Springbok delville wood 2016

GROUP PHOTOS THOSE THAT ATTENDED THE SERVICE AT THE THIEPVAL MEMORIAL.

DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY 2016

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016 TABLE OF CONTENTS From the Editor’s Desk

5

Delville Wood Centenary Tour Report by Kevin Bolton

6

TOUR STORIES BY MEMBERS ON TOUR

20

My Experience on the Legion Tour by Col (Dr) G. Scharf

20

Delville Wood 2016 by Neil Webb

26

A Week in France by Michelle and Nancy

26

My Amazing Moment on the Tour by Rick Andries

36

Delville Wood by Deon Fourie

36

Decorated Soldier’s Son Recount Father’s Bravery

38

Almost Exactly 100 Years Ago by David Bennett

39

Heritage of the Battle of Delville Wood by Allan Sinclair

45

South African Fight for Delville Wood – The Great War 1914 – 1918

49

COMMEMORATIONS

51

Thiepval Memorial

51

Speech by Peter Dickens at the Thiepval Memorial

59

Address at the Thiepval Memorial by the National President Godfrey Giles

65

OTHER DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY SERVICES

67

Benoni

67

Bloemfontein

69

Durban

69

Himeville

69

Kimberley

69

Port Elizabeth

69

Pretoria

78

Grey College – St Andrew’s Bloemfontein

81

Noordwijk Netherlands by Andrew Bergman

81

Walkerville

84

OTHER STORIES

84

Bailey’s Sharpshooters by William Endley

84

Krige Brothers by Charles Ross

86

Today in Kimberley by Steve Lunderstedt

86

Sharks Rugby Union

86

Strange Phenomenon by Denise Schaaf Brown

88

1

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016 I Love Paris……On the March by Deon Fourie

88

South African Casualties during July 1916 in France by Charles Ross

90

100 Years On. Sharks Rugby Union

93 INDEX OF PHOTOS

Centenary of Delville Wood was Commemorated around the World

4

Tour Photos

8

Trenches at Vimmey Ridge – Tommy Museum

10

Warlencourt – Bunker – Vimmey Crater

12

Canadian Memorial at Vimmey

14

Bunker – German Trenches

16

Loch Crater – Irish Tower – Newfoundland Memorial

19

Hill 60 – Christmas Soccer Match – Cathedral in Ypres

21

Pachendale Museum

23

Somme Trench Museum

25

Somme Trench Museum – Coffee Shop – Refreshment of the Side Walk

27

Scenes at Menin Gate

29

Scenes at Menin Gate

31

Scenes at Menin Gate

33

Scenes at Menin Gate

35

Group Photos

37

Scenes from Delville Wood

40

Scenes from Arques-La-Bataille

42

Scenes from Arques-La-Bataille

44

Scenes from Arques-La-Bataille

46

Group Photos

48

Map of the Battle of Delville Wood – Group Photo

50

Scenes from the Service at the Thiepval Memorial

52

Scenes from the Service at the Thiepval Memorial

54

Scenes from the Service at the Thiepval Memorial

56

Scenes from the Service at the Thiepval Memorial

58

Scenes from the Service at the Thiepval Memorial

60

Group Photos

62

Scenes from the Service at the Thiepval Memorial

64

Scenes from the Service at Delville Wood Memorial

66

2

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016 Benoni

68

Bloemfontein

70

Cape Town

71

Durban

72

Durban

73

Dundee

74

Himeville

75

Johannesburg

76

Kimberley

77

Pretoria

79

Louis Trichardt

80

Grey College – St Andrew’s Bloemfontein

82

Noordwijk Netherlands

83

Walkerville

85

Photos Kimberley Regiment

87

Strange phenomenon at Ypres – Port Elizabeth

89

Commonwealth War Graves Cemeteries in France

91

3

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016

The Centenary of the Battle of Delville Wood was commemorated around the World.

4

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016 FROM THE EDITOR’S DESK Over the 95 year history of the South African Legion of Military Veterans there must have been many special editions of the SPRINGBOK. As a “newbee” to the Legion I assume that at the end of World War two there was a special edition and many other events over the years.

The idea of a special edition of the SPRINGBOK to cover the centenary commemorations of the Battle of Delville Wood was born with the numerous postings of photos and reports on social media during July 2016.

These included reports and numerous photos posted by a variety of people.

Added to this was the Legion tour to France. An idea that started many years ago and notwithstanding numerous challenges ended up as a huge success. Challenges such as the rapid deterioration of Rand British Pound exchange rate, ensuring that everyone was in possession of the correct documentation and of cause the change in the date of the Delville Wood Centenary Service from Sunday 10 July to Tuesday 12 July at a very late stage of the planning. Fortunately the expert tour operator used by the Legion was able to juggle these and come up with a tour that included all the planned sites. To Legionnaire Kevin Bolton, well done and for those that understand Naval terminology, “BZ”.

The same goes everyone that was involved in planning the tour.

The events in France.

With the change in the date many were faced with dilemma, change our return flight at a considerable cost or miss the main event. In stepped the chairman of the Royal British Legion – South Africa Branch and arranged a service at the Thiepval memorial on Sunday 10 July 2016. To Peter Dickens and his team, well done and “BZ”.

When the idea was put to the National Chairman, Legionnaire Godfrey Giles, he agreed. Due to cost involved it was decided that this edition would not be printed and posted to members, but would be made available as an electronic edition.

Finally my sincere appreciation to everyone that submitted stories on the tour (these are included as you submitted them), the many services held across South Africa and the many photographers that posted photos on social media of which many are included in this edition. I will not try and thank everyone personally as I may leave someone out, from me a BIG THANK YOU. Enjoy reading this special edition of SPRINGBOK.

5

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016 SA LEGION DELVILLE WOOD TOUR 2016

By Legionnaire Kevin Bolton – Tour leader In memory of the South African fallen during The Great War THE SOLDIER I was that which others did not want to be…

I went where others feared to go, And did what others failed to do.

I asked nothing from those who gave nothing, and reluctantly Accepted the thought of eternal loneliness …. should I fail.

I have seen the face of terror; and enjoyed the sweet taste of a moment’s love.

I have cried, pained, and hoped …. but most of all, I have lived times others would say were best forgotten.

At least someday I will be able to say that I was Proud of what I was ….A SOLDIER In 2008 Henri Boshoff, Godfrey Giles and myself got together in Sandton one evening to brain storm an idea that we had been discussing for a while. A military veteran’s tour to Delville Wood, France to remember the South Africans who had fallen during the Battle of the Somme and the Great War. It was decided to plan such a trip which Henri was going to lead in 2011, the 95-year remembrance of the Battle of Delville Wood and the Great War. Shortly before the tour was to depart Henri was tragically killed in a motor car accident and I ended up leading the tour. I believe that this tour was a major success and out of this with the discussions a few years before I decided to plan the 100 year remembrance tour of the Battle of Delville Wood in July 2016.

The format was based on the 2011 tour but addressed the short coming of the 2011 tour.

The planning kicked off in December 2011 for the 2016 tour. The original plan was based on the ideal situation but as we all know things change. The initial idea was to take 100 veterans their wives and family to France and Belgium to pay our respects to the South African fallen. Unbeknown to us at that stage the rand was to plummet. The 2011 tour was planned in UK pounds at an exchange rate of 1 to 12 but we planned on the worst case scenario of 1 to 16. As well as most of you know or heard at the time when payments had to be made the exchange rate was 1 to 23. As per normal, things did not go smoothly during the run up to departure but eventually a group of between 28 and 40 depending on which day it was. We all had an enjoyable and meaningful tour. The 2011 tour cost me approximately R30 000.00 including a plane ticket to the UK from France this time round it cost about R40 000.00 Everyone made their own way to Charles de Gaulle Airport to meet outside the Radisson Hotel at 09h00 on the morning of the 7th July 2016. The bus then departed for Delville Wood at about 10h00 with Trevor our

6

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016 driver and Terry our guide. This time we did it with a professional guide making sure that we got the best information and facts, as we travelled through France and Belgium. Ian Alexander and Terry from Battlefield Tours did not fail us. With Terry on the bus with us, we were able to stop at any stage and get the rundown of the history of the area at that particular location. It did help to get a true perspective of what actually happen and when from Terry. As on a few occasions David Gush and myself from the 2011 tour both found that the information we had received during our previous tour was not entirely correct or the Battlefield was swung by 180 degrees. Granted we did not have a professional guide in 2011.

What did strike me this drove around was the growing in the fields. I my first poppies at Arques the Friday. Our first port Delville Wood as Delville to be under a lock down reasons as of the Friday in the official parade on the Terry then guided us wood enlightening us on where and when during time we were able to visit point of entry to the HQ was positioned etc. security and the unveiling of remembrance by our 12th July 2016 we were the museum.

We Delville Wood again on the Thiepval service and official Remembrance Tuesday the 12th July Tour Leader Legionnaire Kevin Bolton president officiated.

time as we lack of poppies only witnessed La Bataille on of call was Wood was going for security preparation for 12th July 2016. through the what happened the battle. This and see the wood where the Due to the of the new wall president on the unable to visit returned to the Sunday after again for the Parade on 2016 when our

After this stop off we departed for Arras where we were going to stay for the duration of our stay in France at the Holiday Inn Express. We had visited Arras during the previous trip in 2011 but only for a beer. The evenings in Arras were memorable and I will not forget walking through the streets at 22h00 in broad day light. The atmosphere was very festive as it was the time of European Soccer Cup final.

Early the next morning we departed for Arques La Bataille and for the parade to remember the South African Native Corp who died in France during the Great War. 118 members of the Native Labour Corp are buried in the CCWG cemetery. The South African Native Labour Corp worked in the port of Dieppe down the road where they unloaded the ships during WW1. The parade was not what we had expected it to be and the Military Veterans who had remembered the fallen all the years were only afforded to lay their wreaths as members of the public and not part of the protocol as the norm. The veteran organisations were not allowed to parade their banners on parade as normally done at such parades. We must remember that the parade was a SANDF parade and so we were guests at the parade. It was not a veteran’s parade. I will not go into detail as this is being addressed on a higher level. In the end we did pay our respects as we have done during all the years.

7

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016

Lgr Rick Andries at the tour coach.

On board the luxury tour coach.

The hotel where the group spent the first night.

8

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016 After the parade we were all including the troops on parade, the band and dignitaries invited back to the town hall for an official function presented by the mayor. The function was most enjoyable, with champagne, wine, all sorts of snacks, a main meal and desserts.

Saturday morning, we visited Vimy Ridge where the Canadians had fought. This was a weak point of our previous visit in 2011 which we had missed out on. At Vimy Ridge where we were able to visit the tunnels used to get the troops to the front lines without the Germans seeing them. It should be remembered that the tunnels were also used to burrow under the enemy’s lines and then to detonate a large mine destroying the Germans positions therefore all the craters around. Vimy is worth the time if you are ever in the area to visit and to get an idea of what the troops experienced during WW1 in the trenches and tunnels. What did fascinate me was that they used flint in the walls of the tunnels to keep them dry. The area is very wet even in summer.

From Vimy Ridge we moved onto Albert where we had lunch and visited the underground Somme Trench Museum. For me again this was a highlight as Vimy was even though I had already visited the museum in 2011. The museum has been renovated and most displays have been upgraded or replaced. If I ever visit again I will not hesitate to visit the museum again. The museum is built in the underground tunnels of the town with the entrance point next to the cathedral, exiting 250m later down the road in a park next to a stream and water fall. Again as in Vimy and even more so, you could get an idea of what life and the conditions under which the troops lived during the Great War. Albert suffered great devastation during the war (both wars) the town being nearly flattened during WW1. I recommend that this should be the first port of call for any tour group to the SOMME as it gives a good introduction to WW1 and the Battle of the Somme which started on the 1st July 1916. It was here in the museum shop that Neil Webb bought a second hand Black Watch Bugle in excellent condition. Neil was a trumpeter in the Light Horse Regiment band when it existed.

While driving to our various locations my attention was drawn to the number of Commonwealth Wars Graves Commission CWWG cemeteries dotted around the country side. Some cemeteries only have a few graves while others have 1000s of graves. There are a number of French cemeteries and a few German cemeteries but the CWWG cemeteries standout. They are immaculately keep by teams that are daily on the ground maintaining them. The Allied forces grave stones are white but the German grave stones are black which I found interesting.

The next stop was the Newfoundland Memorial. In the first 30 minutes of the Battle of the Somme on the 1st July 1916, the Newfoundland Regiment lost 900 men, only 68 remained alive and unhurt. This loss represented 25% of the Newfoundland’s men folk. These men came under direct fire from two German machine gun posts that should have been destroyed by the artillery pre-bombardment. The Allied Forces lost a total of 58 000 men that day. A visit to this memorial is a must for anyone interested in the history of World War 1 as the trench lines are still clearly visible. It should be remembered that the Germans had dug in 14 months prior to this attack so had shelters up to 30m underground.

Next morning we stopped off at the Lochnagar Crater behind the village of La Boisselle on the way to the Thiepval Memorial Service. Here the Allied Forces had tunneled under the German defenses and packed it with explosives. The 270m tunnel was dug by Tunneling Companies of the Royal Engineers. When the explosives were detonated at 07h28 on the 1st July 1916 they left a crater of about 80 meters wide and 22 meters deep. The explosion was initiated by Captain James Young of the 179th Tunnelling Company. The crater was 1 of 19 that were detonated on the morning of the 1st July 1916 at 07h28. The crater is now privately owned and has recently been upgraded.

9

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016

Group visiting the trenches at Vimmey.

Group visiting the Tommy Museum.

10

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016 From the crater we proceeded to Thiepval were we attended the Delville Wood Memorial Service present by the British Branch of the SA Legion. This was due to the unexpected date change when the French President and the South African President could not attend the parade planned for the 10th July 2016 at Delville Wood.

Due to this late change of plans the UK Branch of the SA Legion stepped in and assisted with a Memorial Service at Thiepval. Due to the change of date many people would not have been able to attend any memorial service due to previously booked air tickets and hotel reservations For me this was one of the most moving memorial services I have attended.

The Thiepval Memorial stands 45 m high and is visible for several kilometers in every direction. Engraved on the sixteen pillars are the names of 73,367 British and Commonwealth soldiers that fell during the Battle of the Somme between July and November 1916 and who have no known grave. If my facts are correct there are about 860 unaccounted South African names on the memorial. For me this Memorial site was most fitting as an alternative for Delville Wood due to the lock down for security reasons. The banners on parade where the most I have seen in my 25 years of involvement in veteran’s affairs of South African Veteran Organisation.

During the period of the 100 year of the Battle of the Somme the British Legion was going to hold / held a Memorial Service every day in memory of the soldiers who fought in the Battle of the Somme. All they did was that the Memorial Service due for the 10th July 2016 was given to the British SA Legion Branch to give it a South African flavor in memory of those soldiers who fought at Delville Wood. This they did and they did an excellent job (Thanks Peter and team) The Memorial Service started with the blowing of whistles with 3 short blasts as was done on the morning of the 1st July 1916 at the commencement of the Battle of the Somme. The service was attended by about 500 people mostly from touring South African High Schools, Veteran Organisations and family members of the soldiers that gave their lives for our today.

The thing that made me chuckle was that the piper at the service was the Pipe Major of the local French Pipe Band a Frenchman who could hardly speak English, playing Sarie Marie, on Scottish Bagpipes.

The SA Legion tour party played a major role in the service. Lawrie Porter from the SA Legion David Gush from the MOTHS and Godfrey Giles the SA Legion President and the Peter Dickens who arrange the service from the SA Legion in the UK. The address was given by a family member of Lt Col Thackeray Officer Commanding the 3 rd SA Infantry Regiment.

