Tea party photoshoot I had with my daughter just before I cleared out of the #SANavy.

Letter by Sergeant George Smith “Rorke’s Drift, “South Africa “25th March 1879 “Dear Friend, I now take the pleasure of writing these few lines to you, hoping that they will find you and your wife in the enjoyment of the very best of health, as I am happy to say that this leaves me at present, thank God for it. Dear friends, as you can see by this and the newspaper, I am at the seat of war of Zululand. My company that I was in at the time of the great disaster at Isandhlwana, on the 22nd of last January, which was B Company, done our duty well, as the general and all the papers, say was B Company. We were attacked at about three o’clock in the afternoon of the 22nd January, and we kept up the firing until five a.m. The next morning, when the enemy left us we had fourteen men killed, four of our Company, one of A, two of D one of G, and four of the First Battalion, 24th Regiment and two volunteers; and in killed alone 800 to 1,000 of the enemy. But to see our poor men in the way they are cut open, and parts of their bodies cut away, was sometimes fearful. At the camp of Isandhlwana the sight was much worse. The way the Zulus cut our men was fearful. They took of our little band boys and cut them open down the belly and hung them up just the same as the butchers do the sheep at home. But I cannot tell one half the things they have done, so that I must tell you of the reports that are going the rounds of our camp. One is that 200 of us are to be kept to guard the stores here, and the rest of us to guard a place called Dundee, about 30 miles from here, where there is a large coal-mine with a 9 feet seam of coal about three feet from the surface. Others are to garrison Pietermaritzburg and Durban; and we are to again proceed to Cape Town, and after the war is over, we are to go home to England, which I think we shall do to get re-fitted out, for we have lost everything that we had except what we stand in. I shall be very glad when the time comes to get home, for I am sick of the service, and I want to be out of it, as soon as I get home. I dare say you will get all the news about the war in the papers. There are a good many left to mourn for the loss of a loved one in Wales. I think that I have told you all that there is to tell, so must now conclude with my regards to yourself and wife, and to Mr J. Williams, the carpenter; and to Mr and Mrs North, and Mr and Mrs Spencer, and John Williams, of the Cambrian; and Mr and Mrs Evans, Red Lion; and all kinds of friends in Tredegar; and believe me to remain, yours, &c., G. Smith, No. 1,387, Sergt. G. Smith, B Comp, 2-24th Regmt., Rorke’s Drift, S. Africa.”

Today, September 27: “This day in our shipwreck and aeronautical wreck history” 1763: La Fortune, this French Man-O-War wrecked north of the Gouritz River mouth in the Western Cape. In a sinking condition, the La Fortune was put into “Visbaai” near a freshwater spring on the 11th of September. Everything of value was brought ashore and on the 27th the vessel started foundering. Two days later, the already sunken vessel was smashed to pieces in a storm. The 441 that were on board returned to the Cape overland and managed to find passage back to Europe aboard other French vessels. Over the years four cannons have been found in the area and they are believed to have come from the wreck. The nearby “Fransmanshoek” probably derives its name from the French having to land there and it is assumed that a nearby farm derived its name “Kanon” from the cannons that have washed open over the years. 1917: Colonial Empire (pictured below), this steel sailing barque wrecked at Cape Recife in the Eastern Cape. On its way towards entering Algoa Bay, it struck the outer edge of Thunderbolt Reef and the holds started flooding. Attempts were made to get it into Algoa Bay and to run it aground, but just after rounding the Cape, they had to run the vessel aground on a reef instead as it was sinking rapidly. The nearby anchor boat Talana rescued all that were on board and even made several return journeys to fetch personal belongings and supposedly, one of the cats that was rescued adopted the Talana as its new home. There were fears that the wreck would become a shipping hazard, so it was dynamited shortly after. 1957: Frontier 3, this steam powered coaster wrecked at Kidd’s Beach in the Eastern Cape. An overcast night and light drizzle reduced visibility and made navigation difficult. They ran aground at Kidd’s Beach and a rock punctured the hull. After two failed attempts at refloating, they abandoned the vessel and most of it was smashed to pieces on the rocks. Equipment used for salvage was left on the upper parts of the beach at the time and are sometimes blown open by the wind. For example, in 2017, one of the abandoned cars was spotted by a beach walker. 1967: Disa, this steam powered fishing trawler wrecked after a collision with the Lupin at Green Point in Table Bay in the Western Cape.

SAMIL 20