Newsletter No. 572
OCTOBER 2026
NOTICE OF 10th OCTOBER 2026 MEETING, AND NEWSLETTER
The October meeting will cover aspects of the 2nd Anglo-Boer War 1899-1902. This is an area we have neglected of late so here is you chance to find out the details or revisit the struggle. The speaker is retired Kearsney history master and now registered tour guide Kevin Smith. His topic is an overview of initial battles of the Second Boer War. In particular "campaigns" of W. Cape – Battles of Belmont, Graspan, Modder Rivier, Magersfontein; the E. Cape - Stormberg; and in Natal - Talana, Platrand, Spioenkop, Vaalkrans and Tugela Heights.
The[re] will be no DDH short talk as it is expected that Kevin’s presentation will be slightly longer,
but it will be preceded by a brief teaser arranged by Brian Adams and Charles Whiteing for the
Quiz proposed for December.
NB the idea of a lunch for December has been cancelled in
favour of the usual snacks.
The meeting will take place THIS SATURDAY 10th October 2026 at 1.30 for 2.00pm, at St Cyprians Church Hall off Umbilo Rd, with secure parking and liquid refreshments available for cash. Entry is free and open to all, with visitors welcome, but a donation of R20 for the car guard which also gives entry into the monthly raffle is requested from all attendees.
Enquiries to Phil Everitt, Chair KZN Branch, SAMHS, Cell or WhatsApp: 0844371636.
KEN GILLINGS MEMORIAL LECTURE
Ken Gillings, Gunner, Past Chair of SAMHS KZN Branch, author, Zulu linguist and doyen of Battlefields Guides passed away 10 years ago, a huge loss to all of these, but especially to Military History. In his memory, our sister organisation the South African National Society holds a memorial lecture annually to which we are invited as guests but pay only the members entrance fee of R50, and not R70 which covers car guard and generous sandwiches, snacks, cake and tea/coffee. Full details of the lecture are given below. This will be an extremely interesting presentation covering the history of the South Coast and members should consider taking advantage of this unique opportunity.
NEWSLETTER
1. PAST SEPTEMBER MEETING
The September meeting opened with a presentation by Mark Levin on the WW1 anti-German riots in Durban when a number of suspected German owned shops and businesses were torched and burnt. Similar mob violence occurred in Britain and colonies world wide following the German sinking of the trans-Atlantic liner Lusitania with large loss of civilian lives. Although many members were aware of this sad event in Durban’s history, few were aware of the level of destruction caused by the mobs which was described and graphically illustrated by Mark and shown below.
We were then honoured to have the main presentation by Rear Admiral Neville Howell the Flag Officer Commanding Naval Base Durban. This covered a brief overview of the South African Navy and its predecessors from the first volunteer unit in Durban to the current Navy. (It is notable that the flag carried by Durban Naval volunteers and their memorial are located in the side chapel in St Cyprian’s Church). The main body of Adm Howell’s presentation however related to the history of the submarine service in our Navy. He served on both the original French Daphne Class and the newer German Type 209 boats. Both have shown excellent service although like the entire SANDF are critically constrained by current budgets. The Daphne’s were operational during the Border war on both west and east coasts doing reconnaissance and land and launching embarking raiding parties of the Recces. After 1994 they also excelled in operations with NATO and other Navies, showing the excellent training of our crews. The audience was captivated by his descriptions of crew in the extremely cramped conditions of the Daphnes and even the larger Type 209. One fact will be remembered by most was that due to this male crew do not shower for the duration of the voyage although female members are allowed quick showers. Crew sleep among the torpedoes and often find themselves on the toilet with the “chef” preparing food only a metre of so away across the aisle!
2. DIARISE THE DATES:
ALSO ….
AND REMEMBER …
Remembrance Days at Glenwood, DHS, Marist and
Clifton and many other schools and on Sunday 8Remembrance Days at Glenwood, DHS, Marist and
Clifton and many other schools and on Sunday 8th November. At St Cyprian’s Church in addition to the official Civic Event at the Cenotaph. Full details
in November Newsletter.
3.
