1 Bure n B a st ion : Offic e2 Catzen ellenbogen Bastion : German South West Atrica

and German East Africa Campaig ns3 Nassau Bastion : Del ville Wood4 Oranje Bastion : Second World War5 Leerdam Bastio n: Un it~d Nation s and info rmatio n

cen tre6 Entrance7 Ga llery : German South West Africa and Germa n East

Africa ca mpaigns8 Gallery: Delville Wood9 Gallery : First World Wa r

10 Gallery; Second Worl d War and Korea n War

1 Bastion de Buren: Bureau2 Bastion Catzen e llenbogen ; Campagnes d e l'Est et d u

Sud-Ouest Africa ins allemands3 Bastion de Na ssau : Bol s d e Del ville4 Bastion d e Ora ng e: Deu xlerne Gu erre Mo nd ia le5 Bastion de Leerdam : Or ganisat ion d es Nat ion s Unies et

ren seig nem en ts6 Entree7 Gal er ie d es campagnes d e I'Est et du Sud-Ouest

Africains allemans8 Galeri e du boi s d e De lvill e9 Galer ie d e la Prem iere Gu err e Mondiale

10 Galeri e d e la Deuxiern e Gu erre Mond ia ie et d e laGu erre d e Coree

1 Bastion Buren: Kantoor2 Bastion Catzen ellenbogen : Duits-Suid wes-Afrika- e n

Duits Oos-Afrika -veldtog3 Basti o n Na ssau: Delvillebos4 Bastio n Oranje: Tweede Wereld oor log5 Bastion Lee rdam: Verenigde Na sies en

inligtingsentrum6 Ingang7 Galery: Duits-Suidwes- Afrik a- en DUits-Oos-Afrika -veld tog8 Galery: Delvilleb os9 Galery: Eerste Wereldoorlog

10 Galery: Tweede Werel doorlog en Koreaanse Oorlog

Compiled by the SA Nat ional Museum of MilitaryHistory in conjunction with the SA Defence Force

Ce depliant a ete elabore par le Musee Nationald 'histoire militaire d 'Afrique du Sud en collaboration

avec le ministere Sud-Africain de la Defence

Saamgestel deur die SA Nationale Museum virKrygsgeskiedenis in samewerking met die

SA Weermag

This lovely museum has been created toproclaim the full significance of South Africa 'sNational War Memorial, here at Delville Wood.

It recalls the sacrifice of 25000 South Africanvolunteers, men and women of all races andcreeds, who laid down their lives in two worldwars and in Korea.

Hierdie pragfige museum is opgerig omvolle betekenis te gee aan d ie Suid-AfrikaanseNasionale Oorloggedenkteken by Delvillebos.

Dit roep in herinnering die opoffering van die25000 Suid-Afrikaanse vrywilligers, manne envroue van alle rasse en gelowe, wat die lewegelaat het gedurende die twee wereldoorloe enin Korea.

Ce Musee est le svrnbole du sacrifice et ducourage des soldats sud-africains, figure par lemonument cornmernorottt.

II est dedie a 25000 volontaires, hommes etfemmes de toutes races, morts en terre troncotseet sur les autres fronts pendant les deux guerresmondiales et en Coree,

MUSEUM DESIGNThe design of the museum isbased on the Castle of GoodHope in Cape Town, the firstpermanent forti cation in SouthAfrica. Its pentagonal shape formspart of the South African DefenceForce emblem .The five bastions of the museumbear the names of theircounterparts in the Castle in CapeTown: Buren, Catzenellenbogen,Nassau, Oranje and Leerdam.Their names are derived from thetitles of the Dutch Stadthouder, thePrince of Orange.The architecture of the butldlnqharmonises with the olderstructures on site , the South AfricanNational War Memorial and theCross of Consecration .The letter, occupying a centralposition in the complex, issheltered by the museum and isvisible through the glass panelsfrom all angles within .