Another story if I can get my facts correct is the story of Nancy Aucock who was named after Nancy the 4 th SA Infantry Regiment mascot the springbok with a twisted broken horn. At Arques La Bataille we met Nancy with her family who were visiting the Somme to remember Nancy’s dad who had fought with the 1st SA Brigade in the Great War. At Arques La Bataille we told Nancy that if she really wanted to be involved and remember her Dad she needed to be at Thiepval on the Sunday for the memorial service. And that was the last we saw of Nancy. During the service who should arrive but Nancy and her family. We quickly arranged a wreath for her which she laid thanks to Karin Dickens. After the service we said to Nancy and family again if you really want to experience a moving service she needs to attend the Menin Gate Service in Belgium. Well again on the Monday evening at Menin Gate after we had laid our Wreaths who should show but Nancy and

11

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016

The Memorial commemorating the Battle of Warlencourt.

One of the bunkers.

Crater at Vimmey.

12

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016 family again. As the SA Legions motto goes not for ourselves but for others. We were able to give Nancy and her family closure to what her father had endured during the Great War. After the Thiepval Memorial Service we all moved off to La Tommy a local pub restaurant for something to eat and drink which was sponsored by a member of the Royal British Legion South African Branch. La Tommy, is owned by Dominique. We found Dominique to be quite a character. However, he opens his restaurant when he wants depending on his mood. The restaurant has its own museum including reconstructed trenches in the back garden with all its detail and models dressed in the appropriate uniforms of the day. The right side are the Allies and the left are the Germans.

All I can say is what a day what an experience that I will not easily forget.

Once the service and lunch was finished we moved off to Ypres in Belgium for the second part of the tour.

On the way we stopped off and visited the Tank Memorial at Pozeires near to where the Allied forces tanks are supposed to have been used for the first time during the Great War as a new surprise weapon. In those days they were referred to as a Landships. 36 tanks were deployed but only a third made it to the start line.

Though not very successful they were a morale booster to troops on the ground. The fence around the memorial is made of 10 x 6 pounder gun barrels and the chain is from tank driving chains.

We arrived and settled into the hotel. As per the norm in 2011 I was off to the Menin Gate Service that is held every evening. Some of the rest of the tour group frowned upon this but off I went. Only to see most of the group followed and as 5 years before another very moving service. The only thing is now this year the road closes earlier for the service. The crowd again was about 1000 plus every evening that we attended. We attended every evening while in Ypres.

The next morning we were on the road again this time we visited Plougsteert a village in Belgium where Winston Churchill as a Lt Col commanded the 6th Royal Scots Fusiliers battalion of the Ninth Division, from January 1916 till May 1916. It was during this time that Cpl Hilter served a mere 10 miles away with the 16th Bavarian Reserve Regiment.

On Christmas day 1914 the story goes that the German and Allied forces called a truce and had a soccer match in no man’s land at Saint Yves in Belgium. We were able to visit this site and take a few photos of the memorial and the bunker that still exists in the field.

We also visited the Island of Ireland Peace Park near Messines. This memorial is dedicated to all the Irish men and woman who died or were wounded or are missing and who had served with the Armies of Australia, Britain, Canada, New Zealand, South Africa and the United States during the Great War. Typical Irish there is a fence surrounding the memorial with a gate but the wall next to the gate has stepping stones to enable one to climb over the wall easily if the gate is closed. Why have a gate then.

Another place we visited was the Bayernwald German Trenches. The trenches are on high ground and were restored in recent years. The site does not only have trenches but also includes numerous bunkers. Only about 10% of the original trench system has been restored. The site includes a mine shaft of 30 m plus which is not open but the site does give one an idea of the trench system during the Great War. We, later, that day visited Hill 60 near Ypres where a few World War 1 bunkers and a crater that still exists.

The crater was created by the 1st Australian Tunneling Company tunneling under the enemy lines or positions

13

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016

The group at the Canadian Memorial at Vimmey Ridge.

The Canadian Memorial at Vimmy Ridge

14

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016 where they then placed explosives and detonated it. This was a relatively small crater when compared to some of the others of which we had heard of or visited.

We visited Tyne Cot Commonwealth War Graves where some 12 000 soldiers are buried. Most of these men are ‘names unknown’. The rear wall of the cemetery is a memorial to the ‘names unknown’ but also bears the names of the 35 000 men with known names. Tyne Cot is the largest WW1 Commonwealth Grave site in the world. The site is built on the same location as the German defensive positions of 1917. Two of the bunkers are still visible today. With another three bunker sites in the cemetery under the new structures.

On the Monday evening again we attended the evening memorial service at Menin Gate about 400m up the road from the hotel. This memorial service (wreath lying) has been held here every day since 1929, except during the period of the German occupation in World War II, when the service was moved to a Royal Air Force Base in England.

The service recommenced on the day of the German withdrawal. The local Fire Department provide the buglers (normally 4 but more on the more important occasions). At about 19h30 the local police close the road through the gate / bridge and at 20h00 the Last Post is sounded. The service then commences when an invited dignitary is invited to recite the Ode of Remembrance. Our group and South Africa were privileged to have Lawrie Poorter asked to recite the Ode of Remembrance on this day. On completion of the pray the wreath laying commences and ends with Reveille. Of the four nights that we attended this ceremony, about 15 to 20 wreaths were laid each night mostly by visiting British School groups and a few on behalf of individuals. A group of about 100 British serviceman from the Training Depot also attended and laid wreaths the one evening. The Monday night when we laid our wreaths (you have to book beforehand if laying a wreath) the service was attended by about 1200 people. We were also privileged to have a have a school choir sing for us and a banner party of 6 from the British Royal Legion on parade.

After the service we all went down the road to the square in Ypres for a sit down dinner with the Gunners tour. A festive evening was had by all.

Near the Cathedral in Ypres we found a pub called the BOERENHOL not sounding very good if translated into Afrikaans but in Flemish it means The Farmers Cave. In Ypres the local people are very friendly and speak Flemish which is very similar to Afrikaans which made conversation much easier and of course made it unnecessary to repeat everything as we had experienced in France.

Tuesday was the official Delville Wood Parade and the disappointment on the tour. The day started early with us being informed that we had to be at Delville Wood an hour earlier than planned. Anyway we arrived only to find all the roads closed and we had to circle the town of Longeuval to get to Delville Wood. I n the town we were stooped because the 2 Presidents had to first lay their wreaths in the town before we went onto Delville Wood 1km away.

At this point I was parted with my wreath as the bus went one way and we another. Anyway I found a wreath and lay it. Later I was able to put the Sappers insert into the wreath after the parade. The parade was a long one with political speeches. Again the veteran organisations were not allowed to parade their banners and only the Department of Veteran Affairs Banner was paraded with the 26 French Banners. What an embarrassment with the South African banner party not knowing what to do standing around. At the end of the parade the French banners paid their respects and marched off. Ours was put over someone’s shoulder and taken to a car while the French marched their banners to the town hall for the bun fight.

15

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016

A bunker visited.

German trenches.

16

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016 Again as at Arques La Bataille the veteran organisations were not called forward as protocol dictates and we were expected to lay as members of the public. With Godfrey Giles, David Gush and a few others, we planned what should have happened. We the South African Veteran Associations lined up and at the correct time march off to lay out wreaths before anyone else could. Ok, we barged in to lay out wreaths and paid our respects. What an embarrassment, shambles and disappointment that we were not allowed to pay our respects the correct way. This was the low point of the tour for me but we did what we went to do. We remembered our fallen in the best way we could at the time. I am sure the boys who stayed behind in the woods would understand.

After this we went to the town hall for the bun fight and as in Arques La Bataille the food and drink was excellent with some good networking done.

After the ceremony we stopped off to visit the Pozeires Commonwealth War Grave Cemetery on the way back to Ypres where some South Africans are buried. If my memory serves me correctly the 3rd largest CWWG cemetery and also where 1 German soldier is buried.

Further down the road on our return trip from the Delville Wood parade we stopped off at Butte de Warlencourt, a man made ancient burial mound, where the 1st South African Infantry Brigade, for a second time, lost so many men (about 1150 men killed or wounded) almost destroying the brigade for a second time. This mound dominates the area and was ideal for observation. However very few South Africans know much about this battle and our losses during this battle.

Early the Wednesday morning we went off to the Passchendale Museum near Tyne Cot. A museum built in the historical castle of Zonnebeke which is well worth a visit. It was during the British attack and the Battle of Passchendale of 1917 when 500 000 causalities occurred over a period of 100 days to advance just 5 miles.

I was taken by the number of life like dioramas and displays. The most impressive were the underground tunnels displaying life in the trenches and tunnels at the time. A new development since last there in 2011 was the trenches outside the main museum building that lead from the underground tunnel and trenches.

At the end of the trenches there is now a house to remember the US soldiers and their history of the Great War. Trevor our coach driver and entertainer on the bus stuck religiously to the speed limit unlike many in South African who would have speeded to make up time. Trevor on occasions would sing for us as we travelled through the countryside.

Once we had been dropped off at the airport we had to kill time before we could book in and proceed to the waiting lounge. So the 4 of us ended up in a coffee shop. After about 2 hours we bought some coffee and just as we finished we noticed a suspect bag unattended. No one said anything but we all rose and walked away only to be followed by a lot of others at the coffee shop. We did not hang around to find out what happened but we would have read it in the news by now if it had been something.

I write this in memory of Henri Boshoff friend comrade and ex-Chairman of the SA Legion Pretoria Branch who should have lead the 2011 tour to Delville Wood we will remember you Henri The Ode of Remembrance They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old, Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.

17

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016 At the going down of the sun, and in the morning.

“We will remember them” And the response WE WILL REMEMBER THEM On the 1st July the Somme begins 58 000 losses 20 000 death and 38 000 wounded 1st SA Infantry Brigade deploys under 9th Scottish Division to Longueval with the 26th and 27 Brigades 2 3 4 regiment go into Delville Wood morning 15 July 121 officers and 3052 other ranks go into the wood 20th July 1916 only 3 officers and 140 other ranks walk out of the wood Lt Col Thackeray and Lt Green 9 men from 1st SA Regt 33 men from 2nd SA Regt 14 men from 3rd SA Regt 25 men from 4th SA Regt + 1 officer and 59 other ranks that reinforced the Brigade 2 days earlier from the 28th Trench Mortar Battery On the 21st July 1916 only 5 officers and 750 other ranks could muster for morning parade 400 artillery shells rained per minute during this period in Delville Wood or 7 shells a second for period of up to 6 to 8 hours at a time The South African Brigade was out numbered approximately 5/6 men to 1. They were told to hold the wood at all costs which they did.

245 419 South Africans served in the Great War 30 880 served in the 1st SA Infantry Brigade 83 000 Black soldiers signed up to serve with the South African Native Labour Corp 25 000 of the 83 000 served in France 2 500 Coloured served in the Great War 3 000 South Africans served in the Royal Flying Corp The 1st SA Infantry Brigade deploys in December 1915 The brigade is made up of 4 Infantry Regiments and 4 Supporting Units 160 officers and 5648 other ranks 

1st SA Inf Regiments made up of members from the Cape Regiments.



2nd SA Inf Regiments made up of members from the Natal Regiments

18

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016

Loch Crater.

Entrance to the Irish Tower.

Newfoundland Memorial.

19

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016 

3rd SA Inf Regiment made up of members from the Transvaal and Rhodesian Regiments



4th SA Regiment made up of members from the Scottish Regiments also known as the South African Scottish



28th Brigade Machine Gun Company



SA Trench Mortar Battery



64 Field Coy Royal Engineers



1st SA Field Ambulance

A regiment was made up of 36 Officers and 1000 other ranks – 4 companies of 240 men each – 4 platoons of 4 sections each Each man carried a .303 rifle and 170 rounds of ammunition Additional units in support 5 Heavy Artillery Units 1 Field Ambulance Unit 1 Royal Engineer Signal Company 1 Military Hospital The only regret that I have is that I was unable to go and have a beer in the woods with the boys who stayed behind in the woods in 1916 as we did in 2011 for the 95 year memorial service the night before.

1st SA Infantry Brigade Approximate 15 000 losses in 2.5 years that accounts to approximate 50% losses The brigade was replaced approximately 5 times or every 6 months while deployed in France / Belgium South Africans killed 7 000 wounded 12 000 Great Britain 703 000 killed wounded 1 663 000 France 1 385 000 killed wounded 4 266 000 Germany 1 718 000 killed wounded 4 234 000 In total approximately 9 000 000 lost their lives during the Great War of 914 to 1918.

MY EXPERIENCE OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN LEGION DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY TOUR 2016 BY COL (DR) GEORG SCHARF I would kindly tell my side of the experience of this wonderful tour, which became a forceful awareness for me, of purpose of life and accepting one’s destiny.

As a child I was always fascinated by the wars of my grandfathers and father. My maternal Irish grandfather as a youngster, joined the British army (presumably as a lancer / cavalry). He did service in India, then came out to serve in the Anglo-Boer war and was part of the relief of Kimberley and Mafeking. (As far as I know

20

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016

Hill 60 crater.

Scene of the first Christmas soccer match.

Cathedral at Ypres.

21

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016 he partook in the 6 000 man cavalry charge of over 6 miles raising such a dust cloud, that there was no real resistance in the relief of Kimberley, as the Boers sped away).

After the Boer war, he returned to Ireland and later came back, married (his sweetheart in Kimberley, being the granddaughter of the Baron von Ludwig, friend of Cecil Rhodes) and settled in Pretoria. At the outbreak of the Great War, it seems that he was then a Transvaal Irish volunteer and having been in the cavalry, joined up with the Imperial Light Horse. Thus he ended up in the Somme area in one of the SA Brigades of the South African division. He was not in the first SA Brigade of Delville Wood but then nearby, in either the 2nd or 3rd Brigade. He served the whole four years at the front. He was mentioned in despatches and as a NCO (Staff Sergeant), then was awarded “Oak leafs” on the WW-I “Victory” medal. He could serve still as logistic personal in WW-II, before passing on in 1954, but not before he proudly had held his grandson as a baby sitting on his grandfather’s horse, posing for a photo, as “a future cavalry soldier”.

Likewise, I also had a paternal German grandfather, who was in Brazil at the outbreak of the war. He realized that he must get back to Germany as he was a “Landwehr” NCO (the Germans had a system of Citizen Force service, in which he was a Feldwebel, the equivalent of a staff-sergeant / sergeant-major). As my German grandfather was of a dark complexion and could speak fluent Portuguese, he landed in Lisbon and made as if he was a Portuguese merchant on his way to do business in Italy, with another German friend who masqueraded as a Dutch cloth trader. Once in Italy, they quickly jumped the border into Germany and joined their regiment, the 57th Kaiserliches Infanterie Regiment. This regiment was also employed at the front, originally at Verdun but later at the Somme. Eventually they were deployed at Passchendael where this grandfather was wounded early in 1918. It is noted by the British Imperial War museum in London that this regiment had the most action and therefore the most casualties, of all in the war with over 90 per cent of personal attached to it killed or wounded. He was awarded the Iron Cross, ostensibly, being wounded and having inhaled gas, as he as sole survivor manned a listening and lookout post for three days, warning his comrades of imminent Allied attacks (presumably by land telephone), which were then repeatedly repelled. The rest of the family, including my German grandmother (who was considered a French citizen, because of being originally from the Alsace) and my father, then a new-born baby, were interned by the French authorities until the end of the war.

Later my German father was unfortunately taken up in the German “Hitler Jugend”, as all boys who were tall, had an athletic build and blue eyes with Aryan features were. He however, already with my Grandparents and siblings (fleeing the madness of Nazi Germany) had made their way to South-West Africa (now Namibia) several years before WW-II. My father was then interned (for the second time in his life) by the South African forces in 1940 and held at Andalusia (Jan Kempdorp) and later at Baviaanspoort (Pretoria). My grandfather died mercifully several days before WW-II started, as he was adamant, that regardless of the political and nationalistic Nazi rhetoric which he despised, that mainly due to geographical and economic reasons, Germany could never win another world war. How right he was!