A SELECTION OF PAST MILITARY HISTORY DATES IN OCTOBER.
The bible says, “The poor you will always have with you,” but it seems we will always have war also!
3.1 1993 - Battle of Mogadishu (Black Hawk down) occurs killing 18 U.S. Special Forces, two UN Peacekeepers and at least 600 Somali militia men and civilians.
3.2 1944 - World War II: Canadian Air Force pilots shoot down the first German jet fighter over France.
3.3 1951 - Korean War: The First Battle of Maryang San pits Commonwealth troops against communist Chinese troops.
3.4 1973 - The Crossing: 80,000 Egyptian troops cross the Suez Canal, breaching the fortified Israeli Bar-Lev Line and starting the Yom Kippur War.
3.3 1899 - Second Boer War begins: In South Africa, a war between the United Kingdom and the Boers of the Transvaal and Orange Free State erupts.
3.4 1066 - Norman Conquest: Battle of Hastings - The forces of William the Conqueror defeat the Saxon army and kill King Harold II of England.
3.5 1945 - The USSR's nuclear program receives plans for the United States's plutonium bomb from Klaus Fuchs at the Los Alamos Laboratory
3.6 1914 - World War I: The First Battle of Ypres begins.
3.7 1097 - First Crusade: Crusaders led by Godfrey of Bouillon, Bohemund of Taranto, and Raymond IV, Count of Toulouse, begin the Siege of Antioch.
3.8 1956 - The Mau Mau rebellion in Kenya is defeated.
3.9 1942 - World War II: Allied forces commence the Second Battle of El Alamein, which proves to be the turning point in the North African campaign.
3.10 1415 - The army of Henry V of England defeats the French at the Battle of Agincourt.
3.11 1961 -Nuclear testing: The Soviet Union detonates the hydrogen bomb Tsar Bomba over Novaya Zemlya; at 58 megatons of yield, it is still the largest nuclear device ever detonated. Nikita Khrushchev announces that the scientists had planned to make it 100 megatons, but had reduced the yield so as to avoid breaking all the windows in Moscow.
3.12 1956 - Suez Crisis: The United Kingdom and France begin bombing Egypt to force the reopening of the Suez Canal.
4 Our BORDER WAR
4.1 31 Oct 1981 Op Firewood - A SADF battle group was formed and consisted of elements of 1 Parachute Battalion, 5 Reconnaissance Regiment and 101 Battalion.[1]:252 This battle group would be a mechanised force and consisted of Ratels, Casspirs and Buffels.
The Operation was to attack the PLAN N Command base. Intense fighting ensued and eventually although the base was not taken, the SADF forces withdrew when PLAN reinforcements were said to be on their way. 5 Honoris Crux were awarded and SADF suffered 12 killed and 47 wounded.
4.2 Ops Hooper and Packer spanned months before and after October.
5. Journals
The new Journals were distributed at previous meetings. Many were not collected and will be available again at the meeting this month. Please collect yours and those who cannot attend please try to arrange for a fellow member to collect for you.
Joan Marsh, at National Office can offer the alternative of an emailed pdf version and/or to receive a copy by post but this is obviously subject to the vagaries of the SA Post Office. If any members would prefer this in the future, please drop her an email to joan@trolleyscan.com You may also contact Joan on cell or WhatsApp at 0660937296
4. Presenters wanted.
We always have openings for power point illustrated short (20-minute) DDHs and 45-minute main talks and are actively looking for speakers for 2027. Please approach the Chair or a committee member to volunteer or suggest speakers.
5. NEXT MEETING
The next meeting will again be as usual on the 2nd Saturday of the month namely the 14th November. The main speaker will be Kevin Jordan who will give his illustrated presentation of the heroic WW1 stand of the 1SA Brigade at the Battle of Delville Wood. Details of the DDH introduction presentation will follow.
That’s all for now folks, see you THIS Saturday 10th October and if possible, bring a friend to boost numbers and help recruit new members!
Regards
Phil
P R Everitt,
Chair KZN Branch, SAMHS,
Cell or WhatsApp: 0844371636
Smile of the month
South African Military History Society / scribe@samilitaryhistory.org