ISSN: 221-9854 DECEMBER 2020 the Christmas Card
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ISSN: 221-9854 DECEMBER 2020 The Christmas Card used by the United Kingdom and Europe Branch of the South African Legion during December 2020. 1 INDEX Page FROM THE EDITORS DESK 3 ROYAL COMMONWEALTH EX-SERVICES LEAGUE 4 NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS 4 Message from the National President 5 National Office Bearers 6 Port Folio Reports 6 BRANCH NEWS 7 Bloemfontein 7 Durban 7 Kagiso 9 Port Elizabeth 12 COMMEMORATIONS 12 Veteran’s Day Durban 12 Remembrance Day 12 Prince Alfred’s Guard Veteran Association 19 Sidi Rezegh 19 OTHER STORIES 19 Legionnaire Brian Klopper 19 Decommissioning of SAS Galeshewe 23 Why there are Chelsea Pensioners Buried at Brookwood? 23 OBITUARIES 26 Poppy Muriel – B.E.S.L. Court, Durban 30 2 FROM THE EDITORS DESK Finally, we can look back at the year 2020. Sadly, still very much amidst one of the worst pandemics in the history of humanity. Pandemics are not new to humanity as it can be traced back to the Old Testament of the Bible, it remains however devastating. COVID-19 is no exception and we start 2021 all aware that the country is in a second wave. We had to adapt to a new “normal” with the wearing of a mask whenever we ventured into the public domain. At every shop, they took your temperature and sanitised your hands while at some you had to record your contact details. Some suddenly had to do with less than what we had previously. Suddenly electronic media became much more important than before. During the strict lockdown, most relied on the electronic media, cellular phone, to stay in touch with family and friends, in most instances using “WattsApp” and the video facility. It also affected the day-to-day activities of the Legion. Branches could not hold “normal” meetings while several annual commemoration services were cancelled or scaled-down. Many branches had to delay their Annual General Meetings until most of the restrictions were lifted which allowed for “normal” meetings to take place. The Legion was, however, privileged to have taken part in the virtual “104th Delville Wood Memorial Service” which the Delville Wood Memorial Trust organised. So what does 2021 hold for us? It is an important year for the South African Legion, as it is the year in which we celebrate the centenary. Sadly, because of the pandemic, it had to be postponed to October, after the centenary celebrations of the Royal Commonwealth Ex-services League, which takes place in September. It is also an important year for some branches who will also celebrate their centenary, which will, unfortunately, will also have to wait till after the Legion’s congress in October. On a personal note, this is the 21st edition of the Springbok as editor. The first edition of which I was the editor was the December 2014 edition. Before December 2014, I help compile the December 2013 and June 2014 editions. There was also the special Delville Wood 100 edition in 2016. CENTENARY EDITION The South African Legion will celebrate its centenary during 2021 with a congress, the 87th, in Cape Town during October. A special centenary edition is planned for October 2021, following the congress. ALL branches are requested to scan their history for interesting and important events. More details will be promulgated early in 2021. The intention is to see if we can produce a Centenary Edition of Springbok with 100 pages to reflect the 100 years of the South African Legion. To achieve this, every branch will have to be fully committed and your cooperation is of paramount importance. 3 ROYAL COMMONWEALTH EX-SERVICES LEAGUE From the Secretariat The Secretariat of the Royal Commonwealth Ex-services League (RCEL) has announced that Centenary Congress will take place in London, the United Kingdom over the period 25 to 30 September 2021. Message from the Deputy Grand President 16 December 2020 Dear Member Organizations, Two months into my new role as your Deputy Grand President, and as we enter a holiday season for many of our Member Organisations, I would like to take this opportunity to wish all of you a happy, peaceful and, most poignantly this year, a healthy 2021 with friends and family. At this end of a challenging year may I take the opportunity to highlight three points. First, a huge thank you. This has been a challenging year for all of us. We have all been touched, to a greater or lesser degree, as countries and individually by the coronavirus global pandemic. What has been most impressive to me in my first few months is just how the League has stuck together in these hard times to support those we care about most, our veterans and widows. I have