My mother then told us as little children (my father died when I was an infant, so I could never get it first hand), that our grandfathers literally fought opposing one another, not knowing there in the other trenches, was the other grandfather of their grandchildren one day. I studied every article I could on this and eventually worked out that this was indeed a possibility. This was confirmed by reading the various inscriptions on the gravestones of the South African units at the front, now with this tour.

Now, on this tour, we attended (our group - SA Legion Delville Wood tour – numbering about 26 mainly exSADF men and some with their ladies, many of whom had grandfathers in WW-I and one even a father) a moving memorial service on Sunday the 10th July 2016, at Thiepval where the monument brings homage to the over 72 000 killed and missing Allied and South African soldiers, who had no known grave. Before the ceremony I walked around this memorial marvelling at the landscape and doing my own tactical appreciation

22

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016

Visit to the Pachendale museum and trenches.

23

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016 of how the front could be deployed with my military courses and training abilities and having been a medic, how could I have played a role. Every now and then I thought about my role in the Angolan Border war.

As the ceremony started with the shocking experience of whistles blowing to emulate the last signals the many troops must have heard (for the last time), ordering them to “go over the top” out of the trenches, charging the enemy, on the 1st of July 1916 at the start of the Battle of the Somme, I could only wonder how they must have felt bearing in mind my own experience of mechanized infantry going forward to make contact with the enemy in our Angolan bush war.

In due course the main speaker, a Mr Dickens of the SA Legion London, gave the main address. He took the experience of the soldiers of this battle of the Somme, to their experience 70 odd years later in the African bush, of a wounded man of 61 Mechanized Battalion, who died of his wounds because no proper treatment could have been given then in the Angolan war during Op Modular (1987). I was stunned senseless. While he spoke I remembered, “but that was why I was asked to volunteer our services to this battle group”. We were a surgical team (based on the experience and lessons learnt by the British Medical Corps in the Falkland war of 1982), having been sent up to the border for medical support for a night attack at full moon by special forces on enemy airfields in order to suppress their air power. Somehow, the enemy had prepared for this possibility and actually deployed sections of soldiers under every aircraft on this specific airfield. The attack was called off and as we were in any case psyched up, we immediately volunteered, when asked, to go to 61 Mechanized Battalion in Angola as a surgical team. Our mission was to assist wounded, save their lives and limbs, and keep them safe until they could be evacuated safely to base hospitals like Rundu during the night by helicopters, when the enemy did not have air supremacy. The presence of the surgical team right on the front would boost the moral of the battle group, as they knew if wounded, we could take care of them. This then perhaps militarily, helped to make Op Modular a success (in stopping the Angolan advance and driving them back). I would also like to think that this defeat of the Soviet supported Angolan and Cuban led forces, emphasized the weakness of Soviet military doctrine, as the small outnumbered South African force with the UNITA soldiers, could drive the opponents back.

Although my mind during Mr Dickens’ speech was far away in the Angolan bush with flashes of memory racing through, I suddenly felt a dire connection with my brave grandfathers here on the battlefields of the Somme and Flanders. Then it struck me, like a Demascus experience, that virtually seventy years later my grandfathers’ experience had primed me as a surgeon, to have fulfilled through the soldiery values that had been instilled into me as a child, to answer the clarion call to help the wounded, to help fight that dimension of warfare, to alleviate suffering and the unnecessary loss of life and limb, thus to keep the morale of the fighting force high and its ability intact. When I returned from Angola, my mother as well as my wife warmly embraced me with pride on their faces saying, that they were so proud of me, as they could see my grandfathers in me, also in that I was active as a soldier at the front and that they knew, just like my grandfathers, that I was no coward.

An incredible peaceful, consoling, serenity then came over me and through the tears, trying to fathom this coincidence (or was it a spiritual Godcidence?), keeping my composure not to upset those around me, that through inherited common genes, upbringing, values and norms, that it would be my destiny as a descendant of soldiers, to have also been a soldier first and foremost, and then a specialist surgeon to heal and fight the horrors of war. Apparently Caesar had said centuries ago that the history and destiny of mankind is determined by its wars. It then struck me too that this saying was also so true. As far as could reasonably be determined, I was then the first surgeon in modern warfare, to have been deployed in front of the the march point of infantry formations, deserving the title “combat surgeon”.

24

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016

Visit to the Somme Trench Museum.

25

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016 DELVILLE WOOD 2016 BY NEIL WEBB (GROUP BUGLER) I have been associated with military music for 45 years, having played in a national service band and then continuing in the Light Horse Regiment band for a further 10 years. I have been playing the ceremonial bugle calls at commemorative parades for Wits Rifles and other veteran associations for some 20 years.

When I heard about the 100th anniversary tour to Delville Wood, I joined the group with the expectation of being able to play for one of the commemoration services. As events unfolded, I was not able to play at Deville Wood itself, but I did play at the Thiepval Memorial ceremony and at a couple of the other places of interest we visited. The reaction from another tour group who happened to be at the Lochnagar Crater Memorial when I played the Last Post was quite rewarding.

Playing at Thiepval was made the more memorable for me by a series of remarkable coincidences. The South African forces fought alongside the Scots in many of the engagements during the Battle of the Somme, and one of the memorials at the Beaumont-Hamel Newfoundland site is dedicated to the Black Watch, who have the Cameron Clan Badge. I am a Cameron on my mother's side of the family. When we visited the museum at Albert, I found a bugle with a Cameron Clan badge. I had been looking for a special bugle for some time, ever since playing on the regimental bugle for Wits Rifles. This bugle was in good condition and sounded without a hitch. I bought it on the spot, cleaned it up and played it the following day at the Thiepval Memorial Service. Imagine my surprise when I discovered that the pipe major from the Somme Regiment pipe band, who was playing the lament, had the Cameron Clan badge on his banner!

One of the most enjoyable aspects of the tour was the opportunity to meet and reminisce with fellow veterans from the South African citizen force regiments who had served during the same era.

Experiencing the daily Last Post ceremony at Menin Gate was also of special significance to me as a ceremonial bugler.

A WEEK IN FRANCE BY MICHELLE AND NANCY On Thursday 7 July 2016 my daughter Michele and I arrived at Charles de Gaulle airport in France. There we met up with my sister Priscilla Provis & her husband Nigel, as well as my nephew Geoffrey Crawshaw and his son Scotty who had flown in from America. The reason for our visit was to commemorate the centenary celebrations of the Battle of the Somme, and, in particular, the battle of Delville Wood. Our interest in this event was occasioned by the fact that our father, grand father and great grandfather respectively, Charles Alfred Sephton, had fought in this, one of the most brutal and bloody battles of WW1, and had been one of the few soldiers to have survived that ordeal.

Having located our hired car we drove straight to the town of Arras where we had booked accommodation.

We were delighted to find our apartment was situated in an old part of the city and a ten minute walk from the medieval town centre: a large cobbled square surrounded by all of the shops that one would hope to find in that part of the world. These included patisseries: purveyors of cakes and pastries that defy the imagination in both their taste and their display; chocolate shops; boulangeries (bakeries) displaying every type of bread imaginable; and, of course, numerous pavement cafes. We joined the happy throng of evening diners on a couple of occasions and enjoyed the experience of French cuisine, always served with a carafe of wine. Cest la vie!

On Friday morning we set out early to the town of Arques la Battaille where a wreath laying service was to be held in honour of the members of the South African Labour Corps Contingent who had died during WW1.

These men were volunteers who had joined up to help the war effort, and were mainly involved in offloading munitions at ports as and supplying other logistical support. 250 of these men are buried at Arque la Bataille.

26

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016

Somme trench museum.

A coffee shop.

Veterans and members of the Reserve Force Council enjoying a light refreshment.

27

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016 A large number of them had died by drowning when the ship they were on, the SS Mendi, sank off the Isle of Wight. Wreaths were laid by the SA minister of Defence and her entourage.

It was at this venue that our party was privileged to meet up with two men from the SA Legion, Godfrey Giles and Kevin Bolton, who took us under their wing and gave us much practical assistance and advice in planning our trip, and offering suggestions regarding which services to attend. Godfrey also presented us with two buttonhole badges, the first depicting a Flanders poppy , and the other of a pale mauve colour designed and distributed by the SA Legion in commemoration of the nine million animals that had died in that war. One is aware in particular of the incredible role played by horses, and the suffering to which they had been subjected .This was a wonderful gesture on the part of the Legion: the acknowledgement that every sentient being is a victim in war, even by default. A soldier, commenting on the ruins of a village in Belgium destroyed by artillery fire, had noted that not even a spider was to be found among the rubble of that town!

Our journey to this village was our introduction to the French countryside. I had had no idea of the beauty of rural France. We drove past acre upon acre of green and gold: golden wheat fields recently cut, and green crops that grow so successfully in those Northern climes, in particular, fields of young maize and every kind of vegetable. Between one village and the next are dotted forests, trees and leafy glades, with Flanders poppies in crimson bloom everywhere. The villages are only a few kilometres apart, and every one was as picturesque as the other with roses of every size and colour tumbling down banks and adorning the fronts of homes. There were hydrangeas of shades of pink, blue and mauve, also white, as well as clematis with flowers as big as saucers cascading over fences and climbing up walls. Most of the homes are adorned with window boxes overflowing with geraniums and petunias, and there were baskets of flowers hanging from lamp posts.

Of particular interest to this South African were the cows and sheep grazing in fields along the roadside. The Friesland cattle were as black and white as piano keys, untouched by the dust and sand farmers in our part of the world experience. There were also a considerable number of Charolais cattle, equally pristine in appearance. Being a sheep farmer’s daughter from Barkly East, I took a good look at the sheep in particular, and came away thinking that this was a farmer’s heaven, regardless of the choice of animal or crop.

After the morning’s ceremony we drove down to the city of Amiens to visit the cathedral of Notre Dame (not to be confused with the cathedral of the same name in Paris). This is one of the largest Gothic cathedrals in France, and is said to be big enough to fit two of its Parisian name-sake into this one building. It was originally built in the 13th century and has undergone numerous renovations and alterations. It would take a full day to really get a sense of the magnificence of this church and its priceless collection of works of art, including their most venerated relic of all: the head of John the Baptist encased in a gold container. I had come across the hand of John the Baptist in the Topkapi Museum in Istanbul 30 years before, and now felt I had come full circle. However, here one should bear in mind the observation of a cynic in referring to such items of religious interest, who commented that there were enough relics of the ‘true cross’ to build a picket fence around Europe. Most moving and memorable, though, was the very elderly woman who, upon seeing me beside her, put out a soft pale hand to mine and murmured ‘bon soir madame’ before proceeding to pray at a nearby altar. That gesture of our common humanity was very touching.

On Saturday morning we decided to explore some aspects of the town of Arras, and one road down from our apartment we found ourselves in a serene Tree Park where nothing but green grass and trees of every shape and variety grew. We wandered among them for quite a while reading their botanical names, as most of them were foreign to us. This was a totally unexpected pleasure. Coming out on the other side of the Park, we crossed a road and arrived at the Arras WW1 memorial. The Arras Memorial commemorates 34,795 servicemen from the United Kingdom, South Africa and New Zealand who died between the spring of 1916 and 7 August 1918, and who have no known grave. It is a very imposing structure with enormous pillars guarding the entrance. Inside were white curved stone walls with the names of the dead inscribed on them.

On the stone benches, wreaths of Flanders poppies had been laid among other testaments to those who had

28

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016

The Menin Gate at night.

Lgr Godfrey Giles (front) and MOTH David Gush after laying wreaths at the Menin Gate Memorial.

29

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016 died here. One was a script from a young man who had only recently heard of his grandfather’s role in the war, and had come to honour him. We passed down some steps and into the cemetery itself, where row upon row of white stone crosses stood, each graced by a rose or flowering plant in front of it. It was a still, sunny day, and the overall impression was of a place of quiet serenity.

On Saturday afternoon Michele and I did some shopping in the town centre: one cannot come back from that part of the globe without referring to a silk scarf or a waft of perfume as ‘just a little something I brought back from France’. We found the shop assistants friendly and helpful but I never became quite au fait with the exchange rate and my bank balance suffered accordingly.

On Saturday we arrived at the Thiepval Memorial where a special service was to be held for those who had come to honour the dead as well as the survivors of the battle of Delville Wood. This service had been organised by the SA Legion in conjunction with the British Legion. The Thiepval Memorial is the largest Commonwealth memorial in the world and commemorates more than 72 000 men who died in the Battle of the Somme. The 1st SA Infantry brigade which took part in this particular battle numbered 160 officers and 5648 men of other ranks. They went into battle on 14 July with instructions to ‘take the wood at all costs’ .There upon followed‘…the bloodiest battle hell of 1916’ (Uys 2006) with shell fire which reached an intensity of 400 shells per minute at the peak of the battle. On July 20th, Col Thackeray, two wounded officers and 140 men were relieved after six days and nights of intensive fighting. By this time many of the soldiers had run out of ammunition as the supply chain had been cut off, and hand to hand fighting in the trenches had ensued. The casualties suffered by the Brigade were enormous: 763 dead, 1476 wounded, and 297 taken prisoner. Eighty percent of the men were no longer in the field. The wood itself was a wasteland, covered with shell holes, broken trees and the remains of trenches. Recovery of the bodies of the dead was impossible as most had been ‘vaporized’. My father, Charles Sephton of the South African Scottish regiment, was taken prisoner on the morning of July 19 and spent the following two years as a POW in Borden, Germany, working down a coal mine. He was one of the fortunate ones.

We arrived at the Thiepval site where approximately 350 other people had also arrived for this particular service. It was a warm sunny day and we were all seated in front of the very imposing memorial. The ceremony started with the ear-splitting sound of a whistle being blown…. on and on … the signal that had been given for the soldiers in the trenches to ‘go over the top’. For many it would have been the last sound they ever heard.

The service was profoundly moving: there were prayers; an Act of Remembrance which included the playing of the Last Post and Reveille; and a wreath laying ceremony at which I was privileged to play a part as I was invited to lay a wreath in memory of my father, and another in remembrance of the mascot of the Transvaal Scottish regiment, a springbok called Nancy, who had been with the regiment throughout the campaign.

Nancy had taken part in all of their parades, marching to the Pipe Band. I had been named after her. The service ended with a Piper’s lament and a very moving address by Lgr Godfrey Giles, National President of the South African Legion.

As Michele and I walked away from the Memorial, I noticed two young men in black doing press ups at the back of the field. We spoke to them and were very touched to hear that they were from a group of volunteers called 22/22. Their mission was to do 22 press-ups for 22 days at 22 memorial sites in commemoration of those soldiers everywhere who have been mentally and emotionally scarred by war. These soldiers, they explained, have seldom been given the recognition, acknowledgement and help they needed to assist them to re-integrate into a world that, for them, had fallen apart. A very worthwhile cause, that of the men of 22/22.

The SA Legion had very generously provided a traditional pub lunch of a baguette and a glass of wine or beer at a near- by pub, ‘le Tommy’, to which we had all been invited. We arrived to a most convivial atmosphere

30

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016

Members of the tour group at the Menin Gate Memorial.

31

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016 as people from all over the world met together to share their experience of this pilgrimage. We had a common denominator in a family member who had fought for King and Country in the ‘War to end all Wars’.

We recalled and shared tales of valour, hardship, tragedy and humour, and exchanged names and email addresses. All present were invited by the owner of ‘le Tommy’ to a free tour of his museum: in the extensive back yard of his property, he had established a simile of a WW1 trench, showing every aspect of trench warfare using materials and memorabilia (from both sides) that he had collected and assembled. It was very realistic.

From here we all set out for Delville Wood itself for an informal tour around these few acres of land for which such a terrible price had been paid.

We had not known that Delville Wood itself actually covers a relatively small area, approx one mile square.

