“The Winning Post”
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o UP NORTH SHELL HOLE
CONFIDENTIAL TO MOTH UNITS---NOT FOR PUBLICATION ISSUE NO 233 June 2018
Old Bill Trevor Scheepers 084 5167 470 Wee Bill Nigel Smart Adj. André Boshoff 033 3431759 Pay Bill Mark Lederle 079 4944 339 May Meetings (4 Executives) Afternoon -18 Members. Evening – 8 members Apologies: Afternoon – 6 Evening - 1
Sick Parade: Moths Clive Lucarne, Alf James, Clive Brooking, Peter Coates, Bruce Sykes, Ruby Terblanche, Doug Rogers, Shae Ehmke and Eddie Kloker. Moth Syd Fitton had surgery and is up and about again. Moths Mayvis Gill and Henry Davis had also been in hospital.
Birthdays May: Moths Moth Chris van Rooyen, Clive Brooking, Mike Duffy, Bob Gawthorpe, Herman Muller, Norman van Vuuren, Peter Erasmus, Wayne Prinsloo,Helen De Villiers, Dean Gibbons and Winks Stenning. Roland Garros: Why is the French Open Tennis competition named after a War Hero who didn’t even like Tennis? In the spring of 1918 Charles de Gaulle, who would one day be the French President and arguably the most famous Frenchman of the 20th century, was in a prisoner of war camp in Ingolstadt, Bavaria. De Gaulle, who had been captured in the Battle of Verdun, found himself alongside another French hero — Roland Garros. Garros was an airman, one of the first to take to the skies over the trenches of northern France to fight it out with "the Boche".He had been captured in 1915 after a blocked fuel line forced him to crash land over enemy territory. In May 1918 De Gaulle escaped from Ingolstadt but was recaptured near the Swiss border. Garros was more successful, escaping in February 1918. He made it back to France, re-joined the air force and was shot down and killed only month before the end of the war! But Garros had never been a keen tennis player, nor a fan, so it might seem odd that his name is now forever associated with the sport. To explain this, it should be remembered that French tennis players dominated the sport in the 1920s and the stadium, in the 16th arrondissement was built to “cash in” on the tennis stars’ popularity with the crowds. In 1928, enter Emile Lesueur, then president of the Stade Français rugby club and Garros' former classmate at business school. It was whilst he was also at the helm of French tennis, that their newly built tennis stadium took the name of Leseur’s heroic friend. In Roland Garros, it was felt that his spirit should epitomise the spirit, of the clay-court warriors who come to do battle at the stadium. Who then was Roland Garros? Roland Garros was a young man who after graduating from business school founded his own company, selling cars near the Arc de Triomphe in Paris, in 1909 this also enabled him to find his true vocation — flying. The young entrepreneur broke an altitude record in 1911 and dazzled air show crowds with his acrobatic displays. In 1913 he became the first pilot to fly over the Mediterranean — the trip from Saint-Raphaël on the French Riviera to Bizerte in Tunisia took a gruelling eight hours. When Germany invaded France in 1914, Garros immediately signed up to fight in France's fledgling air force. He shot down three German planes in April 1915 but was then hit by German anti-aircraft fire and crash-landed in occupied Belgium. After his escape and return to Paris, he turned down Prime Minister Georges Clemenceau's request to be a military adviser and went back to flying planes and tackling the Luftstreitkräfte in the air. On October 5, 1918 he was involved in a dogfight over the Ardennes, after shooting down a German plane — his fourth kill in total — his plane was hit and crashed - Garros died on impact, he was just 29 years old. Such was his popularity that many regarded him as a fighter "ace". A term strictly given to airmen who succeed in shooting down five enemy planes; yet his fans argue that Garros would certainly have reached that figure, had he had not been in a prisoner of war for three years. Roland Garros remains nevertheless, a man who captured the imagination of his countrymen who brought honour both to France and Aviation and for these many exploits, it is indeed fitting that we continue to remember him. Meat swindle for May: Moth Mark Lederle.
Newspapers: Thanks to all who brought in old newspapers, remember we are always looking for more. The price has unfortunately been reduced to R1.00 kg. Many thanks to Bluff Meats for transporting newspapers. Shellhole lunch: Next quarterly lunch, to be advised for late July. Warthog Wallow The pub is open every Friday evening so come and enjoy a drink and some comradeship with fellow Moths and friends. Please look for old military photos of yourselves to put up on the wall in the pub.
Mutual Help:
In need of stores? Contact the Paybill. New badges for member’s shirts have arrived. A good selection of second hand blazers & ties for sale. We also have in stock Shellhole caps and the 90th Anniversary badges are available at R35.00 each.
Do Not Forget:--Wear your Tin Hat with pride at all times and if ‘each one reached one’ think how many recruits the Order and Up North would gain. When this symbol loses its significance, men will have FORGOTTON our ELDER BRETHEREN, who will have died in vain. NEXT MEETINGS AFTERNOON July 9th & NIGHT July 10th.