nothing but praise and admiration for your immense efforts to make sure our grants and support have where-ever possible, got through to them. They have needed our help more than ever this year, and you have gone that extra mile to make sure it does. So, on their behalf, can I say “thank you”. This has been a truly whole of League effort and I am delighted to report that the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office – who fund 78% of our grants – has just awarded us, collectively, the top grade for the effectiveness and efficiency of our veteran’s programme. A remarkable achievement which few achieve normally, fewer still in 2020 with the coronavirus restrictions in place. Second, I must pay tribute to General The Lord Richards of Herstmonceux for his truly remarkable contribution to the League, veterans, widows and Member Organisations during his time as Deputy Grand President. I have a hard act to follow – that is one of those delightful British understatements – but I am delighted that Lord Richards has agreed to remain our Grand President. I know he will continue to give us his full and considerable support as we enter our Centenary Year. And third, of course, to 2021, which will be a seminal year for us when we in tandem commemorate and celebrate our 100 years of great charitable work and look forward to what the future of the League might be. Over the next 8 months, before the Conference in London - sadly moved from South Africa due to many uncertainties - we will begin to discuss with you what you feel should be the future of this remarkable League so that we can gain consensus at the Conference on that future and what it 4 might mean for you as individual Member Organisations. For now, I will just reflect that it is extraordinary that the ‘League’, the element that has not changed in our name since 1921, has endured. Our Founders, Field Marshal Earl Haig and Prime Minister of The Union of South Africa the Rt Hon JC Smuts, supported the title ‘League’ as they felt it had special meaning, recognising even then that many non-military supporters and volunteers would become the bedrock of the organisation. How right they were. Many Member Organisations, of course, have a significant proportion of former military personnel as supporters, staff and caseworkers but they are no longer serving and for so many being a part of a global League is important. It is those in the many countries across the world who have evolved, adapted and prevailed to ensure we reach our centenary milestone in such good shape. The Committee we have set up to run the Conference will help us ensure we mark that centenary milestone appropriately; the Programme is looking exciting, I have to say. So in finishing, we have surpassed our expectations in the last 10 months tackling a global crisis with great determination and empathy for our veterans and widows. Great teams emerge stronger from crisis and everything I see and hear tells me have done just that. As I say this has been a truly whole of League effort, from bottom to top. On behalf of everyone in the organisation, and on behalf of our Patron who I know continues to hold us in fond regard, can I thank you all very much. With good fortune, I look forward to getting to know you all over the coming year and to welcome you to London in September 2021 for our Centenary Conference. Major General Mitch Mitchell CB MBE Deputy Grand President NATIONAL HEADQUARTERS MESSAGE FROM THE NATIONAL PRESIDENT OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN LEGION, LEGIONNAIRE BRIAN KLOPPER Dear Legionnaires, The Legion is another year older and we eagerly anticipate the arrival of next year, when we reach the signal milestone of 100 years. Even with this fine prospect on the horizon, we look back on a year that most, if not all of us, would be happy to consign to “File 13” of our lives. We feel this way because 2020 has conspired to prevent us from maximising several of our raisons d’etre in the ways we would most like to have done. We were deprived of the opportunities to host and participate in parades until late in the year. Many of our Branches did not co-ordinate an annual Poppy Appeal because of Covid-19 restrictions or health 5 concerns for members with co-morbidities. Social functions, during which good comradeship is so readily apparent, had to be cancelled. All of this means that we sacrificed so much of the good “craic” that we would otherwise have enjoyed whilst honouring sacrifice and recognising service; two of our priorities. How wonderful it would have been to discharge these labours of love in the normal way! Sadly, the very word “normal” was reduced to an oxymoron by the vagaries of Covid-19.