The Wood, which has been replanted and is preserved as a memorial, still shows the various ‘roads’ that delineated it, as well as the hollows and mounds of the trenches. Walking down the main ‘avenue’ one arrives at the one surviving tree, a smallish broad beam that is the only living witness to the battle. This tree had been preserved when the wood was re-planted. Sunshine poured through the trees and birds sang as we made our own special pilgrimage through the wood, now a place of peace and beauty restored by nature. I was reminded of the words of the poet Yeats as we walked around this hallowed place, ‘tread softly, for you tread upon my dreams….’

Across the road from the Wood is the cemetery where each of the dead is commemorated by a simple headstone, regardless of rank, race or creed. Many of the headstones bear the inscription: ‘Known only to God’. Once again there was a profusion of colour as every grave has a flowering rose or some other shrub growing on it. This has been achieved by the wonderful work of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, responsible for the upkeep of all memorials. We were unfortunately unable to visit the actual Memorial and Museum at Delville Wood as the whole area had been closed to the public in anticipation of the visit of our State President on the following Tuesday for the official Centenary Commemoration Ceremony. We had now come full circle, one hundred years later, in our pilgrimage to pay our respect to my father and those who had fought so bravely alongside him. We left the Wood and did not return for the official ceremony two days later.

Monday was spent visiting some of the graveyards and museums in the vicinity; after some detours around the countryside, we finally arrived at the Lochnager crater near the town of le Baiselle. This crater was formed when a massive mine was detonated under a German field fortification known as Schwanbenone at 7.28am on the first day of the battle of the Somme July 1, 1916, forming a crater which is 91 metres in diameter and 21 metres deep. It is now grassed over and has a wooden slat walkway around the top, so one can stop at various small memorial sites on the circuit, such as the arbour with a wooden bench in memory of the nurses who served in WW1. One of those nurses was my father’s cousin Nell Sephton who later married Harold Frost from the farm Glengyle, Barkly East. Wild flowers and shrubs bloomed everywhere and the bottom of the crater was filled with Flanders poppies. Some 20,000 visitors a year come to this site.

Next we arrived at Musee de Somme in the town of Albert - an amazing experience which cannot be missed on any tour of WW1 battlefields. It is situated in a 250 meter tunnel, ten meters below ground and is comprised of 15 scenes set in enclosures. A door separates the last section of the tunnel from the rest, and it is here that one unexpectedly enters into the hellish noise of battle that must have lived with the survivors for the rest of their days. In the dark, one walks through the continuous and deafening sound of artillery and gun fire, shells screeching overhead and bombs dropping. It is with relief that we came out the other side and stepped back into today’s world. We were in need of sustenance after this experience, so we once again visited le Tommy for a welcome baguette and a glass of wine.

32

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016

Scenes from the Menin Gate Memorial.

33

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016 It was here that we heard of a nearby German Cemetery, and decided that to visit that would be a necessary part of our pilgrimage. So on we went to the German Cemetery at Fricourt. This cemetery, maintained by the German authorities, is in stark contrast to those of the French and British cemeteries. It comprises row upon row of black iron crosses bereft of flowers or shrubs. A few bouquets of cut flowers had recently been placed on a grave here or there. Each iron cross marks the resting place of four men: the entire cemetery contains the remains of 11,970 men, most of them were buried in two mass graves. Amongst the crosses is one that once stood over the body of the legendry fighter pilot Manfred von Richthofen, alias ‘the Red Baron’, who was shot down on 15 April 1915. Originally he had been given a full military funeral by the Australians, but his body was re-interred here, then moved to Berlin, and finally to his last resting place in the town of his birth.

From here we went on to the Beaumont Hamel Newfoundland Memorial. It is maintained largely by young volunteers from Canada who offer their services as guides to visitors, and we were given a friendly greeting on our arrival in the park-like entrance. This Memorial has been particularly well preserved as, apart from some very deep trenches along which one can walk, the fields around still bear hundreds of shell holes clearly visible in the rich green grass which covers everything. As we walked along the trenches we were surrounded by a profusion of wild flowers of every shape and colour. At the top of a rocky outcrop stands the statue of a magnificent caribou, his head lifted to the skies in what seems to be a gesture of defiance. It was in this battle, on the morning of the first day of the Somme offensive, that 801 men of Newfoundland went into battle.

Only 110 survived unscathed to answer roll call the following morning. As a result of their heroic endeavour, the regiment was given the honour of the prefix ‘Royal’ before their name, an honour accorded on only three occasions in time of war in the entire history of the British Army.

On Monday night we attended The Last Post Ceremony at the Menin gate at Ypres in Belgium - one of the highlights of our pilgrimage. This imposing memorial was erected by the Belgian Government in gratitude to the 54,000 officers and men of the British Commonwealth who have no known resting place. This site was chosen as it was the road along which so many thousands of soldiers had marched on their way to the battle fields. Of interest here are the names of four of the 306 soldiers of the British Empire who were shot as deserters in WW1 and were officially pardoned by special decree in 2006. One of them was only 17 years old.

With the exception of the war years (1939-1947), the Last Post Ceremony has taken place here every night at eight o’clock since the memorial was opened in 1927.

At 7.30 the Menin Gate is closed to traffic and we gathered around for the service to begin. Eight Standard Bearers stood across the archway while the Service of Remembrance was conducted. It started as four buglers marched to the front at exactly 7.55. At 8.00 the Last Post was sounded, followed by a minute of silence. This was followed by a short service during which various wreathes were laid, and Laurence Binyon’s moving poem ‘They shall not grow old’ was recited. Then came reveille, and the ceremony ended with a high school choir from Sussex in England singing sacred songs. There was a large crowd of us gathered around, including many young people of school-going age. It was a very moving ceremony of recognition and acknowledgement of the ultimate sacrifice that was made by those soldiers whose names we shall never know.

On the morning of 10 July, Priscilla, Nigel, Michele and I left Arras for the city of Perrone. Geoffrey and Scotty had flown back to America earlier in the week. Peronne is en route to Paris and we were interested in visiting the Museum of the Great War situated in an old castle in the town. This visit was an appropriate consolidation of what we had seen and encountered in our week in France. Peronne had been occupied by the Germans for most of the war, and was liberated only on 2 September 1918. The museum depicts the experiences of the major participants in the Great War and its impact on 20th century history. These experiences are not confined to military matters, but include the experiences of civilians, including women and children, caught up in this inferno. Photography and art works play a major role in the exhibition and it

34

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016

Various wreaths laid at the Menin Gate Memorial by members of the tour group (above) and the colour party (left).

35

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016 all seems to concentrate the mind on one question: ‘How could human beings allow this to happen…again and again?’. Unfortunately we could not spend sufficient time at this venue as we had to fly out of Paris that night; a full day would be needed to do it justice.

And so we arrived at Charles de Gaulle airport to begin our journey back to South Africa. But what about that young soldier Charles who set off to war in Europe over a hundred years ago from the Barkly East district of the North Eastern Cape?

Having enlisted in the 1st South African Infantry Brigade, he had joined the battalion of the 4th South African Scottish, and it was as part of this Brigade that he entered Delville Wood on the morning of 14 July, 1916.

After four days of some of the most desperate fighting known to history, and with their ammunition totally exhausted, what was left of their brigade was surrounded by the Germans. On the morning of the 19th, an officer of the 3rd Battalion gave the order to surrender. They were taken prisoner by the Germans and sent by truck to Bochum, in Germany, where they spent the rest of the war working down a coal mine.

Released at the end of 1918, Charles was sent back to England, and in early 1919 travelled out to South Africa on a troop ship, arriving in Cape Town in February of that year. From here he boarded a train for his destination, a small railway siding at New England in the Barkly East District. On arrival there, he borrowed a horse from a neighbouring farmer and rode the twenty miles to his parent’s farm situated amongst the beautiful mountains of the Wartrail district in the North Eastern Cape. On that day his father, Alfred William Sephton, made an entry in his diary: Charles returned home from Europe today.

Footnote I had no idea what to expect when I arrived in France, but I know now that it was a week I shall never forget.

The beauty of the French countryside, the magnificence of its cathedrals and public buildings, the warmth of its people, and the shared experiences of so many fellow pilgrims will live with me always. We were united by a common bond: we all had a family member who had once trodden this soil, many of whom had never returned.

At every turn of the road one is reminded by the thousands of stone crosses and memorials of the price that has been paid for the fair land of modern day France. All are there ‘lest we forget’.

MY AMAZING MOMENT ON TOUR BY RICK ANDRIES I’m very aware of your request for a story of our fantastic pilgrimage to Delville Wood and the Somme battlefields, but I’m really not a very good story teller! - and I know you’ll get a full report from Godfrey (who took about a million photos), amongst others!

Anyway, much to my amazement, when our coach pulled up at the Thiepval Memorial for the amazing service there on Sunday, July 10th, alongside us was a coach full of Maritzburg College (my old school) boys and members of staff. Anyway, Brenda (my wife) took this snap of me standing amongst some of them.

DELVILLE WOOD BY DEON FOURIE 800 applications were received by the SA Embassy in Paris for seating at the Delville Wood Centenary Ceremony, mostly French inhabitants of the neighbouring villages and towns.The French Secretary of State for Defence & Veterans, several Prefects from the regional governments and a number of Mayors also attended as well as a good number of South African attended and laid wreaths. Pres Zuma unveiled a plaque to mark the raising of two walls that are engraved with the names of all SA soldiers who lost their lives in WW1.

36

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016

Group photo of the tour group.

Lgr Rick Andries meeting up with learners from his old school, Maritzburg College, on tour.

37

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016 DECORATED SOLDIER’S SON RECOUNTS FATHER’S BRAVERY THIS year marks the 100th anniversary of one of the bloodiest battles fought in the First World War. The Battle of Delville Wood that was fought from 15 July to 3 September was a series of engagements in the 1916 Battle of the Somme between the armies of the German Empire and the British Empire.

Toti resident Bert Tanner (93) is the son of the late Private George Garnet Tanner, who served at Delville Wood with the 2nd Battalion, which was under the command of Lieutenant–Colonel William Tanner (no relation).

The Battle of Delville Wood has been described as ‘the bloodiest battle-hell of 1916’ and ‘six days of hell’.

It was essential to the British that the wood be cleared of Germans before any attack could be launched on the formidable and notorious German Switch Line. The task of capturing the wood was handed to three battalions of the 1st South African Brigade.

The South African regiment went in at dawn on 15 July and following a heavy artillery battle, they managed to clear the southern edge of German forces. The remainder of the wood remained in German hands.

“My father described it as terrible hand- to-hand fighting, using bayonets,” said Bert. “At one stage his bayonet got stuck in a German soldier and he had to fire a round to dislodge it.”

The German artillery bombarded the wood so heavily, it was estimated that at times the rate of shelling reached seven a second. The defenders were decimated by shrapnel and falling trees and many of them were buried alive by the massive explosions.

Recommended for the Military Medal, Pvt Tanner was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal for his heroics as a despatch runner during the battle. On 18 July, he was sent back with information detailing the position the company was in.

He had to penetrate a heavy barrage and, although badly shell-shocked, succeeded to reach the battalion headquarters.

“The Germans were using Big Bertha (a 420mm howitzer) to bomb the woods. One of the mortars hit close to my father when he was returning with the reply,” said Bert. “He was buried alive, with only his legs sticking out. He wriggled his legs until he was discovered and pulled out.”

Tanner made it back to the strong point with the reply, although giddy and concussed.

The battle for Delville Wood was costly for both sides and the 1st South African

38

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016 Infantry Brigade lost 2,536 men. George was among the last South African group relieved on 20 July.

Later in the war, he was hospitalised with mustard gas in the lungs and while recovering, met Sally, Bert’s mother, and they were married at the end of the war. Bert was born in Cambridge, outside East London, in 1924.

George and his brothers William and Albert fought and survived both World Wars. He didn’t see much action in the Second World War as he still suffered from damaged lungs. He died in 1983.

“I went to visit Delville Wood for the 80th anniversary in 1986 with five other South Africans,” said Bert. “Two of us had fathers who fought in the battle and the other four had relatives. During the five-day tour, the SABC accompanied us and filmed the visit.

The wood was completely re-grown and there was no trace of the horror that happened there.

I had a photograph taken of me standing next to the ‘last tree’.” The ‘last tree’ was the only surviving hornbeam tree after artillery shells splintered and smashed almost every tree in the wood. This tree continued to grow after the war and still stands, its trunk studded with shards of metal artillery shell casings.

The SA Legion will commemorate the centenary of the Battle of Delville Wood with a parade on Sunday, 10 July at 10.30am at the Cenotaph in Dorothy Nyembe Street (Gardiner Street), where Bert has been invited to lay a wreath.

ALMOST EXACTLY 100 YEAR’S AGO: STORY AND RESEARCH By Lgr David Bennett Almost exactly 100 years ago, the fighting in the Battle of Delville Wood was at its worst. In parts of the Wood the South African Infantry and the German forces were engaged in hand to hand and close-quarter bayonet combat. In other parts of the Wood, German artillery shelling was landing at up to 400 shells a minute. One of these South Africans was Cpl Frederick Lonsdale Garland, a 23 y.o. man from Natal, who had earlier in the War, seen action with the 3rd Natal Mounted Rifles in German SWA and (with the S.A.I.) against the German-backed Senussi forces in Egypt. Corporal Garland now found himself with “B” Company of the 2nd S.A.I. – who history will show us – were placed by their Commanders in the far north-west section of the Wood – where the German strength was greatest, and the fighting was the heaviest.

Later that day (Saturday, 15 July 1916) the battle was already well advanced, with many casualties on both sides. By this time, the second Battalion had only two officers left. One of which was Lt Walter Hill, who was leading his platoon (of B Company) towards the far northern part of the Wood, directly towards the main German lines. During a short respite, Lt Hill decided to form a small raiding party. He decided on, apart from himself, Sgt F.B. Turner, Cpl E. Brickhill, Cpl F.L. Garland, L/Cpl J. Servant, L/Cpl D. Davey, Pte P. Richards and Pte H. Bruce. They set off, and, finding a deep shell-hole, about 30 yards from the edge of the Wood, the party of eight decided to stop there for the night. Private Bruce was ordered to leave the shell-hole to ‘go and reconnoitre’. Private Bruce soon returned to the shell-hole, after discovering Germans all around them.

Unknown to the party, their main forces had fallen further back, taking up new positions in the Wood, only to be replaced by Germans, who now completely surrounded Hill and his men. A short fight followed, in which Sgt Turner was badly wounded, and Privates Richards and Bruce were wounded. Lt Hill, in order to save his men, decided not to fight on, as they were up against at least 150 Germans at that point. The party, now joined by the others of the platoon, who had also been captured, and being 20 South Africans in all, were taken prisoner by the Germans and placed into various shell-holes, under armed German guards.

39

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016 Into one of the shellholes, were placed, apart from Lt Hill, Cpl Garland, the already wounded Sgt Turner, Pte H.H. Pauls and one other man, watched over by a German guard with a rifle and fixed bayonet. Soon Lt Hill

Brigadier General (Ret) Deon Fourie at the Delville Wood Memorial.

South African standard bearers at the 95th commemoration of the Battle of Delville Wood.

40

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016 decided to attempt an escape. After whispering instructions, Hill jumped up, attacked and disarmed their sentry, and with the sentry’s rifle in hand he headed south towards the South African lines, shouting instructions for the others to follow, which they did.

They were surrounded by German infantry, as close as from 20 to 50 yards away, on three sides, in a sort of ‘horseshoe’ formation. The Germans immediately began to fire upon the five men. What happened next is unclear, save to say that it must have been chaos. Later, Pte Henry Pauls reported: “They fired on us as we ran for our lines. Lt Hill and I being untouched, the other three killed or wounded”. This seems to be true.

