The City of Cape Town’s Mayor, Geordin Hill-Lewis, attended a Remembrance Day service at the Cenotaph in the Cape Town CBD on 13 November 2022, to honour soldiers who died in the line of duty, a day which has been observed in all Commonwealth member states since the end of the First World War.
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Back then, the South African army consisted of only 5 300 regulars, with an additional 15 000 soldiers in the Active Citizen Force, and a reservist corps that provided training to volunteers during peacetime. Thousands of young men volunteered to join the army, many of whom were teenagers.
Mayor Hill-Lewis reflected on what it must have been like for the young men of the country to join the army, “I’m not sure any of us can imagine what it must have been like – without social media and the internet, without cellphones and video calling, in a world that was much more mysterious and unknowable – for 18-year-old men to board ships in Cape Town harbour to sail to North Africa and Europe to fight Nazis and fascists, knowing there was a good chance they would not return.”
“Over the past few days, I have really tried to imagine what it must have been like boarding a ship in Cape Town harbour as a mere boy, not sure if I was ever going to come back and see this mountain again. I am not sure we will ever again know bravery on such a scale, and I pray that we won’t have to.”
“Those men — and we have three of them with us today, which I will say more about later — were to witness the most brutal excesses of humanity, man’s terrifying capacity for evil.”
Mayor Hill-Lewis said, “Fortunately for us, some of these young men did return. And when they did, some of them had a vision to create a facility that would alleviate the suffering they witnessed on the battlefields of Europe and North Africa.”
“They decided to create a children’s hospital that would look after children who were ill and infirm. Doing so, they felt, would be a meaningful way to honour those of their comrades who did not return. They donated portions of their salaries to the project. Their vision was made manifest in what we see today – a world-class childrens’ hospital which services more than 250 000 children each year, most of whom are from disadvantaged backgrounds.”
The Red Cross Children’s Hospital in Rondebosch was opened in 1956 as a memorial to soldiers who lost their lives in the Second World War.
“Patients come from all parts of South Africa and even from other African countries. Today, Red Cross is a cornerstone of paediatric healthcare on the African continent. The memory of fallen heroes is further honoured by the exceptional research that is conducted at this hospital, the world-class training in paediatric clinical disciplines, as well as active outreach and support programmes at other health facilities.”
“What stands out for me about the Red Cross story is what it shows about the spirit and values of the young men who stand at its centre.”
The mayor took special note to honour three extraordinary men who attended the event. Oom William van Wyk is the only surviving member of the South African Cape Corps. At 99 years old, he is also the oldest surviving World War II veteran in the country.
Mr Jackson Human is the last veteran still alive from the Indian Malay Corps and the second oldest veteran in South Africa at 98 years old. He served in a transportation unit in North Africa.
And Mr Walter Brewis, who is 97 years old. Mr Brewis joined the South African Army in June 1944 as a 19-year-old lad.
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Picture: City of Cape Town / Facebook