after the Anglo-Boer (South African) War, improving the conditions in the concentration camps and
alleviating the suffering experienced by the Boer women and
children during as well as after the Anglo-Boer.
Maynie Fleck was very involved in setting up and running humanitarian
organisations in support of the women in the Bloemfontien Concentration Camp.
Later they set up training for the women in the form of spinning and weaving schools which continued to the start of WW2.
Vicky has worked from original diaries of Fleck who recorded names of
people in the camps, their needs and organised relief for their needs. As a result the papers
provide a first hand insight to the conditions in the camps.
Anyone wanting to research concentration camps during the Boer War needs to listen to this talk.
Link to video file:Maynie Fleck Pt1
File size:56 MBytes (35 minutes)
File type:mp4
Link to video file:Maynie Fleck Pt2
File size:35 MBytes (21 minutes)
File type:mp4
"Leonardo da Vinci as a military engineer" by Alan Mantle
Zoomlecture given from Johannesburg on 13 March 2023 hosted by SAMHSEC Branch.
Leonardo's work in the military arts, is another application of his creativity and part of an astonishing multitude of his talents. As a consummate innovator he not only invented war-machines, but even conceptualized them many centuries before some of the materials or even the mechanics or propulsion methods existed.
The talk describes his early life and work and the apparent motivation that brought him into the field of Military Engineering.
It traces his activities, his movements and his role as a Military Engineer in the different periods of his life. These are the lesser known details of his work, while acting for the powerful rulers at that time.
Extracts from Leonardo's famous codices illustrate many of his military creations for defence and attack and his numerous designs that anticipated by centuries their actual realization.
Link to video file:Leonardo
File size:70 MBytes (54 minutes)
File type:mp4
"The first Swans of the South African Navy - 50 Years ago" by Commander Leon Steyn
Zoomlecture given from Cape Town on 9 March 2023 hosted by Johannesburg Branch.
1972 marked the first permanent appointment of women sailors to the South African Navy, 50 years ago.
Integrating women into the male dominated service provided many challenges for the women and
the service.
Commander Leon Steyn, Officer-in-charge of the Naval Museum in Simon's Town, detailed
the challenges and how these challenges were addressed. Information for the lecture was taken from
official records, as well as personal reminiscences of the women involved 50 years ago.
The South African