Records show that Lt Hill did get through, as we will hear more of him later. Pte Pauls got through, as he is recorded as being wounded later, in the Wood, on 18 July.

Of course, Pte Pauls could not have known the fate of the other three, as they did not reach their lines.

Therefore his statement that they were “killed or wounded” was correct at that time. Records show that Sgt Turner was wounded and taken prisoner on 15 July, at this engagement, as was Cpl Garland, who during the escape, was shot twice – in the right shoulder, and in the right foot. It is safe to say that having been twice shot, and especially in the foot, that he could not continue. The man killed therefore must have been the fifth, and un-named, man who was put into the shell-hole with Lt Walter Hill and the other three.

Cpl Garland’s military records confirm that he was shot twice, and that on 15 July 1916, he is recorded as being “missing’, and then on 1st September 1916, reported as being a “Prisoner of War”.

The records further confirm that apart from the two gunshot wounds which Garland suffered during the escape, that he had also contracted bilharzia “whilst on active service in Delville Wood”. This seems to confirm that only Lt Hill and Pte Pauls actually reached safety, for the time being, that day.

For his gallantry on the night of 15/16 July 1916, Cpl Frederick Lonsdale Garland was recommended for the Distinguished Conduct Medal, at Delville Wood, in the action involving Lt. W.J. Hill’s raiding party, and for which Lt Hill was recommended for the Victoria Cross. Sadly, Lt Hill was killed two days later. In the original action, Cpl Garland was shot, twice, but still managed to assist in the escape of two other men. Eventually he was awarded the Military Medal, with the following citation: “Shewed great gallantry in Delville Wood, when with Lt Hill, in the enemy’s hands, in assisting, though unarmed to overpower a strong armed enemy guard and effect the escape of the party.”

Awarded the Military Medal by L.G. 29827; pg. 11146; 16 November 1916. Also awarded: 1914-15 Star; British War Medal (1914-1920) and the Allied Victory Medal (bil) (1914-1919).

The next day, Sunday, 16 July 1916, Lt. Hill led a bombing party into the Wood. Colonel Tanner had ordered Lt Hill to take a party to the northern edge of the Wood. Private Henry Pauls describes the events as follows: “No matter how often the Germans attacked, Lt Hill led us to meet them and with bombs and bayonet we killed many more Germans than our own number. This was largely all due to Lt. Hill’s bravery and I remember him asking Major Burges if he should lead us out the other side of the Wood and capture a German trench.

Major Burges would not allow this”. During these engagements Lt Hill was mortally wounded. He was shot, and subsequently died of his wounds on 17 July 1916. (Another source gives his death on 20 July 1916 – although this may simply be the reported date). It was said that Lt Hill had received eight wounds!

Subsequently, Lt. Walter James Hill 2nd S.A.I. B Coy., was awarded a Mention in Despatches as follows: (With the note) - Recommended for the Victoria Cross by Lt.Col W.E.C. Tanner, but was awarded Mentioned in

41

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016

Scenes from the Ceremony at Arques-La-Bataille British Cemetery

42

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016 Despatches – at the time, besides the V.C., a M.I.D. was the only posthumous award allowed. The M.I.D. was as follows: In the fighting in the thick wood in the northern part of Delville Wood on 15th July 1916, Lieutenant WJ Hill, 2nd SAI, and a small party of men were surrounded by a stray party of the enemy and after a stubborn resistance (during which numbers of the party were killed or wounded) were rushed and made prisoners and despatched to the enemy end of the wood and there placed by twos and threes in different shell holes under armed guards. Lieutenant Hill, watching his opportunity suddenly attacked and overpowered the guard over his shell- hole at the greatest risk to himself, for had he not succeeded in killing or rendering unconscious the guard, numbers of the enemy within easy hailing distance would have undoubtedly instantly appeared.

Lieutenant Hill then led his few men, under heavy fire, back to our lines. The following day Lieutenant Hill led a party of men to reinforce the line in Strand Street where he continued to display the greatest gallantry but was unfortunately killed (while leading a bombing party). Lieutenant Hill showed most conspicuous gallantry and devotion to duty throughout Delville Wood and by his actions there I consider earned the highest posthumous award.

However, we must return to Cpl Garland’s story. His military papers state that on 12 December 1916 he was removed (we must presume from some temporary holding facility – possibly near, and behind, the front lines) to a Prisoner of War camp in Gottingen, in Germany. And here he remained until finally, on 5 May 1918 he was released by the Germans and repatriated to England. Upon his arrival in England, Garland was immediately admitted on 6 May 1918 to King George’s Hospital (a large Red Cross Hospital in Stamford Street, Waterloo, London, established in 1914/15 as a military hospital). Here he was treated for the wounds he had suffered in July, 1916. Later, on 31 May 1918, Garland was transferred to the South African Military Hospital in Richmond. Garland was released from hospital, finally, on 22 June 1918, and was given leave (‘furlough’) from 26 June 1918 until 10 September 1918 when he was eventually repatriated to South Africa aboard the “Galway Castle” However, Cpl Garland's’s life of misery was not yet done, for even more bad luck was to beset him… At 07.30 hrs on 12th September 1918 when two days out from Plymouth, Garland’s ship, the Galway Castle was torpedoed by U-82 and broke her back. At the time she was carrying 400 South African invalided troops, 346 passengers and 204 crew members. So severe was the damage that it was thought that she would sink immediately and it was apparent that U-82 was lining up for another attack. In the rush to abandon ship several lifeboats were swamped by the heavy seas and many finished up in the sea. However, the U-boat did not mount a further attack and the Galway Castle continued to wallow for three days. Destroyers were summoned by radio to rescue survivors who were taken back to Plymouth where it was ascertained that 143 persons had perished. HMS Spitfire remained in attendance and took off the skeleton crew before she finally sank.

Garland was eventually repatriated to South Africa, arriving in Cape Town on 10 October 1918. He had sailed out to South Africa aboard a captured (in 1916) German passenger steamer, now operated by the P & O Lines, and called the “Field Marshal”. At the Wynberg Military Camp, Garland was declared, on 25 December 1918 as being ‘Permanently Unfit for General War Service’ and was finally officially discharged from the Army on 8th January 1919, when he returned to his home, the family sugar farm in Verulam (near Durban), Natal.

Upon discharge, his Military Character was recorded as being ‘Very Good’. Garland’s war service had been three years and 122 days. Frederick Lonsdale Garland married Alma Ashton Graham on 30 August 1922 and they had three daughters. Garland died on 4 December 1961 at the age of 68 years.

43

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016

Scenes from the Ceremony at Arques-La-Bataille British Cemetery

44

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016 THE HERITAGE OF THE BATTLE OF DELVILLE WOOD by Lgr Allan Sinclair.

At the end of the war, there was a strong popular demand in countries of the British Empire for the commemoration of the fallen troops. During the 20 years following the war, the nations of the Empire (Which later became the Commonwealth) erected national memorials on the sites where their troops distinguished themselves.

With this aim in mind, Colonel Helbert, the South African Military Attaché in London, travelled to France and Belgium to select a site. While visiting the Somme battlefields, he was struck by the look of Delville Wood, the place of the first major engagement of the 1st South African Infantry Brigade in July 1916. The wood, which had been thick and dense prior to the war, was by then a desolated wasteland covered with shellholes, broken trees and remains of trenches.

Considering the high symbolism of the place, Helbert took a call option with the owner on his own initiative.

Later, with the motivation of Sir Percy Fitzpatrick and the support of Gen J C Smuts, Delville Wood was eventually purchased by the South African Government in 1920.

Public subscriptions were raised for the erection in Delville Wood of a national memorial to the memory of all South Africans that fell in the war in all theatres of operations. Its design was entrusted to Sir Herbert baker, one of the main architects of the Imperial War Graves Commission. The completed memorial was unveiled on 10 October 1926 by Mrs Annie Botha, the widow of Gen Louis Botha who had been Prime Minister of South Africa during the war.

Baker decided to use the southern part of the wood. His design incorporated the Delville Wood Cemetery, the National Memorial and the Cross of Consecration in the north-south perspective. The road from Longueval to Ginchy separates the military cemetery from the wood. A wide avenue flanked by double rows of oak trees leads to the great arch of the memorial which is at the highest point of the wood. The memorial faces south towards the white rows of headstones.

The arch is flanked on either side by a flint and a semi-circular wall. The flanking walls terminate in two covered buildings, designed in reminiscence of the Summer House built by Simon van der Stel on the slopes of Table Mountain. These buildings originally contained the Rolls of Honour of the South African dead commemorated by the memorial.

The arch bears the dedicatory inscription: “To the immortal dead of South Africa who at the call of duty made the great sacrifice on the battlefields of Africa, Asia and Europe, and on dead, this memorial is dedicated in proud and graceful recognition of their countrymen.”

On angle panels, in large letters, are engraved the names of the eight battle areas where South Africans fought.

In the centre over the great arches are the inscriptions: “Their ideal is our legacy – their sacrifice our inspiration” Above these are the words “AUX MORTES” (Our Dead) The dome is surmounted by a bronze sculpture by Alfred Turner representing Castor and Pollux clasping hands in friendship over the horse’s back. The statue was intended to be a symbol of all the peoples of South Africa who are united in their determination to defend their common ideals. Sir Percy Fitzpatrick also ensured that replicas of the bronze group were erected at the Union Buildings in Pretoria and the Company gardens in Cape Town.

45

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016

Scenes from the Ceremony at Arques-La-Bataille British Cemetery

2Lt Simamkele Ntlombe from Cape Garrison Artillery Unit at the grave of his great-great grandfather, Private Seventeen Tuse.

46

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016 On 5 June 1952 a Stone of Remembrance was unveiled by Mrs Swales, mother of Edwin Swales of the South African Air Force who was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross in 1945. The Stone of Remembrance is dedicated to the memory of all South Africans that fell during the Second World War. For many years parties of war veterans returning from pilgrimages to the battle fields complained about the lack of factual information. Senior officials of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission repeatedly urged the provision of tourist facilities to keep the South African National War Memorial in line with other memorials in the area. The decision was eventually taken to build a commemorative museum which was opened on 11 November 1986. On 18 July 2006 during the ceremony to commemorate the 90th anniversary of the battle, the new coat of arms of the Republic of South Africa was unveiled on the pediment of the Memorial.

The Wood, covering an area of 63 hectares, has retained almost its entire pre-war outlines. Its western and north-western edges border the village of Longueval while its southern edge is lines by the Longueval-Ginchy road.

A number of memorials commemorating those who paid the supreme sacrifice during the First World War are located in Johannesburg.

The following is a list of names of those who perished as a result of the battle of Delville Wood. These men were either killed in action, died later of wounds or were declared missing presumed dead as a result of the battle. Those whose bodies were identified are buried in the cemeteries listed next to their names. The rest who were never identified and have no known grave are all listed on the Memorial to the Missing of the Somme at Thiepval.

Bezuidenhout Valley Memorial. Bradfield, Algene Ward 2097 Private 4 SA Infantry Regt Killed in action 15 July 1916 Quarry Cemetery, Montauban Capel, Howard Godfrey 1455 Private 3 SA Infantry Regt Killed in action 19 July 1916 No known grave, Clifton, Norman Percival 2188 Private 3 SA Infantry Regt Died at Delville Wood 1 August 1916 Delville Wood Cemetery, Drury, Leslie Howard 650 Private 3 SA Infantry Regt Killed in action 17 July 1916 London Cemetery, Longueval, Jackson, Thomas Edward 144 Private 3 SA Infantry Regt Killed in action 18 July 1916 No known grave, Johnson, John Edward 1156 Private 3 SA Infantry Regt Killed in action 15 July 1916 No known graveLambie, William Vernon 5355 Private 4 SA Infantry Regt Killed in action 15 July 1916 Serre Road Cemetery No 2 Brixton War Memorial. Maynes, James Andrew 3689 Private 4 SA Infantry Regt Died of wounds 19 July 1916 No known grave City Deep War Memorial. Payne, Arthur Royle 6618 Private 2 SA Infantry Regt Killed in action 15 July 1916 Serre Road Cemetery No 2,Petrie, Henry Glass 940 Private 3 SA Infantry Regt Killed in action 16 July 1916 No known grave.

Florida War Memorial. Fynn, Dudley Beresford Poole 1387 Private 3 SA Infantry Regt Killed in action 16 July 1916 London Cemetery Extension, Longueval Maraisburg War Memorial. Garton, Horace William 61 Corporal 4 SA Infantry Regt killed in action 17 July 1916 No known grave Roodepoort War Memorial. Jackson, John William Major 3 SA Infantry Regt Killed in action 20 July 1916 No known grave Jackson, Matthew Herbert 2161 Private 1 SA Infantry Regt Died of wounds 21 July 1916 La Neuville British Cemetery, Corbie Kirby, Archibald Stanley 2115 Private 3 SA Infantry Regt Killed in action 15 July 1916 No Known grave, Woodburn, Edward Turner 5833 Private 3 SA Infantry Regt Killed in action 16 July 1916 No known grave.

47

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016

Brigadier General (Ret) Deon Fourie having laid a wreath on behalf of the South African Armour Association at the Delville Wood Memorial.

Members of the Royal British Legion – South Africa Branch and South African Defence Force Association.

Members of the tour group at the Arques-LaBataille British Cemetery.

48

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016 Wanderers Club War Memorial. Pitts, Charles Reeves 1771 L-Corporal 3 SA Infantry Regt Killed in action 17 July 1916 No known grave.

Southern Suburbs War Memorial. Clack, Bertie 5991 Private 2 SA Infantry Regt Missing presumed dead 18 July 1916 No known graveHawthorne, Leslie 2258 Private 3 SA Infantry Regt Killed in action 15 July 1916 No known graveStone, George William 667 Private 3 SA Infantry Regt Missing presumed dead 1 August 1916 No known grave Wood, Ernest 5745 L-Corporal 3 SA Infantry Regt Killed in action 18 July 1916 Delville Wood Cemetery.

Victoria Falls Power Company War Memorial, Rosherville. Shilton, Wilfred Percival 49 Private 3 SA Infantry Regt Killed in action 18 July 1916 No known graveSpencer, Cliford 5831 Private 3 SA Infantry Regt Killed in action 18 July 1916 No known graveWatson, James 2208 Private 3 SA Infantry Regt Killed in action 18 July 1916 No known grave.

SOUTH AFRICANS FIGHT FOR DELVILLE WOOD – GREAT WAR 1914 – 1918 16 JULY 2016 July 15 1916, Delville Wood–The successes yesterday along Bazentin Ridge had proven difficult to exploit.

One difficulty was that the advance that they made now left a distinct right angle in their line around Delville Wood; any further advances might exacerbate this, and in the meantime, the area was exposed to German artillery fire from multiple sides. To shore up the area, the South African Brigade was ordered to capture the wood “at all costs” on July 15.

Private Hugh Mallett recalled: We arrived at the edge of the wood at about dawn, everybody on tenterhooks and just as the last man got in old Fritz opened fire with big and little guns, rifle and machine-gun fire. What a time we had! Our men were getting rolled over like ninepins, but on went the boys and by 8.30 we had accomplished our task. We gave old Fritz the time of his life. I took a slow and steady aim and made every shot tell. My only regret was that I did not get my bayonet into him. Later there was a lull and it was during this lull that I was hit…old Fritz sent a huge shell right in front of our trench. One of the splinters of the shell landed me on the right cheek…it made a nasty hole. I did not wish to leave, but I was told to take another wounded man to safety. We were shelled all the way to the dressing station…on my way through the wood I saw many of our brave lads dead.

Although the South Africans had taken the wood, they were now subject to shelling and counterattacks from three sides. Ammunition ran short, and casualties mounted. That night, Lt. Owen Thomas reported the next morning: The enemy continued shelling the wood very heavily all last night, inflicting many casualties. The Vickers machine gun has been put out of action and the gun withdrawn. Nothing has been heard or seen of the 3rd Division. I was given to understand that they were attacking at dawn. My company has been so depleted, and the remaining few are now so exhausted that I do not consider we could put up an effective resistance if the enemy were to attack.