CONCEPTION DU MUSEELe musee a ete concu d'opres les plans duchateau de Bonne-Esperonce sltue au Cap, et futla premiere fortification edifiee en Afrique duSud. De forme pentagonale, il fait partieintegrante de l'ernbleme des forces de delensesudafricaines.Les cinq bastions du muses portent les rnernesnoms que ceux du chateau du Cap: Buren,Catzenellenbogen, Nassau, Oranje et Leerdam,derives des titres du Stadthouder, le princed 'Orange.L'architecture de I'edifice s'harmoniseparfaitement avec les aulres monuments erigessur le site tels que le monument cornrnernorottt etla Croix de la Consecration. Occupant uneposition centra le, celle-ci est obrltee par lernusee a l'Interleur duquel elle peut etre vue dequelqu' angle que ce soit a travers les panneauxde verre.

MUSEUMONTWERPDie ontwerp van die museumgebou is gebaseerop die, van die Kasteel de Goede Hoop inKaapstad, die eerste permanente fortifikasie watin Suid-Afrika opgerig is. Om hierdie rede komdie kasteelontwerp ook voor in die embleem vandie Suid-Afrikaanse Weermag.

Vyf bastions vorm die basiese ontwerp van diemuseumgebou. Soos die van die Kaapse vesting,wat hulle name aan die hooftitels van dieNederlandse Stadthouder, die Prins van Oranje,ontleen het , is die bastions van die museumbekend as Buren , Catzenellenbogen, Nassau,Oranje en Leerdam.

Die argitektuur van die gebou vorm 'nharmoniese geheel met die ander konstruksiesop die terrein, onder meer die NasionaleOorlogsgedenkteken en die Wyd ingskruis.

Laasgenoemde, wat 'n sentrale plek in diemuseumkompleks inneem, word deur diemuseumgebou ornsluit en beskerm . Dit isdeurentyd deur die glaspanele sigbaar.

Devil's Wood

"No battlef ield on 0 11 the Western Front was more b itterlycontested than was 'Devil's Wood ', where fight ing,p ra ct ica lly uninterrup ted a nd intense, went on for sixconsec utive weeks from mid July till Aug ust 26 of 1916.It was in the first week of the struggle tha t the SouthAfrican forces won their imperi sha b le fame - grimlyhanging on against overwhelm ing oddsa nd repuls ingcounte r-atta cks by troops five an d six times the irnum ber. "(The Times, London , 1917)

The Bottle of the Somme marked 0 turning point inwarfare. Beforehand caval ry wa sthe supreme wea pon,aft erwards the tan k and a ircraft reigned. Caval ry wa sused at the beginn ing of the Delvill e Wood fig ht andtanks at the conc lusion in September 1916. For 0 briefspell it was the war of the infa nfrym an a lone. At DelvilleWoo d the 1stSouth African Infa ntry Brigade was to showwhat that me ant. Their feat con never be surpassed .

Delville Wood is commemorated in South Africa by o na nnual serv ic e. Yet ironic a lly no South African mil itar yun it carries it os 0 bottle honour on 0 reg ime ntal colour.In addition, though it isgenerally known osthe blood iestbottle eve r fought by South Africans, very little is knownof the men who were there.

On 14 July , 121 officers a nd 3 052 other ranks com pr isedthe 1stSouth African Infantry Brigade, Six days later Co lEdward Tha ckeray marched out with two woun dedoffic ers a nd 140 oth er ra nks. Of these survivors on eofficer and 59 men of the light trench mortar battery hodjoi ned os reinforcem ents two days ea rlie r.

The following ar e the known g roves of Delv ille Woodfata lit ies. . .

Cemet ry Total tst SAl 2nd SAl 3rd SAl 4th SAl

Fler s 2 1 1 - -

Carnoy 1 1 - - -Caterp ill a r Valey 1 - - - 1

Del ville Woo d 81 27 15 24 15(Note 4)

High Wood 6 - 1 5 -

La Ne uvelle. Corb ie 19 9 2 6 2

Ovillers 2 - - 1 1

8ulle de War len court 1 - - - 1

113 38 19 38 20

Insign ia of the 9th Scottish Division , the 1st SA InfantryBrigade and Battalions

The brig ade comprised fo ur batta lions. The 1stBattal ion was from the Cap e Prov ince and wascom manded by Lt-Co l Frederick Dawso n; the 2ndtrom Na tal and the OFS under l.t-Col William Ta nner;th e 3rd from the Transvaal and Rhodesia un der Lt­Col Edwa rd Tha ckeray, a nd the 4th embod ie de lements of the various SA Scottish un its un der Lt-Co lFrank Jones, 05 0 .

