Young men shelled into obliteration

The battle at Delville Wood will always be remembered

Delville Wood may be a long way away and the battle a long time ago. But next month, several KwaZulu-Natalians plan to honour the centenary of the horrific World War 1 battle named after the small French forest that was obliterated after being pounded by enemy shells at a rate of 400 a minute.

A total of 3 153 South African soldiers went in to occupy the forest in an offensive against their German enemy. Only 780 made the roll call after they came out.

Some of those honouring Delville Wood will attend an official ceremony at the memorial in France on July 12, while others will remember the battle at local cenotaphs. The events will be on various dates next month.

Among those heading overseas will be descendants and relatives of the fallen.

One such person is Pietermaritzburg lawyer Nigel Tatham who lost two great uncles in World War 1, one – Errol Tatham -- at Delville Wood.

“He was never confirmed dead. My greatgrandfather travelled across to investigate and establish what had happened. It was confirmed he had been at Delville Wood. He was probably mutilated and never identified.”

Schools will be playing a significant role in honouring those at Delville Wood.

Tatham will join a group from his old school, Michaelhouse, which lost 43 past pupils and staff.

Representing Hilton College will be pupil William Hoole who will travel there with his father, Dominic.

Old boy Tony Sturgeon, great nephew of Hilton old boy, Private Norman Sturgeon, also killed, will be there.

Sturgeon’s grandfather, also a Hiltonian, survived, as did another, Lieutenant-Colonel William Tanner who led the South African Brigade into battle and was injured.

A Maritzburg College tour of 10 adults and 32 boys will pay special attention to the grave of old boy Lance Corporal Ernest Brockwell.

He was one of nine the school lost in the battle, according to history teacher Matthew Marwick.

Brockwell, who came from Eshowe, had played for College’s first rugby team.

“We got the letters he wrote to Zululand,” said Marwick. It will be quite emotional to pay homage to someone we have got to know something about,” said Marwick.

Durban High School old boy Bruce Jenkins will represent the school.

Back home, Pietermaritzburg councillor Dave Ryder and his sister Lyn Bushell, will be guests of honour at a ceremony in the city’s Garden of Remembrance, site of the “weeping cross” on July 17.

It is made with wood from trees at Delville Wood and around this time of year emits resin considered a symbol of weeping for the dead and wounded.

Ryder and Bushell lost their grandfather. “My father never liked to talk about it,” said Ryder. “Maybe it was too painful. Maybe he didn’t know enough. I feel sorrow I never got to know my grandfather. Obviously it all had a huge impact on my dad.”

A similar ceremony is scheduled for Durban’s cenotaph in Dorothy Nyembe (Gardiner) Street on July 10 when a son and two grand-daughters of people who fell will be present, said Johan Kruger of the local chapter of the South African Legion.

In Dundee, a combined Moth, Tourism Dundee and Talana Museum initiative involved a wreath laying ceremony on July 17. Nine men from the area died.

“For the first time this year we will have a dog and a horse in the parade for the wreath laying to remember the animals which also suffered and died in warfare,” said curator Pam McFadden.

“Descendants of men listed on the memorial, who still live in the area, are all invited to lay wreaths.

“At the opening of the war memorial on August 25, 1923, 70 wreaths were laid, one of which was dropped from the air. We are arranging to repeat that this year.”

She said the event will remember the men of Dundee and district “who died in all theatres of war, particularly the Great War 1914-1918”.

In Durban, the South African National Society is to present an exhibition with the KwaMuhle Museum from July 13. Organiser Hardy Wilson, is a former DHS parent. “I have linked 12 old boys who died to the exhibition.”

Wilson said it would also form part of the school’s 150th anniversary celebrations and run until the end of the centenary of the war.

At Glenwood and Hilton College, pupils will attend gatherings aimed at telling the story of Delville Wood from an education perspective. Glenwood, which lost four old boys, will hold a memorial service on July 21.