For the next three days, the Germans continued incessant shelling and sniping. On July 18, 20,000 shells fell on the square mile of ground. Lt. Thomas again reported late on the 18th: I am now the only officer left in A Coy. One Lewis Gun crew have been blown up. Can you send another crew?

I have wounded men lying all along my front & have no stretchers left, and they are dying for want of treatment, my field dressings being all used up. Can you obtain stretcher bearers? Urgent. I consider the position is now untenable, and have had my breastworks all blown in. It is impossible to spare men to take wounded away, and my front is now very lightly held with many gaps. To save the balance of men it will be necessary to withdraw. Most of the men here are suffering from shell shock and I do not consider we are fit to hold the position in the event of an enemy attack.

49

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016

Battlefield of the Battle of Delville Wood.

Lgr’s Kevin Bolton, Godfrey Giles and Rick Andries at the Arques-La-Bataille British Cemetery

50

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016 Lt. Thomas was wounded soon afterwards; most of the South Africans were overrun the next day. They suffered over 75% casualties in the course of the four days in the wood.

Sources include: Robin Prior & Trevor Wilson, The Somme; Peter Hart, The Somme.

COMMEMORATIONS THIEPVAL MEMORIAL THE CEREMONY AT THE THIEPVAL MEMORIAL by Lgr Peter Dickens.

100 Year Commemoration of the Battle of Delville Wood and the South African involvement in the Somme offensive, held at the Thiepval memorial in France on the 10th July 2016.

Background to the memorial parade at Thiepval: South Africa moved the official date to commemorate the centenary of the Battle of Delville Wood on the Somme from Sunday 10th July to Tuesday 12th July with two months notice. The reason for the change was to accommodate the Presidential diary of President Jacob Zuma to attend and unveil a new memorial on the Delville Wood site.

Unable to respond to these changes in Presidential diary due to long term planning of flights and accommodation, this left in excess of 200 South African Pilgrims, mostly touring High Schools, Veteran Associations, families of the combatants and Regimental Associations on the Somme with no commemoration service due to pre-booked return agendas.

In addition, the Delville Wood site was closed to the public for Presidential security with very limited access in the days preceding the Presidential commemoration now earmarked for the July 12th.

Step in with the solution was the Royal British Legion, working in conjunction with the Royal British Legion – South African Branch, The South African Legion and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission for the use of the Thiepval Memorial on the Somme in France as an alternate venue to celebrate the centenary of the full commitment and sacrifice of South Africans to the Somme offensive including Delville Wood.

But why the Thiepval memorial? What was the relevance to South Africa as the memorial is the main British commemoration site for actions on the Somme? It is a surprise to many in The Royal British Legion and South African circles that the official designation of Thiepval is the “Memorial to the 72, 195 British and South African servicemen, who died in the Battle of the Somme of the First World War between 1915 – 1918, with no known grave”.

The Thiepval Memorial records the names of 858 South Africans. There is also one South African Victoria Cross recipient recorded on Thiepval- Captain Alexander Young, awarded the VC during the Boer War, who then served with the South African Scottish during WW1 and was killed in action in October 1916. In essence, the Thiepval memorial records missing South Africans serving in all Somme battles – not just Delville Wood and it records South Africans of British Heritage called to fight in Pals Battalions and British regiments.

With the Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) contacted for permission to use the memorial, the CWGC brought in The Royal British Legion (TRBL) events division to assist. Keen to help, The Royal British Legion events department blocked one of their daily “live broadcast” Somme Parades and dedicated it to a specific South African day, an event to be held on Sunday 10th July.

A TRBL Somme 100 marketing campaign compliant invitation for the “South Africans on the Somme” Memorial Service was sent to all South African Pilgrims going to France, veteran organisations, government

51

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016

Scenes from the Ceremony at the Thiepval Memorial.

52

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016 bodies and TRBL National and local branches. The RSVP was sent to the South African Legion and the Royal British Legion South African Branch to coordinate security and accreditations. With the Parade order finalised and a Piper, Bugler, Keynote speaker and Chaplains finalized we where ready to go.

Parade Order: 11:30 Service starts The parade started with all assembled in front of the Thiepval memorial – then on the command of a whistle, replica officers’ trench whistles where blown by South African Legion military veterans in the audience. The shrill of the whistles – the command during the Somme offensive to “go over the top” and charge the enemy – left a haunting reminder to all in the audience of the sacrifice of a million men dead and wounded on both sides as the Somme offensive started.

WELCOME – Rod Bedford, Membership Council Representative for overseas branches and districts: The Royal British Legion INTRODUCTION – Peter Dickens, Chairman: The Royal British Legion - South African Branch CALL TO WORSHIP – Pastor John McCabe HYMN – Psalm 23 READING and EXHORTATION - Canon Fred Pitout PRAYER OF COMMEMORATION – Canon Fred Pitout HYMN – Abide by me PRAYERS - Canon Fred Pitout 11:58 ACT OF REMEMBRANCE Bidding Prayer – Pastor John McCabe Exhortation – Read by Lgr. Lawrie Poorter, South African Legion Last Post 2 Minutes Silence Reveille Kohima Epitaph – Read by David Gush, Memorable Order of Tin Hats KEYNOTE ADDRESS - Adrian van der Westhuyzen, grandson of Lt. Colonel E. F. Thackeray, the Commander of the 3rd South African Regiment at Delville Wood POEM - In Flanders Fields -Afrikaans translation arranged and Read by Karen Dickens WREATH LAYING CEREMONY PIPERS LAMENT – Yves Holbecq FINAL PRAYER and BLESSING – Pastor John McCabe NATIONAL ANTHEMS National Anthem of South Africa

53

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016

Some of the standard bearers.

54

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016 God save the Queen CLOSING THANKS – Lgr. Godfrey Giles, National President – South African Legion 400 copies of TRBL Somme 100 compliant Order of Service Brochures were designed and printed in conjunction with input from The South African Legion NHQ National President to ramp up the association values of The Battle of Delville Wood.

The South African Council of Veterans Organisations (CMVO) South Africa and Department of Veterans Affairs agreed to bring CMVO affiliated statutory forces regimental standards to the Thiepval parade, and they where happily accommodated at the last minute by The Royal British Legion.

Standards on Parade British Union National Flag South African National Flag Royal British Legion – South African Branch Royal British Legion – St Clears Branch (Wales) South African Legion - Europe Region South African Legion - UK Region South African Legion - Scotland Branch Rhodesian Army Association Council of Military Veterans Organisations – SA South African Legion – SA NHQ Memorable Order of Tin Hats – SA NHQ Gunners Association – SA Armour Association – SA Infantry Association – SA Airbourne Association - SA Caledonian Regiments Association – SA 61 Mech Veterans Association – SA SADF Veterans Association – SA Pretoria Boys High Welcome and outline of the importance of the Battle of the Somme given by Rod Bedford, Membership Council Representative for overseas branches and districts: The Royal British Legion Introduction and outline of the importance of the Thiepval Memorial, the Battle of the Somme, The Battle of Delville Wood and the Veterans Bond as the bearer of the flame of Remembrance - given by Peter Dickens: The Royal British Legion – South African Branch.

55

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016

Scenes from the Ceremony at the Thiepval Memorial.

56

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016 The Call to worship was conducted by Pastor John McCabe and Canon Fred Pitout. The Exhortation was read

by David Gush – No.2 MOTH of The Memorable Order of Tin Hats and the Kohima Epitath was read by Lawrie Poorter from the South African Legion.

“In Flanders Fields” was especially translated into Afrikaans for this memorial service by 2 Legion supporters, Walter E. Vice and Hendrik Neethling. The translation was arranged and read by Karen Dickens.

In Vlaand’re wieg papawers sag Tussen kruise, grag op grag, As bakens; en deur dit alles deur Die lewerikke tjilpend indapper vlug, Skaars hoorbaar bo die grofgeskut van kanonne.

Ons is die Dooies.

Dae gelede het ons geleef die dagbreek en sonsondergloed beleef.

Was bemind en was verlief, nou lê ons in Vlaandere se velde.

Veg voort my Kind met alle mag; neem uit my hand die lig, met krag moet jul die fakkel dra, met eer.

Wie durf Ons dood verloën, onteer – ons sal steeds dwaal, ons sal nie slaap, solank papawers groei in Vlaandere se velde.

The wreath laying ceremony was opened by Adrian Smythe – Grandson of Quentin Smythe VC who laid a wreath on behalf of The Royal British Legion, this was followed by a wreath laid on behalf of the Royal British Legion Youth by Daniel and Duncan McArdle.

Other associations and individuals laying wreaths: • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Commonwealth War Graves Commission - Andrew Stillman Royal British Legion – St Clears branch South African Legion – NHQ - Godfrey Giles South African Legion – EU Branch – Andrew Bergman South African Legion – England – Paul Duncan South African Legion – Scotland – Cary Hendricks Memorable Order of Tin Hats – David Gush Gunners Association – Dominick Hoole 1 SA Field Ambulance – Mrs. McIntosh Cape Town Highlanders - Robin Douglas Sappers Association - Kevin Bolton Kafferian Rifles Association - Tony Step Army Gym - Lt Col Dave Temple South African Veterans Signals Association – Theo Thernandes Rhodesian Army Association – Lt Col Hobson MMM JCD, representing the Rhodesian component of the 3rd South Infantry Regiment at Delville Wood.

57

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016

Scenes from the Ceremony at the Thiepval Memorial.

58

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016 • • • • • • • • • • • •

61 Mech Vet Association – Genl. Johan Dippenaar National War Fund - John Jenkins Michealhouse – Gerald Ralfe Pretoria Boys High – Andrew de Kock Christian Brothers College – Barry Jessop Maritzburg College – Mike Hill Wynberg Boys High – Barry Jessop and John Mills Bishops – Warwick Richer JW Watt (Survivor of Delville Wood) – Professor MacIntosh Pvte AJG Kuys great cousin of Lgr. Paul Voight Grandfather and Delville Wood survivor of Nancy Aucock – Nancy Auscock Great Grandson of Mc Claren-Kennedy the donor of the South African Springbok, named Nancy that became the national mascot for Delville Wood.

Individual Crosses where called up and laid by students from all the South African High Schools on Pilgrimage to the Somme.

In closing a thank you to the Royal British Legion was delivered by Lt Col. Godfrey Giles, National President of The South African Legion. The parade was drilled off the memorial to a standing applause.

After PR photo shots the Royal British Legion South African Branch hosted sandwiches and a cold drink (or beer) to all who attended at Le Tommy Bar in Pozieres, neighbouring the Thiepval memorial (sponsored kindly by a donation from a branch member).

Media links included TRBL Live feed on YouTube and resultant social media and website pick-ups. The whole parade is still available on You Tube – here is the link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yxw0BeAw1N0 We would like to thank the following legionnaires and veterans for making it such a successful and memorable occasion: From the UK, South African Legionnaires:- Cassandra Shaw, Graeme Scott, Claudio Chistè, Peter A. Dickens, Sean Daye, Len William, Cary Hendricks, Tino de Freitas, Paul Duncan, Brian Parry, Iain Dunn, Steve Moritz, Theo Fernandes, Patrick Cruywagen, Andrew Bergman, Adrian Smythe, Dirk Benneyworth and Johnny McCabe.

From the Royal British Legion South African Branch - Karen Dickens, Shirli Moritz, Merle and Daniel and Duncan McArdle, Johanna Bergman-Badings, Karen Parry From SA, South African Legionnaires: Kevin Bolton, Godfrey Giles, Lawrie Poorter From the UK, Royal British Legion: Roy Watkins and John Mycroft - The Royal British Legion St Clears Branch (Wales). Rob Davies – The Royal British Legion Somme Branch. Royal British Legion events team Clare King and Laura Jackson.

From the UK:- Commonwealth War Graves Commission - Andrew Stillman From the Memorable Order of Tin Hats - David Gush.

SPEECH BY PETER DICKENS AT THE THIEPVAL MEMORIAL SERVICE Springbok Valour - Speech by Peter Dickens, Chairman of The South African Legion – UK and EU Region, in commemoration of 100 years of South Africans on the Somme and Battle of Delville Wood. Held at the Thiepval Memorial, France on 10th July 2016.

59

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016

Scenes from the Ceremony at the Thiepval Memorial.

60

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016 On behalf of The Royal British Legion South African Branch I would also like to welcome all here today, it is our privilege to honour the South African sacrifice during the Somme offensive – especially at Delville Wood just a short distance from this memorial.

We started this memorial service, with short blasts from World War 1 replica whistles, this was the signal blown by individual officers to send their troops “over the top” during the Somme Offensive and aside from the gun and artillery fire this is the last mechanical sound thousands of soldiers heard Frightening isn’t it? The sound of these whistles had some men literally freeze in pure terror. What a harrowing and poignant start and to consider that it was a sound that was going to repeat itself again and again all along the Somme salient.

Why is the Thiepval memorial significant to South Africans? It’s a surprise to many in The Royal British Legion and in South African veteran and military circles, but the official designation of this memorial is the “Memorial to the 72, 195 British and South African servicemen, who died in the Battle of the Somme of the First World War between 1915 – 1918, with no known grave”.

This memorial is built right across the front lines as they stood on the 1st July 1916, the very same day the British Army suffered 20 000 men killed and a further 40 000 wounded - it’s literally on this very ground that we are standing on now that much of this massive bloodletting took place. Humbling - no doubt!

This memorial however, speaks not simply of that first day but of the whole Battle of the Somme. On stone panels around the memorial’s arches are recorded the names of the men of the United Kingdom, 71,336 and 858 South Africans.

There is also one Irish born South African Victoria Cross recipient listed - Captain Alexander Young, awarded the Victoria Cross during the Boer War, Young served with the South African Scottish Regiment and was killed in action in October 1916.

To, think – these are only the ‘missing’ from the battle of the Somme – men who have no known grave, or on whose gravestone is inscribed the words “unknown soldier”. As to names on actual headstones, around us are thousands. The Somme Offensive is off the scale – it is the most bloodiest battle in the entire history of mankind, - the sad truth - it advanced only 10 km along the front with the grim total of 1 million men dead or wounded from both sides littered in its wake.

And it all began with a Bang!, a very big one. Soldiers of the British Forces here and soldiers of the South African forces just over the way at Delville Wood witnessed the biggest explosion ever seen until then - The Lochnagar mine explosion was so big that debris from the explosion hit a British spotter plane 4000 ft up in the air, the detonation of this large mine and 8 others under German positions was said to be heard as far as England, and it was the start of carnage on an epic level.

On the South African side of the Somme Offensive things started off remarkably well, the 1st South African Brigade was ordered to advance and to capture Delville Wood on the 14th July and “hold it at all costs”.

At first the attack progressed smoothly and by the end of the day the South Africans had secured the wood, now spread along the perimeter in groups forming machine gun nests.

But, rather than having “secured” the wood, the brigade was now in a trap, with only the south western base in contact with the 26th Brigade in Longueval. All troops were equipped with spades but digging within the wood was made extremely difficult by roots and tree trunks, preparation of proper trenches was impossible, the South made do with shallow burrows. With these unprepared trenches just over 3000 South Africans faced over 7,000 German troops, holding the wood was going to be extremely difficult!

61

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016

Lgr Godfrey Giles with Lgr Theo Fernandes.

Lgr Godfrey Giles with Lgr Cary Hendricks.

62

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016 The Germans launched one of the heaviest artillery bombardments of the war in an effort to dislodge the South Africans. At its peak the rate of firing exceeded 400 shells per minute and to think this relentless volley of shelling for days on end, and it was into a wood no bigger than a square kilometer in size.