Compiled by the SA National Museum of MilitaryHistory in conjunction with the SA Defence Force

This lovel y museum has b ee n c reated toprocla im the full signif icanc;:e of South Africa 'sNa tio nal Wa r Memorial , here a t De lv il le Wood. Itrec al ls the sacrifice of 25000 South Afr icanvolunteers , men and women of all races and creeds,w ho lai d down th e ir lives in two world wars and inKorea .

11 commemorates the rea d in ess of th e p eop le ofSouth Africa to take up arms in d efence of the valuesof the Western Wo rld; just a s it re m ind s them ev ennow of the need to reded ic ate th e mse lves to thoseva lu es.

s

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The Battle of Delville Wood14 - 20 July 191&

®Do-Ivillf',.."""('....,.,..1 .. 1')'

In the early hours of Friday 14 July, Gen Furselaunched an attack with the 26th and 27th Brigadeson Longueval wh ich was found to be heavilydefended with strongpoints, machine-gun posts, andtunnels. The 1st SAl under Dawson was sent to theirassistance. By sundown the southern ha lf of theVillage had been taken. That night the brigadenumbered 121 o.flicers and 3032 men.At 6 a .m. the following morning the remainder of thebrigade, with the exception of two companies of the4th SAl, entered Delville Wood.

Delville Wood is slightly lessthan a mile square andis cr iss-crossed by open avenues, or 'rides'. Thewoodis b isected from east to west by Princess Street. Therides to the north of Princess Street are named afterLondon streetsand those to the south afte r Edinburghstreets (of wh ich one is, of course, Princess Streetitself).

Tanner established his headquar­ters at the corner of Princess andBuc hana n Streets.On 15 July , at 10 a .m., two comp­anies of the 1stBatta lion attackedthe northwestern corne r unsucces­sful ly. Priva te Monnle Fau lds wa sto win the Victoria Cross du ringthis attack. Heavy shel ling of thewood, especially of the pe rimeter,then began. The attack wasrepeated early on the 17th butagain fa iled.Lukin then visited the wood andfound the South Africans to beexhausted . He reported hisobservation to Furse who to ld himthotthe wood was to be held 'a ta ll costs'. Were they to g ive way,the flank of the British offensivewould be enf iladed" 'by theenemy.

The enemy artillery bombardment inc reased duringthe day, reac hing an estimated rate of 400 shells aminute that night. Ta nner was wounded in the thighat 7 pm and was evac uated . Command in the woodthe n passed to Thackeray .On the 18th a bombardment began at 8 a .m. whichwas to last for seven-and-a-half hours resulting in theobliteration of the defences and the wood'sreduction to a shambles of churned earth andspl inters. At 3.30 pm wa ves of fresh Germa n troopscommenced an assau lt on the wood.In the east the 3rd Batta lion wa s isola ted a nd mostof the survivorswere taken prisoner. In the north , the2nd part of the 1st Reg iment were a lmosta nnihila ted. Thackera y ra llied the survivors who fellback on his Heodquorters a nd with the ir assistancehe endeavoured to ho ld the south -western corner ofthe wood against repea :ed Germa n assau lts duringthe fol low ing two days.

At 6 pm on 20 July, elementsof the 3rd Division final lyrelieved the bone-weary South Africans. Thackerayled two woun ded officers and 140 men ou t of thewood . The foll ow ing day the remnants of thebr igade, five officersand 750 men, paraded beforeLukin who took the salute with his head bared andtears running down his cheeks.The saga of Delville Wood will be remembered whenother battles have long been forgotten.

NotesDelville Wood is in the Somme area of France.Details of South African graves ore to be found in

the cemetery registers compiled by theCommonwealth War Groves Commision.

The cemetery reg ister at Delville Wood records151 South African groves. Of these 70 ore ofunknown soldiers.

The names of 011 the untraced South African deadore commemora ted on the Menin Gate (Ypres)andThiepval (Somme) Memorials.