*VIRTUAL TOUR - The Somme Offensive Continued* South African Museum And Memorial

SOUTH AFRICAN MUSEUM AND MEMORIAL


South African Museum
Inaugurated on the 11th November 1986 by the President of the South African Republic, the Museum was built around the Cross of Sacrifice. The Museum commemorates the 25,000 South African volunteers, Men and Women of all races and religions, who fell during the two World Wars, and the Korean War. Magnificent bronze bas-reliefs tell the story of the Battles in which the South African Soldiers fought. One of them, entitled the sixth Day, illustrates the return of the Soldiers after six days of fighting in the wood. The bas-reliefs also illustrate the involvement of the South African Forces in the second World War, and the Korean War. 30 years after its official opening, the Museum has been refurbished and updated, and its collections of bas-reliefs, artefacts and archive documents now highlight the role of all South Africans, black and white, on the various theatres of Battles. Behind the Museum stands a scar-covered hornbeam, the sole survivor of the Battle. The design of the Museum was inspired by the Castle of Good Hope, the first European fortification erected in South Africa. 

Black South Africans were not allowed to take up arms during the Great War, and so did not fight alongside the white South Africans in Delville Wood; more than 21,000 black South Africans did, however, serve as labourers in France during the War. While apartheid was still in vigour, the significant role of the black Troops was overlooked by the South African Government of the time; thus, the new South African Government decided to transform the site into a place of remembrance that illustrates and respects all aspects of the Nation's Military history. On the 30th June 2014, the reburial of the first South African Native.

South African Memorial

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

*VIRTUAL TOUR - The Somme Offensive Continued* The Sheffield Pals and the Battle Of Serre, 1st July 1916

Image
THE SHEFFIELD PALS AND THE BATTLE OF SERRE On Saturday 24th June, the British Artillery opened a bombardment that, over a five-day period, was intended to destroy the German defences. Each night the Battalion sent out raiding and wire-examining parties; worryingly, the German wire was found to be uncut. On the 28th June, word was received that the attack would be postponed for two days because of the poor weather. The new time for the start of the offensive was 07:30hrs on Saturday the 1st July 1916. The day before the Offensive began badly, with the news that Lt-Col. Crosthwaite was seriously ill, requiring his hurried replacement by Major Plackett. At 03:45hrs on the 1st July, the Battalion was in position in the assembly trenches, finding them already in a terrible condition from German shellfire. Patrols from the fourth and seventh Companies of the 169th (8th Baden) Infantry Regiment defending Serre noted the build-up. With the appearance of daylight at 04:05hrs, Ge...
Read more

THE GREAT WAR *VIRTUAL TOUR*

Image
HOW DID THE GREAT WAR BEGIN It is a fact that history is written by the Victors of War!  Archduke Ferdinand On The Day Of The Attack Historians and Leaders alike have, for all time, exaggerated and manipulated the facts of Military Conflicts in order to glorify their own Country. As a result, the public has been misled into believing it was Germany who was to blame for the Great War of 1914 to 1918. Following extensive research, it has been proven that Germany, although they had trained for many years in a Niederwerfung Strategie (Swift and decisive strategy of annihilation), was not to blame for the outbreak of World War One. In fact, the German Military acted in retaliation to Russian and French invasions; thereby, mobilising its Armies in defence of its Ally, and its own borders from Military Forces who were trying to occupying their land.  Archduke Ferdinand Historians would argue that the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand, by Gavrilo Princip, part of ...
Read more

*VIRTUAL TOUR - The Somme Offensive Continued* Fricourt German Cemetery

Image
Fricourt German War Cemetery The Fricourt German War Cemetery was established in 1920, by the French Military Authorities, and concentrates the burials from 79 communes in the regions around Bethune, Albert, Combles, Ancre Valley, and Villers-Bretonneux. Most of the fallen were members of the Imperial German Second Army. Of the 17,000 burials, about 1,000 died in the autumn of 1914 and the ensuing trench warfare; about 10,000 during the Somme Offensive; the final 6,000 in the Spring Offensive of 1918 and the ensuing Allied counterattack, the 100 Days Offensive. In 1929, the Volksbund Deutsche Kriegsgräberfürsorge (VDK) started working on the German Military grave registration service and landscaping the Cemetery. It received a new entrance with stairs, and wrought-iron gate and trees and bushes were planted. The community graves got a verge made of natural stone and a planting with game roses. A high wooden cross served as a central mark; however, the problem of a dur...
Read more