There is a reason there as so many “missing” South Africans listed on this memorial – this rate of artillery fire literally vaporized these men or blasted them beyond recognition. This is why Delville Wood itself is such a humbling experience - many of these men listed HERE are still THERE, unfound even to this day.

Of the 121 officers and 3,032 men of the South African Brigade who launched the initial attack, only 29 officers and 751 men eventually walked out. These men held the wood at a massive cost, even reverting to hand to hand combat at stages – the depth of bravery required to do this under this sort of fire power is simply too staggering to contemplate. The losses sustained by the South Africans were one of the greatest sacrifices of the war.

The South African Brigade suffered 80% loss, yet they managed to hold the Wood as ordered. This feat has was described then as “… the bloodiest battle hell of 1916.”

But something very important also happened during the Battle of Delville Wood – the South African nation as we know it today was born. It was out of this horrific baptism of fire, of South Africans from across ethnic, language and cultural divides – fighting as one in union and strength, that the newly formed Union of South Africa’s national identity was forged for the years come.

“Nancy” the Springbok, the South African Scottish mascot on the Somme, had been the symbol of home for all the men during the fighting, she proudly led four battalions of the South African Brigade to the first Delville Wood drum head service after the battle in 1918.

Prancing on her thin little legs, it’s almost as if she knew that she was the darling of every soldier on parade - and of those they were coming to honour – because from here on out these South African fighting men had walked into history as a force to be RESPECTED and the legend of the fighting Springbok was born.

The veterans bond I would like, if I may, to talk about why is the Battle of the Somme, something that occurred 100 years ago, is so important to us as veterans?

Forgive me if I read an abridge version from these very poignant memoirs. One from a South African who had just survived Deville Wood in France in 1916, one from a survivor of the SS Mendi in 1917 and the other is from a South African who survived an air attack during Ops Modular in Angola in 1987.

Lance Corporal Frederick Charles Lee, the only surviving NCO in his company to come out of Delville wood.

“After five days of absolute awfulness poor Angus Brown, my pal, died of wounds after about three hours awful suffering. He had both feet blown off by a shell. I saw him a little while after he was hit. I gave him a drink of water, and the only complaint he made at that time was "My God, Fred, the pain is awful ". With that I ran down to the dressing station and got the doctor to give me some Morphine. When I got back Angus was just about finished’ The next from Matli, a survivor of the SS Mendi “George Mathibe said to me when I found him, we are about to die, but one of us will live to tell at home how members of the tribe had died with the ship Mendi, and I hope it will be you’ at that point Matli gave Mathibe his warm great overcoat, promised to return to him but was unable to do so”.

63

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016

Scenes from the Ceremony at the Thiepval Memorial.

64

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016 70 years later, Cpl Dave Mannall, writes the following from Ops Modular after the Ratel 90 Infantry Fighting Vehicle next to his took a direct hit from a Mig fighter jet ‘s parachute retarded bomb: “Frikkie De Jager died from multiple shrapnel injuries before the helicopters arrived, his death was extremely hard for us boys, watching that death slowly unfold over eight hours took a far greater toll on our morale, especially for all of us who had become brothers in arms with him during our year in 61 Mech”.

Although separated by 70 years, all these brave South Africans – Angus Brown, George Mathibe and Frik De Jager share a bond between themselves and that same bond is shared with us as their brothers in arms.

They all died in excruciating circumstances brought about by War but, most importantly, they all died in the arms of men would have gladly given their lives for them instead ... and that is a very special bond indeed.

That bond of brotherhood stretches in countless names from Frikkie all the way to Angus, before and after.

It is a bond that we all share, and it’s a bond that is never broken.

It really is not the job of Politicians to carry the flame of remembrance for our brothers, nor can they really understand the bond we have for them. There is no political currency to be made out the war dead, to do this is to absolutely dishonour them.

Because of this unique bond - It is our job – the job of the Veterans to carry this solemn flame of remembrance - this RED Poppy - it is our duty to carry that unique thread that links us here today with the men buried in the ground we are standing on and with those South Africans who were sacrificed nearby at Arques-laBataille or on the SS Mendi – even those who lie in graves far off in countries like Angola from a forgotten war … and we prepare to stand by those who WILL fall in the years to come.

Today! - our bond remains with those South Africans who fell in Delville Wood and those who were never found during the Battle of the Somme and are immortalized on this very monument – and after 100 years OUR bond is as strong as ever.

Lest we forget ADDRESS BY, NATIONAL PRESIDENT SOUTH AFRICAN LEGION OF MILITARY VETERANS, Lgr Godfrey Giles, at Thiepval Cemetery, Somme, France on Sunday 10th July for the 100th Anniversary battle of Delville Wood Commemoration Service Next of kin, families, veterans, fellow South Africans, ladies and gentlemen. Firstly let's give thanks for the sunshine today - a South African blessing on this special service.

Today marks the culmination of 7 years planning - our tour started with "Bossie" arranging the 95th anniversary tour in preparation for today. Our goal was to have 100 people at this service. With 400 filled chairs - mission accomplished. Thank you to all involved!

The South African Legion, as a founder member of the Royal Commonwealth Ex Service League, RCEL, which was formed in Cape Town in 1921 by Generals Haigh and Smuts, wish to thank our brother founding organisation, the Royal British Legion for arranging the 144 commemoration services but especially allowing this particular one to be focused on the 100th anniversary of the battle of Delville Wood where so many South African played such a vital role.

To our South African veterans living abroad for whatever reason - especially those in the UK and Europe thank you for carrying the torch of remembrance by being part of the Legion away from home. You have made the connection with the Royal British Legion and the Commonwealth War Graves Commission thus

65

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016

Scenes from the Ceremony at the Delville Wood ceremony.

Tour leader Lgr Kevin Bolton at the Delville Wood memorial.

66

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016 arranging this very important service today. I speak on behalf of us all present today -we thank and salute you for your efforts. Peter, Karen and team Bravo Zulu Our thanks to the Commonwealth War Graves Commission who look after our fallen so well all over the world. We truly appreciate your efforts over so many years with such high standards befitting of our fallen.

Our thanks to the French people for allowing and ensuring our country men and women who are made to feel at home away from home. To all the officials who assisted today and especially the French Embassy staff in South Africa.

Thank you to everyone that participated in this service - Father John and Father Fred - thank you for leading us this morning. Also to Neil who bought a new bugle the other day which is from here and the Black Watch.

To the families and next of kin, thank you for making the effort to attend in person at great sacrifice to most. Thank you for bringing messages from those who could not attend themselves. You have born witness to the destruction of family life caused by war. I charge you to assist us veterans, in preventing wars in the future by you speaking out to others.

To all the veteran's present, representing many organisations in South Africa along with your colourful standards. Thank you for also carrying the torch of remembrance. You have lived through battles and war you know the effect on you and your comrades - you have suffered losses - I also charge you to speak up about preventing war in future.

To the many South African schools represented here today - firstly thank you to the teachers who have remembered where so many young volunteers came from and persuaded governing bodies, councils and parents to allow these tours to take place.

Thank you for ensuring that the torch of remembrance is handed down to the next generation.

To the pupils present - I hope that this tour has allowed you to really understand and comprehend the size of this war along with the destruction of property and lives lost. Speak to veterans and next of kin around you for personal accounts. Some statistics state over 9 million lives, both military and civilian were lost here and yesterday in the museum it stated that 9 million animals were also lost.

Together let us influence our politicians and radicals - we do not accept war!

Dialogue is what we call for Words are stronger than weapons Let's use them to prevent new cemeteries like this being built in the future.

The Legion motto "Not for ourselves but for others. " Thank you all for remembering and recognising the service of our men and women who have given us our today.

We will remember them.

OTHER BATTLE OF DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY SERVICES BENONI Hope you are all keeping well! Herewith photos of Delville wood Parade in Benoni. It was well attended by about 50 to 70 folks. You will see in one of the photos I am placing a rock of remembrance, hence everyone

67

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016

Battle of Delville Centenary service held in Benoni on the East Rand.

68

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016 at the parade also did this. We also had a flock of white doves take off (I don't have a photo of this unfortunately) I hope you place these photos on the website and one or two in the Springbok.

BLOEMFONTEIN Our Service was held on 17 July at Springbokpark. Chaplin Chrissie Lotz led the service. Our vice Chairman, Koos van Heerden, gave a short talk on the symbolism of Delville wood and did the acknowledgements. The Moths, and versus other organisations attended the service. After the service tee and refreshments were served.

DURBAN BRANCH The centenary Battle of Delville Wood service was held at the Cenotaph in Durban on Sunday 10 July 2016.

The service was attended by members of the eThekwini municipality and various veterans originations who also laid wreaths. One of the highlights of the service in Durban was the large banner erected by the eThekwini municipality along the N3.

HIMEVILLE

Boot and Saddle Shellhole with representatives from Fray-Bent-Us and Tipperary held our Delville Wood Centenary Parade at the Himeville Cenotaph on 17 July 2016 KIMBERLEY A special service to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Delville Wood was held at the Cenotaph War Memorial in Kimberley on Sunday 17 July 2016 at 11h00. The Kimberley Regiment which celebrates its 140th year of existence this year and Regimental Pipes and Drums was in attendance at the service. Kimberley Regiment also took part in the battle of Delville Wood during WW1. One of the Regiment’s troops, Pte Mannie Faulds, was the only South African to be awarded the Victoria Cross (VC) during the Battle and in subsequent Battles, he was also awarded the DSO. On Saturday 16 July at the Kimberley Regiment’s 140th Annual Re-Union Dinner a very interesting talk and slide show was presented by Mrs Sunet Swanepoel of the McGregor Museum about the Battle. It was well received by all present, followed by an excellent meal organised by our Secretary, Mrs Ros Erasmus.

Sunday, 17 July 2016, proved to be a glorious day – warm with a slight breeze at the Cenotaph site in Dutotispan Road where a large number of people gathered for the Centenary Commemoration Service of Delville Wood. Apart from the SA Legion, there were all other veteran organisations present (MOTHS, Gunners, Cape Corps) as well as a large Defence Force contingent. An excellent address by the Kimberley SA Legion President, Lt Col (R) Elliott Dempster SM JCD, was given and thoroughly appreciated by all.

The Kimberley Regiment Pipes and Drums were in attendance which delighted the crowd with their music, marching and drilling.

A wreath-laying ceremony was held by all the veteran organizations and Units present and after the Last Post and Reveille was sounded, everyone retired to the Regiment HQ, Drill Hall, for drinks and snacks organised by our Secretary once more.

PORT ELIZABETH BRANCH In Port Elizabeth, a parade was held at 11h00 on Sunday 17th July, at the Aloe White Ensign MOTH Shellhole.

69

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016

Battle of Delville Wood Centenary service was held at Springbok in Bloemfontein.

70

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016

Battle of Delville Wood Centenary service was held in the Gardens in Cape Town.

71

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016

Veterans on parade at Kings Park Stadium during half time in the match between the Sharks and the Falcons.

Scenes from the Delville Wood Memorial service held at the Cenotaph in Durban.

72

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016

Above is the large banner over the N3 near the Marian Hill Toll Plaza and below scenes from the Delville Wood Memorial service in Durban.

73

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016

Battle of Delville Wood Centenary Service held in Dundee.

74

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016

Battle of Delville Wood Centenary Service held in Himeville.

75

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016

Battle of Delville Wood Centenary Service that was held at the Scottish Memorial in Johannesburg.

76

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016

Battle of Delville Wood Centenary service was held at the Cenotaph in Kimberley.

77

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016 The parade took place under the auspices of the MOTH Order but the PE Branch SALMV was represented and as per usual, we placed a wreath in the Aloe White Ensign Shellhole Garden of Remembrance.

The parade was very well attended, with about 50 marching participants and about 30 visitors. All of the kindred associations placed wreaths.

PRETORIA BRANCH: DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY: NATIONWIDE COMMEMORATIONS AND A SURVIVOR’S STORY by Lgr Chris Szabo Memorials and remembrance services have been held throughout South Africa to commemorate the sacrifice of soldiers who died 100 years ago in a faraway battle, in a wood at a crossroads in northern France.

Over the last week, serving members of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) and military veterans remembered those who had gone before. Schools with long histories, including St Andrew’s College, Michaelhouse, Christian Brothers’ College (CBC) and others remembered their Old Boys who would not carry on to university or a career, having become casualties of the war. Civil society groups also remembered, such as the Wanderers Club, which lost numerous cricketers and rugby players of national repute.

At the Scottish Memorial in Burgers Park, Pretoria, under the auspices of the Pretoria Memorial Services Council and with the participation of the Pretoria Regiment, who posted the sentries, along with the South African Military Medical Health Service (SAMHS) Band, a moving remembrance service evoked that battle exactly a century ago this week.

Master of Ceremonies Major Tim Lane described the battle, speaking of the 1st South African Infantry Brigade, drawn from all parts of the country and even from what was then Rhodesia. Describing the unit’s movements, he described how they had captured the French village of Longueval, and then: “The brigade was moved into Delville Wood, later described by survivors as ‘Devil’s Wood’, meeting fierce resistance and heavy bombardment. There were no reinforcements, much suffering, numerous acts of bravery and an excessively heavy toll in human lives. On the evening of the 15th of July, 1916, the brigade numbered 3,153 men (121 officers, 3,032 other ranks). On the morning of the 19th of July, 1916, 1,080 men were dead, 1,735 were wounded. Only 338 came out of the battle physically unscathed. The wood itself was reduced to a few stumps and a few broken branches, half-buried in mud. It has had to be re-planted twice in attempts to get it back to its original condition.

“There are only 51 South African graves at Delville Wood, there was not sufficient remains of the other 1 029 dead soldiers to bury.

Quoting a historian, Lane said: “The brigade had hung in the wood without reinforcements or relief for an incredibly long time, six days and five nights, standing firm against impossible odds. This had also been the first occasion of any significance that South Africans of whatever descent had fought and died together.”

He was referring to the reconciliation that was taking place between English and Afrikaans-speaking South Africans only 14 years after the end of the Second Anglo-Boer War. At the time, Black South Africans were not allowed to bear arms, yet many volunteered and many died, but none in July 1916.

Major Lane’s reference to “other ranks” is an indication of the strong class differences there were at that time, when “working class” men could be privates or Non Commissioned Officers (lance corporals, corporals, sergeants etc.) and possibly reach the rank of Regimental Sergeant Major (a senior Warrant Officer) but only educated middle and upper class men would be trained as officers.

78

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016

Battle of Delville Wood Centenary service was held at the Scottish Memorial in Burghers Park in Pretoria.

79

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016

Battle of Delville Wood Centenary service held at the Turbi Shellhole in Louis Trichardt.

80

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016 The grandson of a Delville Wood survivor, Frank Netterberg, spoke of his grandfather’s experience in the battle. He was Private George G. Tanner, of the 2nd Regiment, D Company of the SA Brigade and hailed from Port Elizabeth.

Private Tanner had fought in the German South West Africa Campaign in 1914. The campaign had been led

by General Henry Lukin. Later General Lukin would lead the 1st SA Brigade at Delville Wood.

Netterberg described his grandfather’s part in the battle: “He was a dispatch runner, between the company Head Quarters (HQ) and Regimental HQ and he was blown up on the way and he arrived shell shocked and even though he was in a bad state he insisted on going back with a reply, basically that there were no reinforcements. Then on the way back he was blown up again and buried alive, with just one leg sticking out.

He said he waved his leg and fortunately they dug him out in time and he got back with the message. I think it was for that that he was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM).”

Following the playing of the Last Post, the two minutes’ silence and Reveille, during the wreath-laying ceremony, representatives of the Tshwane Metro, serving officers representing Chiefs of the Army, Air Force, Navy and SA Military Health Service, laid wreaths, as did military attaches of the UK, France, the US and Germany.

