Remembrance Day Service Touched Hearts
Despite this year’s brilliant, sunny weather, the annual Remembrance Day service in Hermanus was a solemn, reflective event as it should be, but the moment that really touched onlookers deeply was when the 92 year old George Dawson shuffled forward together with his son and his walking aid to place a rose at the foot of the monument.
Now residing in Onrus, this grey-bearded Scotsman was captured on 24 September 1940 during the Battle of Dakar and interned for more than two years by the French Vichy forces in West Africa. He was the radio operator/rear gunner on a Fairley Swordfish Mk 1 biplane, which was part of 810 Naval Air Squadron of the Royal Navy. Of the crew of three, he was the sole survivor when it was shot down by shore batteries during an approach to attack warships in Dakar harbour. Mr Dawson was freed in 1942 and relocated to South Africa, where after the war he met and married Hettie Krige from Paarl. They brought up their four sons in Cape Town and retired to the home they built in Onrus.
Mr Harvey Saayman, the Old Bill of the Seagull Shellhole, the local unit of the Memorable Order of the Tin Hats who organised the ceremony, also read an unsigned note which had been left with a vase of poppies at the cenotaph the previous day. The names of “our precious young men who gave their lives for their country” were mentioned in the note and in closing it stated that they are “loved and remembered”.
Fifteen organisations and twenty-odd members of the public participated in the wreath-laying ceremony, viz the Overstrand Mayor, Cllr Nicolette Botha-Guthrie, the South African Police, represented by Mr Gordon vd Westhuizen, the Junior Mayor of Hermanus, Col Patrick McLachlan of the Cape Town Highlanders, head boys and girls from Hermanus High School, the Curro Private School, Hawston Primary School, Hermanus Primary School, Mr John van Zyl of the Rhodesian light Infantry Association, Mr Blair Gibson of the Flame Lily Foundation, the NSRI, Hermanus Old Boys and the Hermanus Sea Scouts.
This was preceded by the lowering of the National flag under the woeful sounds of a sole bugler playing The Last Post and the observation of two minutes of silence at 11:00, the exact hour on which the First World War was ended on 11 November 1918 – one minute for those who died and one minute for those who survived.
In her address Mayor Botha-Guthrie said she was proud of the War Memorial with its unique qualities that was built at the Old Harbour under instruction of Sir William Hoy, but that it gained so much more meaning for her when young Sea Scout Dee-Jay Benzien pointed out to her last year that his great uncle’s name appears on the role of honour.
“This is what today is about: that we must not forget those who laid down their lives in active service for our country and our nation and that we must think about them with pride because that is what comforts and consoles their relatives and their comrades who stayed behind.”
“Although such memories can be bitter, as may be the case with the family of the young police officer R Swart who was brutally killed when he fell into the hands of rebels while on detached duty in the erstwhile Rhodesia, ceremonies like this bring acceptance and reconciliation.”
“This service and monument is for all communities in our area. There is, however, still a challenge to work towards reconciliation between the different forces who opposed each other in the struggle for democracy. I would like to give this task locally to the MOTH’s and if there is a need to put more names onto this monument, please come forward.”
“Too much blood was spilled in our beloved land between opposing groups, ideas and values, but in 1994 we all decided with our participation in the first democratic election, to stop violent conflict and to work together. We have all paid our dues and we are all part of this new nation. Let us now really take hands and build this land into the best it can be!”
“Diversity is our young new nation’s strength. With our wide variety of cultures and outlooks on life we will be able to find the solution to any problem. No challenge will be too much for us. But do not underestimate the importance of standing together. Unity as the South African nation will guarantee us success in the battles confronting us.”
She thanked all who were involved in arranging the event, and said that she is especially proud of Regiment Westelike Provincie, who, as a citizen force unit, is doing its share in protecting our borders and keeping peace on the continent.
Source: Whale Coast Media