Kwazulu-Natal

Below are snippets of information about the 'last man to walk out of Delville Wood'. The first contribution comes from Kevin Burge and the second is by Pat Rundgren (an excerpt from the book Dundee Men At War).

Before the end of the "Great War" of 1914-1918, Dundee High School had lost twenty of its old scholars and three of its staff members to the vicissitudes of battle. One scholar, Capt Garnet George Green, who had passed the Annual Collective Examination in 1903 at Dundee, was awarded the Military Cross for having, “held the whole wood [Delville Wood] with 118 men (of his B Company of the Second Regiment), the whole day against three German Divisions.” He had been born in Dundee in 1889 and after school he joined the Natal Carbineers as a trooper. He saw action during the Bambatha Rebellion of 1906 and also in German South West Africa in 1914 - 1915. From January to March 1916 he served (like his schoolmate Russel Tatham) with the 2nd South African Regiment against the Senussi in Egypt.

In the Battle of Delville Wood (15 July–3 September 1916), with the South African Infantry, he was wounded and on 20 July he was "the last [man] to leave the trench when relief arrived. He was promoted to the rank of Captain in January 1918; but on 23 March 1918, he was killed in action at Arras". Brigadier-General Tanner recommended Lt. Green for the DSO (Distinguished Service Order), but instead he was awarded a bar...

Dawn. Dundee, Natal. 20 October 1899. It was bitterly cold. Indeed, it had uncharacteristically snowed the previous week. Huge banks of fog covered the town and surrounding high ground. Intermittent drizzle made everything clammy and miserable. Breath puffed out like a steam train. All in all, a time for any sensible person to be indoors, in bed.

But all was not as peaceful as it seemed. Throughout most of the night, streams of Boers from the Utrecht and Wakkerstroom Commandos had been stealthily occupying Talana Hill, a prominent landmark some two miles east of Dundee, stumbling as quietly as possible over the slickly wet rocky terrain until the summit was reached. It was their intention to rudely awaken the slumbering British garrison in the town below with the opening shots of the first major battle of the Anglo Boer War.

Some few hundred yards to the south of Talana, members of the Middelburg, Vryheid and Piet Retief commandos had also taken up positions on a hill known as Lennox 3. 

According to Lieutenant Cecil Grimshaw (2nd Battalion Royal Dublin Fusiliers):

In the afternoon of the 19th. October (Thursday) orders came in to us @ 3:30 to furnish a piquet of 12 men on the Landman’s Drift road in the vicinity of the cross roads leading to Landman’s Drift & Bart’s Drift …. About 7 p.m. it began to pour and we were all pretty well soaked through in an hour. Just about 8 p.m. my sentry on the road challenged someone who...

Although suffering from the worst drought in decades, one hopes that the rainy season is going to hit Zululand with a vengeance this year. From mid October onwards the heavens open up and the countryside transforms itself from harsh, barren, rock strewn tawny hillsides into rolling slopes covered with emerald green grass, rushing rivers and sparkling air. Looming massively on the skyline, and lit most afternoons by truly spectacular forked lightning streaking across the pitch black sky, Itala Mountain has a particularly eerie feel to it. Just like its cousin 30 miles to the west: Isandlwana.

Situated next to the Mhlatuze River, which, in 1901, formed the boundary between Natal and the Boer Republic of the Transvaal, it commands the road leading from Nqutu to Babanango, and the winding track heading off southwards toward Nkandla. On a clear day, one can see almost a hundred miles in most directions from the summit.

It has always been a strategic spot in the various altercations that have taken place across the centuries here. My interest in the site was originally sparked by a visit with Fred Duke and Neville Worthington many years ago. Then a few months later I came across an old group photograph entitled “The Officers and NCO’s of “G” Squadron, Natal Carbineers, Mooi River Camp. 31 August 1924”. 

The soldiers in the photograph still stare self importantly back at you, even after 80 years. What sparked my interest was that a local farmer from Vant’s Drift, Major Harry Walker...

