Cabo

Near the commune of Longueval in the Somme départmente of France lies the Delville Wood National Memorial (described by Owen Kinahan elsewhere in this edition of CABO) dedicated to those South Africans who died in the First World War; and part of that memorial is a plaque commemorating some 600 Africans – members of the South African Native Labour Corps – who drowned when the ship they were in, the SS Mendi, sank in the Solent. Alongside the plaque is an elegiac poem, translated from isi-Xhosa and written circa 1930, by Samuel Edward Krune Mqhayi (1875-1945).

(This is the third and last instalment of a history of the renowned public gardens in Claremont, Cape Town.)

The first part of this story (CABO 2018) began with the arrival of Ralph Arderne in Cape Town in 1830 and, in 1845, his purchase of land from the Stellenberg Estate with the dream of “creating a great garden with trees and shrubs from all over the world”. His son, Henry, continued the legacy until 1914. Then in 1927 the estate was bought by the Cape Town City Council, primarily to preserve its unique 82-year-old tree and shrub collection, but also in order to create a district park.

The second part of the story (CABO 2019) concerned this Council-owned garden and park in the years from 1927 to 1945, under the magnificent curatorship of A M J Scheltens. This instalment ended on a high note in the history of the gardens, with the Civic Garden Party at which 5,000 people welcomed the returning Field-Marshall “Jannie” Smuts from the Second World War.

After the First World War surplus British aircraft stocks were donated to several countries, including South Africa. The 113 aircraft which were received in September 1919 became known as the “Imperial Gift” and consisted of DH-9, Avro 504, SE. 5a and DH-4 types. The influx of aircraft prompted the appointment of Lt Col Sir Pierre van Ryneveld, a veteran of the First World War, as Director Air Services from 1 February 1920, with instructions to establish an Air Force for the Union. This appointment, and this date, are considered to mark the beginning of the South African Air Force, making it the second-oldest air force in the Commonwealth.