South Africa’s sacrifice at Delville Wood remembered

Diplomats, members of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) and military veterans have paid tribute to the courage and sacrifice of the 1st South African Infantry Brigade at Delville Wood during the First World War.

Speaking at the memorial service commemorating the 110th anniversary of the Battle of Delville Wood held at the Thaba Tshwane New Military Cemetery, Legionnaire Charles Ross, noted that Delville Wood was one of the most important battles that south Africa ever participated in.

He said: “South Africans paid a supreme sacrifice, so it is important that we don’t ever forget what happened at Delville Wood. The contribution that the South Africans made to the overall Battle of the Somme cannot be negated.”

But Europe was not the only theatre where South African forces fought. Ross noted South Africans also fought in East Africa, North Africa, German South West Africa and in the Middle East. He drew attention to another First World War memorial service in September to mark the Battle of Square Hill in Palestine in 1918. This has been considered pivotal for the1st Battalion Cape Corps which was composed of Coloured volunteers.

Chairperson of the Pretoria Memorial Services Council, Marina Valentine, said Delville Wood was the site of the first major engagement of the South African Infantry Brigade in July 1916. What had once been a dense wood, had been reduced by intense fighting to a desolated wasteland covered with shell holes, broken trees and the remains of trenches.

On 15 July 1916, the Brigade under General Henry Lukin was ordered to take, clear and hold Delville Wood, north-east of the village of Longueval in northern France, at all costs. While capturing the wood took only one day, it was considerably more difficult to hold it. The brigade was finally relieved on the 20th of July – after six days and five nights – of ferocious fighting. Just over 700 soldiers remained of the more than three-thousand men – the rest had either been killed or wounded. The bodies of many soldiers were either never recovered or could not be identified.

After the war, amid popular sentiments in Commonwealth countries to commemorate their fallen soldiers, the South African military attaché in London travelled to France and Belgium. Visiting the Somme which had been devastated by the fighting, he was struck by the atmosphere of Delville Wood. In 1920 the South African Government purchased Delville Wood. The memorial on the site was designed by Sir Herbert Baker. The Delville Wood Trust supports the memorial and museum.

President Cyril Ramaphosa, on an official visit to France, attended the ceremony at the Memorial in Longueval. Valentine noted that the SANDF’s Lieutenant Colonel Kelubogile Thlakanye, who had long supported their services at Thaba Tshwane, had been chosen to go to France to attend that event.

In tribute to the fallen soldiers, wreaths were laid on behalf of the City of Tshwane, the chiefs of the SANDF, the Air Force and Military Health Services as well as by the military attaches from Angola, Ethiopia, Japan, France and America.

And while dogs are always popular, Wolfie, with his handler, Roche Vermaak, paid their own special tribute to the four-legged – and two-legged — war veterans. Valentine noted that this marked Wolfie’s 50th commemoration service – a significant achievement as he only celebrated his third birthday on the 4th of July.