On the western heights of the Biggarsberg, Mkupe Mountain looks down on the strategic pass to which it gives its name and the Inkunzi river. During the Anglo-Zulu War (1879) and the 1st Anglo Boer War (1881), this pass was of vital concern to the British Army, as it was their supply line between military headquarters in Pietermaritzburg and the Frontier stations of Newcastle and Dundee. It was also the shortest route for any Boer invading force to strike at the communications system of the British defending forces and the quickest route to take to Ladysmith.

Fort Mistake from a distance

“Mkupe” is an old Zulu name meaning the "fouling of the Eagle’s Nest”. To this day the black eagles nest along its cliffs and soar across its northern flanks.

Other mountains with historical significence can be seen from these heights:

• to the east. Mt. Nonni (with the signal fort built in 1881 and the Border Mounted Rifles Fort “Carolina”(built in 1901),
• “Lindisfarne” with its twin forts and 
• Mt. Mpati with its memories of General “Maroela” Erasmus and the young Denys Reitz on commando in October 1899

Many is the tale told of the origin of Fort Mistake and its quaint name – and many are the legends that continue to this day:

• that the foolish British (without...

In the article below Pam McFadden reveals some of the history behind the Little Church at Van Reenen which is considered by many to be the smallest church in the southern hemisphere.

Maynard Reginald Nelson Matthews was appointed as magistrate in Dundee from 9 December 1901, having been transferred from Newcastle and having served in number of towns throughout Natal. He also served as Chairman of the Dundee Cottage Hospital and in 1906 was the Chief leader of the Dundee Militia Reserves and Commander of Dundee under Martial Law.

On his retirement in 1921 he continued to serve Dundee as the Chairman of the Dundee & Glencoe Liquor Licensing Boards 1921-1925, was a member of the Dundee Town Council in 1922 and served as Mayor 1923-1924.

On 19 March 1925 there was a rock fall at Burnside Colliery, near Glencoe. A number of miners were trapped underground. Llandaff Matthews, was employed as a shift boss on this mine. As soon as news of the disaster spread he organised some men on the mine to go underground to save survivors and recover bodies. There was no formal Mine Rescue Service at the time. The organisation was officially founded later that year, with this accident being one of the motivations for a formal volunteer rescue service of mining men based on each mine. The men Llandaff led underground managed to save eight men. As he went into the shaft one last time there was a second rock fall. He was buried under the rock and died...

A Northumbrian by birth, Dr Prideaux Selby was already a middle aged bachelor when he sailed with the Byrnes' settlers to South Africa in 1850. He became the first doctor and Justice of the Peace to the Boer families in the Biggarsberg and lived at “Mooiplaas” for 25 years. He was held in high regard and loved by the Boer families – so much so that the names “Prideaux” and “Selby” were used extensively by the Boer families to name their children.

John Sneddon Dobie in his “Journal” of 1863 describes him as a “pegtop” clad in flapping white ducks and riding off on horseback under an umbrella to tackle an epidemic of measles in the scattered farmhouses.

He gave a home to and trained the first itinerant school teachers to the Voortrekkers, James Edwin Twyman and Richard Bodien.

Shortly before the beginning of the Anglo-Zulu War in 1879, he moved to the farm “Zarana” in the Dundee area and was a refugee in Fort Pine after the disaster at Isandlwana. A family account tells of Doctor Selby delivering babies at the Fort.

Two days after Lieutenant-Colonel Black had led a volunteer out of Fort Melvill to make a reconnaissance of Isandlwana battlefield, Lord Chelmsford decided to send all the cavalry to Rorkes' Drift in order to bury the dead at Isandlwana and bring back the wagons and anything else of value to the military.

Captain Robson brought the Buffalo Border Guards and Newcastle Mounted Rifles from Fort Pine accompanied...

