Scientia Militaria, South African Journal of Military Studies, Vol 4 Nr 3, 1974. http://scientiamilitaria.journals.ac.za

I)o~kb~sp•.~kings , I)ook R~~i~ws

WILHelM GROTTER: A name among seafar- the British Flag or under the Flag of any of ing men.! (A history of the training ship the several parts of the British Empire whe- 'General Botha'). Cape Town, 1973, pp 173. ther such ships are owned by British Sub- Until recently, the South African Navy could jects in the United Kingdom or in any of claim the dubious distinction that of all three the King's Dominions or Possessions. arms of the Defence Force, its history was The Cadet Corp3 would have access to the the least adequately chron;c1ed. At last the ship when the:r training required it, subject unfavourable balance has been redressed to conditions laid down by the Board of through the publication of two excellent Control established to administer the ve3sel. books, that under review being the second to appeal'. Until the outbreak of the Second World War the General Botha continued in this role. Tho first book, South Afr:ca's Navy: The First Unhappily the exigenc;es of war and the need Fifty Years, concentrates primarily upon the to cater for the mass of shipp;ng using the evolution and current role of the contemporary facilities of the Cape Peninsula made the Navy. Now Wilhelm Grutter has parformed continuation of tra:ning on board increasingly a valuable service by telling the story of the difficult until it was stopped in July 1942. training ship General Botha, which between SATS General Botha because a 'stone frigate', 1922 and 1942 prepared many young men for housed in premises on Red Hill, above Si- careers in the merchant marine and the Navy, monstown. and of her successor, the 'stone frigate' of the same name. The ship was handed-over to the Admiralty under her old name of HMS Thames, and Originally the cruiser HMS Thames, the Gene- served as a naval detention ship. After the ral Botha was presented to the Cape Town war it was deemed pointless to restore her, Naval Cadet Corps by Mr T.B.F. Davis of and on 13 May 1947 she was sunk by gunfire Durban. At first Davis intended the ship to in False Bay. be used. solely by the Cadet Corps, but costs prohibited this. After consultaton between A pariod of indecision about the future fol- the South African Government and the Admi- lowed the move to Red Hill. The Government ralty, it was decided that the ship took a long while to make up its mind about shall be used as a Training Ship for the purposes of Training Boys of British South 1. Also available in Afrikaans under the title: 'n Africa for the service in ships sailing under Naam wat Seevaarders eer.

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74 Scientia Militaria, South African Journal of Military Studies, Vol 4 Nr 3, 1974. http://scientiamilitaria.journals.ac.za

South African naval policy and until someth- naamde Peutingerkaart (4e eeu na Chr) is dit ing definite was decided, the Board could not duidelik waarneembaar dat daar 'n groot ver- know whether or not to acquire another ship. skil tussen die kartografiese weergawe en die But by 1947 the Board realized that because werklikheid bestaan het. Hierdie toestand sou more facilities were required for sea training nog eeuelank voortduur. Nie aileen was hier- than previously, the General Botha would die stand van sake kenmerkend vir die toen- have to stay ashore. A further consideration malige landkaarte nie, maar ook die seevaart- was the success of the shore-based training kundige kaarte het aan dieselfde tekortko- institutions in England, Dartmouth and Pang- mings gely. bourne. In 1948 the General Botha moved to a new site at Gordon's Bay. Henceforth it Teen die midde van die 16e eeu het die Ne- was designated a Nautical Training College. derlandse kartografie, op grond van meerdere kennis van die omgewing en verbeterde teg- Consolidation and change of the South African niese hulpmiddels, 'n tydperk van groot ont- defence system towards the end of the 1950's wikkeling betree. Ongeveer 1-t eeu het die Ne- brought the greatest changes yet to the Ge- derlandse kartografie, sowel ten opsigte van neral Botha. Simonstown was handed-over eie land as met betrekking tot die toenmalige to the Navy in 1957, and in 1958 the Depart- bekende wereld, 'n hoe peil sonder weerga ment of Defence assumed direct control of gehandhaaf. Daarna is die Nederlandse kaart- the College. In its turn this arrangement makers deur vakmanne uit ander lande oor- proved unsatisfactory and impermanent. From vleuel. 1964 the institution was known as the Naval College General Botha, but it still trained Ten opsigte van die huidige Nederlandse pro- cadets for the merchant marine. It was clear vinsie Groningen is hierdie ontwikkelingsgang too by this stage that South Africa faced a met 'n groot aantal voortreflike afbeeldings shortage of certificated men for her merchant van outydse kaarte toegelig. Ek sal nie ver- fleet. The outcome was another move, this der op hierdie aspek ingaan nie, behalwe as time to Granger Bay. There, in 1964, con- om my bewondering uit te spreek vir die wy- struction began of the new modern premises se waarop hierdie outydse kaarte deur die of the South African Merchant Navy Academy drukker van eersgenoemde werk gereprodu- General Botha. seer is. Dit geld ook vir die noukeurige wyse waarop agtereenvolgende kaarte, dikwels ver- This book is wholeheartedly recommended. gelykenderwys ontleed is, en waar dit die Well-written and boasting many fine illustra- oorname van sekere aspekte deur navolgers tions, it takes the reader through a half-cen- van die oudste tekenaars van dergelike kaarte tury of fascinating development of great im- betref. Onder hierdie kaarte, soos die "Kleine portance for the development of South Afri- Haubois" bestaan daar 'n aantal wat beslis ca's seagoing tradition. It is concluded with van militer-historiese waarde is omrede die an account of the part played by 'Botha Boys' reeds genoemde kaart die militere verdedi- in World War II. gingswerke van die vestingstad Groningen in - R. J. Bouch 1652 weergee.

Die eerste eintlike kaart vir militere doeleindes van die aangrensende provinsies Groningen, J. J. VREDENBERG-ALlNK: De kaarten van Groningerland. De ontwikkeling van het kaart- Friesland en Drente, bestaande uit tien aan- eensluitende kaartblaaie, is tussen 1851 en beeld van de tegenwoordige provinsie Gro- 1854 deur offisiere van die eertydse Neder- ningen met een lijst van gedrukte kaarten landse Generale Staf verken en op papier ge- ver\laardigd tussen 1545 en 1864, Bakker's plaas terwyl die reeds genoemde blaaie tussen Drukkerij, Uithuizermeeden, 1974. 1860 en 1864 gegraveer is op 'n skaal van Topographische en militaire kaart van het ko- 1:50.000 (steendruk). ningkrijk der Nederlanden vervaardigd door de Op hierdie stel kaarte en hul aanvullings het Officieren van den Generalen Staf, Fibula-Van latere Nederlandse kartograwe hul werk ge- Dishoeck, Bussum, 1973. baseer.

Reeds op kaarte teruggaande tot de Oudheid Tussen 1850 en 1864 is daar, in die kantore was Nederland aangedui, maar op die soge- van die "Topographische Dienst" en in die

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