Military veterans’ organisations followed, including the Council for Military Veterans’ Organisations of South Africa (CMVO), SA Legion, the MOTHs, the Sapper’s Association, Infantry Association, the Pretoria Regiment Association and many others.

GREY COLLEGE AND ST ANDREWS BLOEMFONTEIN: THEART.

SLAG VAN DELVILLEBOS HERDENK DEUR RONEL

Ons was bevoorreg om gister, 21Julie die 100-jarige herdenking van die Slag van Delvillebos te herdenk.

Leerders van Grey-Kollege primêr en Sekondêr sowel as St Andrews het bome geplant om die dag te onthou.

Van die soldate wat in die slag gesneuwel het, was leerders van dié 2 skole. Die verrigtinge het plaasgevind in Happy Valley Bloemfontein. 3 032 SA-soldate het die oggend van die slag die bos binnegegaan en slegs 140 het oorleef. Die springbokkie, Nancy, het die soldate ingelei en het die slag oorleef. Die Oranjedogtertjie het Oranje se verbindtenis met St. Andrews beklemtoon omdat Oranje se grond aanvanklik aan St.Andrews behoort het.

NOORDWIJK THE NETHERLANDS NOORDWIJK by Andrew Bergman In northern France on 1 July 1916, a minute’s artillery silence followed by a long blast on a trench whistle marked At 07:30 – ‘zero hour’ for the British and Allied troops to go ‘over the top’ at the start of the Battle of the Somme.

The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) called on communities to mark the Centenary of the event on 1 July 2016.

As the battle of Delville Wood (the greatest loss in South African military history) was part of the larger Battle of the Somme, I visited the CWGC section of the Algemene Begraafplaats in Noordwijk, the Netherlands, where five South African soldiers lie buried.

They were victims of the SS Mendi, South Africa’s second-largest (and largest maritime) loss, but they fought for the same army in the same war, so the location was appropriate.

I was joined by Mark Sijlmans and Johanna Bergman-Badings. We shared a moment of reflection, the recitation of the Act of Remembrance, followed by a long blast on a trench whistle.

81

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016

Battle of Delville Wood Centenary service was held by Grey College, St Andrews and Oranje Junior Meisiesskool in Bloemfontein.

82

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016

Battle of Delville Wood Centenary service held in Noordwijk, The Netherlands.

83

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016 I then laid a wreath on behalf of the South African Legion - UK & Europe and the Royal British Legion - South African Branch.

WALKERVILLE The Tripoli Shellhole held their Delville Wood commemorative parade on 16 July 2016 at the Walkerville showgrounds.

The parade was attended by members of the Tripoli, Buckshee, Sandy and Parys Shelholes.

Members of the Vereeniging Branch of the SA Gunners Association as well as members as members of TS Bounty (Vereeniging Sea Cadets), together with members of the Community Policing Forum also attended.

The 92 year old Bill Noble was the eldest attending member of the M.O.T.H. The M.O.T.H. and M.O.T.H.W.A. members together with the CPF and TS Bounty members made up the parade.

Two members of TS Bounty displayed the National Flag together with their own flag at the cenotaph.

Old Bill Dennis Crooke did the welcoming speech.

Andre Coetzee reminded those in attendance of the very sad happenings at Delville Wood during July 1916 being part of the Battle of the Somme.

Jeff Korte read the M.O.T.H. credo.

Reverend Reggie Venter led the scripture by reading from Ps 46.

The laying of the wreaths was followed by the echoes of the Last Post and Reveille of the barren winter landscape.

The playing of the National Anthem concluded the formalities.

The customary toast was made to those who have made the ultimate sacrifice. Afterwards old friendships were renewed and strengthened and many new ones made.

Special thanks to Gen Roy Andersen for making copies of the Delville Wood commemorative booklet available.

OTHER STORIES BAILEY’S SHARPSHOOTERS By William Endley As we recognize and commemorate the centenary of the Somme Battles that started on the 1st of July 1916, let us take time to think of the small but very elite South African unit known as Bailey's South African Sharpshooters. When the South African Sharpshooters arrived in France in 1916, they were in time to join the British 1st Division as part of its 2nd Brigade for the Somme offensive. The Division first saw action at the Battle of Albert which started on the 1st and ended on the 13th of July. Casualties were heavy for the sharpshooters during the Somme Battles. Sergeant A.P. Wright was wounded in action on the 28th of June 1916 and Lance Corporal W.G. Hunt went missing on the 15th of July 1916 with his death being accepted on the 22nd of August 1916. Lance Corporal A. Laing was killed in action on the 16th of August 1916. Lance Corporal Vaughan and Lance Corporal J. Marnoch died of their wounds received in action on the 17th of August 1916.

84

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016

Battle of Delville Wood Centenary service was held in Walkerville.

85

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016 KRIGE BROTHERS by Lgr Charles Ross I recently met Mr Krige, like myself a former Kimberley man, who shared with me the short story of his late father’s two brothers. Joseph was born in Kimberley in 1883 and his brother Jan Daniel Krige in 1884.

During the First World War they both joined the Kimberley Regiment Company of the 1 st South African Brigade that was sent to France and both were involved in the Battle of Delville Wood.

Sadly Joseph Krige was one of the many South Africans killed during the epic Battle of Delville Wood and is one of the 833 South Africans that are commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial. Jan Daniel suffered shell shock and sadly never recovered.

The photos are some of the memorabilia of Joseph and Jan Daniel Krige. Both brothers appear in the photos, but unable to identify them. I assume that the group photos could be of members of the Kimberley Regiment Company.

TODAY IN KIMBERLEY’S HISTORY By Seve Lunderstedt 15 JULY The Cenotaph, in memory of Kimberley’s 400 men who died during the Great War 1914-1918, was unveiled on Sunday 15 July 1928 in front of a crowd numbering eight to ten thousand persons, and coincided with the annual commemoration of Delville Wood.

Although not the only war memorial in South Africa dated 1914 – 1919, it is unusual and the reason is that although hostilities ceased on 11 November 1918, the Peace Treaty was only signed in 1919. The Cenotaph was unveiled by four mothers who had each lost either a husband and son, or two sons, during the war.

What is known thus far is the probable names of two of the mothers. A definite “mother” is Catherine Anderson – the wife of William – who lost two sons, while another is Katie Solomon, the wife of local attorney Arthur. It is believed, but not proven, that Ethel Annie Pickering, who lost both her sons in the war, is another of the four. Ethel Pickering is famed for firing the first shell from the Long Cecil gun.

Councillor Henry Schmidt, Mayor of Kimberley, was the Chairman of the War Memorial Committee, and Colonel T. Ormiston DSO VD gave the Unveiling address. The following Reverends played a part in the service: Rev William Pescod, Rev WH Kinsey and Rev JR Albertyn. After World War 2 dates and four additional plaques were added.

The Cenotaph was designed by local architect and artist William Timlin.

Prior to the unveiling ceremony a service unique in South African ecclesiastical history took place in St Mary’s Catholic Cathedral, a Pontifical Requiem Mass, said at the time to have been held only once in Rome on a Sunday in the forty years preceding. The service was for the soul of departed soldiers and the preacher was Father Janssen OMI who had served with the German forces in World War I. SHARKS RUGBY UNION The SA Legion has managed to secure some time to commemorate the Battle of Delville Wood, during half time of the Sharks Rugby Game on the 15th of July 2016. In order for us to make this a worthwhile effort, we need as many veterans as possible to do a march on with us during this event.

86

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016

Photos of what is believe to be members of the Kimberley Regiment that formed part of the 1st Battalion of the 1st South African Brigade.

87

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016 STRANGE PHENOMENON by Denise Schaaf Brown Legend has it that this strange phenomenon found in Ypres only appears when the spirit of a certain soldier hobbles through these battlefield woods. Only a select few have experienced this. The French call it Marcher et tomber and Germans Gehen und Fallen. Losely translated Loop en Val. I LOVE PARIS …. ON THE MARCH By Deon Fourie I love Paris … always … though the summers really sizzle …. for the vistas from the top of the Arc de Triomphe where twelve avenues meet … for walks along narrow ancient streets with pavement cafes and beside the Seine where for three kilometres the bouquinistes sell old books … for picturesque buildings … especially for the magnificent Hôtel National des Invalides built in the 1670s for the sick and wounded of the army of King Louis XIV … now the Museum of the Army.

I love Paris’s military air where soldiers wear the characteristic kêpi, where street names are the geography of battlefields where Louis XIV and Napoleon established France’s dominance and warrior reputation.

Beneath the golden cupola of the Church of the Dome, beside the Museum, lie Napoleon and his son the uncrowned King of Rome who died at 21, encircled by tombs of Napoleon’s brothers Joseph and Jérôme and faithful Generals Bertrand and Duroc and the famous 1918 Supreme Commander of the Allies Marshall JeanMarie Foch.

Perhaps you will see the mounted Garde Republicain in blue and gleaming silver and gold helmets with red cockades and horsehair plumes escorting a dignitary to the President’s palace. Or, on Bastille Day on 14th July, awed, you will see the massive parade marching down the Avenue des Champs-Elysées.

Once, when I dined in Paris at the officers’ Club St Augustin, the waitress asked me to share my table with an old gentleman. We shook hands and were silent. Then hesitatingly I explained that I spoke little French – he said “I speak better in French”. Then, as strangers will, we talked the evening away, somehow understanding one another. As our meal ended I passed him my card. He laughed and gave me his - and I laughed. I was Fourie - he was Foure without the letter “i” but pronounced the same way. We toasted the happenstance in calvados, the apple brandy of Normandy .

When first I visited the Musée d’Armée on a frosty January morning my eye was caught by an array of old French regimental colours bright in the winter’s sun. Behind the exhibit was another display of antique colours captured by victorious French armies. Brilliantly lit by the sun was a stand of Austrian colours. Faded by the passage of two hundred years since their capture they were carefully preserved in protective gauze … tangible history as was every exhibit in the Museum. No wonder that I have visited the Museum 25 times … always deeply moved … .

The display begins with armour and weapons of the thirteenth century and sweeps across generations of history culminating in France’s most recent campaigns.

On summer evenings one could watch son et lumière (sound and light) performances evoking centuries of the history of France and its army … created with recorded voices of battle and crowds, long forgotten military music and subtle lighting. One would be emotionally immersed … hearing the slow sombre tread of invisible soldiers passing spectators in the dark across the Court d’Honneur into the church to Napoleon’s funeral.

Among the World Wars’ exhibits were Canadian and Australian uniforms but nothing from South Africa. On an impulse I once packed the uniform and medal ribbons of Lt Col Arthur Johnson, DSO, who commanded the Pretoria Regiment in the Italian Campaign of 1943-1945. I also took the 2nd World War Africa Service

88

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016

Strange phenomenon at Ypres.

Attendees at the Battle of Delville Wood Centenary held in Port Elizabeth.

89

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016 Medal, with a brief French description of South Africa’s role in the War. Once in Paris, I arranged to visit the Deputy Commander of the Museum, Colonel Willing. A diplomat warned me that I might be rebuffed but I went. On a November afternoon I was admitted to the Colonel’s office. Stretching out his hand he said “Ik spreek een bietjie Nederlands maar hebbe meest vergete” and switched to English. Born in the Flemish speaking north of France, he served in the Western Desert with Free French forces, meeting South African soldiers. I explained that I had not seen uniforms from South Africa beside other Commonwealth uniforms and he said “Ah, yes, we have been given nothing”. On my telling him what I had brought he said in mock horror “Not those very, very, very short shorts?”

Delighted with the donation he promised that when the WW2 hall was rearranged they would display the uniform. Then he took my wife, Felicia, her French cousin, Jean-Luc, and me through an immense uniform store – including irreplaceable full-dress uniforms donated by Russian officers who fled to France after the 1917 revolution.

From 15th July 1916 the 1st SA Infantry Brigade of 3 153 South African volunteers fought desperately to take and hold Delville Wood, now two hours from Paris on Route A1. Some 720 paraded on 21 st July. Only 151 bodies were found. Our son, Gideon, and I will join the commemorative ceremony there on 10th July 2016.

SOUTH AFRICAN CASUALTIES IN FRANCE IN JULY 1916 by Lgr Charles Ross According to the Commonwealth War Graces Commission casualty Date Base the 1 st South African Brigade suffered 809 casualties in France during the month of July 1916. The biggest loss occurred on 18 July 1916 when 249 South African dies.

Of the 809 casualties 546 have no known grave and are commemorated on the impressive Thiepval Memorial. The rest of the casualties are buried in the following Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries in France: 

Delville Wood. 80. In addition there are 65 graves of “Unknown” South Africans in the cemetery.

These are commemorated on the Thiepval Memorial.



Peronne Road Cemetery. 31.



Corbie Communal Cemetery Extension 27.



La Neuville British Cemetery. 24.



Dive Copse British Cemetery. 18.



London Cemetery and Extension. 12.



Abbeville Communal Cemetery. 10.



St Sever Cemetery. 9.



Serre Road Cemetery Number 2. 8.



Secrerie Military Cemetery. 7.



Quarry Cemetery. 5.

90

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016

Corbie Communal Cemetery where 27 South Africans are buried.

St Sever Cemetery where 9 South Africans are buried.

Quarry Cemetery where 5 South Africans are buried.

91

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016 

Ovillers Military Cemetery. 4.



Dantzig Alley British Cemetery. 3.



Estaples Military Cemetery. 3.



Favreuil British Cemetery. 3.



Serre Road Cemetery Number 1. 3.



A. I. F. Burial Ground. 2.



Boulogne Eastern Cemetery. 2.



Warlencourt British Cemetery. 2.



Wimereux Communal Cemetery. 2.



Authuile Military Cemetery. 1.



Bernafay Wood British Cemetery. 1.



Bronfay Farm Military Cemetery. 1.



Carnoy Military Cemetery. 1.



Caterpillar Valley Cemetery. 1.



Saours Communal Cemetery Extension. 1.



Guillemont Road Cemetery. 1.



Le Cateau Military Cemetery. 1.

92

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016

93

SPRINGBOK – DELVILLE WOOD CENTENARY EDITION 2016 SA LEGION STRUCTURE Patron in Chief: President, Hon. Jacob C Zuma Past Presidents for Life: Lgr Tony C. Chemaly Lgr Rodney W. Monthe Lgr Lawrie F. Poorter Lgr Jurie Van der Merwe Lgr Chris P.C. de B Venter Honorary Life Vice Presidents: Lgr Arthur Blake Lgr Lourens Human Lgr C. J. J. Jooste Lgr Basil Kriel National Executive: National President: Lgr Godfrey J Giles National V/President: Lgr Brian Klopper National Treasurer: Lgr Steve Heiberg National Secretary: Lgr Marrietta Venter Assistant National Secretary: Lgr Riana Venter Van Zyl National Membership: Lgr Shadrack Sealome National Gender: Ms M Manetjie National Relief and Welfare: Lgr Brian Smith National Public Relations: Lgr Charles Ross Regional Chairmen: Central: Lgr Deon Bester Eastern Cape: Lgr Brian Klopper Kwa-Zulu Natal: Lgr Rick Andries Branches Adelaide Alexandria Atteridgeville Brakpan Bedford Bloemfontein Kimberley Botshabelo Cape Town Central Wits Durban

East London Ennerdale-Orange Farm Graaff-Reinet Grahamstown Hermanus Kagiso Southern Cape King Williams Town Klerksdorp Kroonstad Lower South Coast

Pietermaritzburg Port Alfred Port Elizabeth Pretoria Sedibeng Soweto Strand Stuttereim UK & Europe Virtual

Springbok, the Journal of the South African Legion of Military Veterans, ISSN 2221-9854, is the responsibility of the Public Relations Portfolio. Edited by Lgr Charles Ross. Body text was set in Calibri 11 and headers in Calibri 12 bold. Printed using Nashua Printer, thanks to Nashua Central.

94