Major William Knox-Leet was born in Dalkey, County Dublin on 3 November 1833. The youngest son of a Episcopalian rector, he graduated from Trinity College in Dublin, Ireland and became an ensign in the 13th Prince Albert's Light Infantry in July 1855. In 1858 he was sent to British India where he saw action in several engagements during the Indian Mutiny. From 1867 until 1872 he served as an arms instructor in England. In July 1872 he became Deputy Assistant Adjutant and Quartermaster-General in County Cork, Ireland. In 1879 he was sent to South Africa during the Anglo-Zulu War where he won the Victoria Cross for gallantry. In May 1883 he returned to British India as a battalion commander and took it to Burma (now Myanmar) during the Third Anglo-Burmese War. He was later promoted to the rank of Major General and retired from the British Army in November 1888 with 33 years of active military service. He died in Great Chart, Kent, England at the age of 64.

Major William Knox-Leet

Knox-Leet saved the lives of four wounded soldiers and was told by his comrades that he deserved the Victoria Cross - the highest decoration awarded for bravery by the British Military. The drawback was that his superiors in the War office had not recommended that he should receive this award and so he...

It took the Africa Media Online digitisation team two months to digitise over 4,000 traditional Zulu artefacts at the Phansi Museum in Durban. The project, funded by the National Lottery Commission was awarded to the Phansi Museum for the digitisation of their collection and the building of a digital archive. The funding was awarded in 2015. We, however, were on site at the museum premises toward the end of 2016.

Scott Cronwright assisted by Sandile Mhongo, operating our Phase One XF camera tethered to a computer. The camera allows us to set the range of focus and the number of focus points within that range to capture. Phansi Museum, Durban.

Our digitisation team headed up by our photographer, Scott Cronwright, used our Phase One IQ3 100 megapixel digital back on two cameras, our Phase One XF camera for 3D objects and our Alpa FPS 12 camera for flat objects.

Sandile Mhlongo, who has just loaded a flat object onto the capture surface, waits for Scott Cronwright to capture a flat object while Timothy Zuma prepares the next object. The object being captured is a beaded waistcoat. It is illuminated evenly by our Broncolor lights. Phansi...

This article, which focuses solely on South African beach photography prior to 1970s, is an extension on a similar article recently published on South African pavement photography (click here to read).

The author was surprised about the discussions elicited on the above article – It confirms that recent, or the more contemporary photographic history attracts more attention compared to older photographic history, in that many readers can still relate to the more recent era.

It has been suggested that when viewing photographic images, which form part of our own life narratives or era, an increase of up to 11% may occur in our general mood and happiness levels (actual research article not seen by author).

This makes sense - just looking at photographs taken on South African beaches between the 1930s and 1960s may bring some joy to the viewer. It creates a sense of euphoria. As an example, just look at the two images immediately below – Do they not elicit a positive response of some sort?

Young Fiona (2 and a half years old) with her bucket and spade – Unknown...

A documentary currently in the making will take a fresh look at the shooting of a classic film made in KwaZulu-Natal in the Sixties. And the producers are appealing for help. Stephen Coan reports.

Plans are afoot for the shooting of a feature length documentary Zulu and the Zulus in KwaZulu-Natal next year.

The documentary is a long nurtured project by filmmaker Henry Coleman, a South African now based in London. The film focuses on the making of the classic film Zulu shot in 1963 against the spectacular backdrop of the Drakensberg Amphitheatre in the Royal Natal National Park. The film spectacularly recreated the defence of Rorke's Drift that took place during the Anglo-Zulu War of 1879 when a small number of British troops held out against a superior Zulu force following the overwhelming Zulu victory at Isandlwana.

On its release in 1964 Zulu was a huge hit while repeated screenings on British television over the years have spurred ongoing generations of tourists to visit KwaZulu-Natal. “It is a regular favourite on British television and hardly off the screen,” said Coleman. “A couple of years ago it was screened 22 times in a month on one channel.”

Zulu warriors in Zulu

Directed by Cy Endfield, the action filled epic stars Stanley Baker, Michael Caine, Jack Hawkins and Ulla Jacobsson as well as Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) leader Mangosuthu Buthelezi...