Waiter, There’s a Cannonball in My Soup!
Text: Marion Whitehead. Article from the January 2012 issue of Getaway Magazine.
The small False Bay holiday town of Muizenberg, where residents are possessive about ‘their’ whales, is a peaceful spot outside the bustle of Cape Town. But an almost forgotten skirmish offshore is the reason we speak English today, and not French.
Early morning and the surfers are usually first on the beach at Muizenberg, sharing it with squawking gulls and the occasional pair of African black oystercatchers checking out the tidal pools for tasty morsels. Then come the joggers and dog walkers, followed by swimmers wading out through the breakers at this gently sloping strand on the northwestern shore of False Bay.
But Surfers’ Corner once saw action of a different kind: British battleships sailed in to challenge the Dutch defenders guarding the narrow, strategic route from Simon’s Town harbour to Cape Town in 1795. The home force of 1 000 had just two cannons mounted in a small fortification on the hillside above Muizenberg. At stake was the Cape of Good Hope, crown jewel on the spice route to the Far East.
Sitting in the Casa Labia Cafe on Main Road, tucking into a bowl of soup, I found it hard to imagine I’d most certainly have been in the line of fire a few hundred years previously. The ornate, Venetian-style mini palace is almost directly below the remains of the earthern fortification, now overgrown with grass. One of the 800 cannonballs fired by the four British warships’ 80 big guns offshore would have made quite a dent in the antipasta platter of marinated aubergines, caponata and cheeses I fancied for lunch.
Of course, Casa Labia wasn’t built until 1930, but the home of the first Italian ambassador to South Africa would have offered a front-row seat to the battle, had it existed then. You could have watched the supporting column of British soldiers marching from Simon’s Town along the same coastal route which we congest with traffic today.
I hooked up with a tour group led by Chris Taylor to the Muizenberg Open-Air Museum. He’s the curator and an enthusiastic military history buff with a gift for making the past come alive that kept everyone entertained as he sketched the background to the battle.
Cover for the British troops was provided by two small sloops with light cannons mounted on them, he said, pointing beyond a couple of frolicking whales towards Simon’s Town. ‘The Dutch didn’t expect the attack from the warships at sea, so their two 24-pound cannons mounted here were trained on the road. It was a bad mistake.
‘The British warships anchored over there and kept up a fusillade for half an hour, reloading every three minutes,’ said Chris, gesturing to where surfers were waiting for a wave.
‘They fired about 800 cannon balls – there are still some buried here on the mountainside. Fortunately they’re solid metal, not explosive,’ he added with a smile.
Miraculously, none of the Dutch defenders were injured. They hastily trained their 24-pounders seaward and fired. A lucky shot hit a British cannon on board HMS America, killing five crewmen.
Chris told us trouble had been brewing ever since a British advance guard of nine heavily armed vessels had arrived in Simon’s Town. For two months, they had anchored there, taking on provisions and sheltering from winter storms – far from the big guns defending Table Bay and the Castle of Good Hope. But it was a sly, delaying tactic.
‘The Cape was in the hands of the Dutch, operating as a refreshment station for the merchant fleet of the Dutch East India Company on their way to the spice-rich Far East,’ explained Chris. As far as the Dutch commander knew, Holland and Britain were allies in a European war against France, so there was no reason not to welcome British warships at the Cape.
But unknown to Cape Commissioner-General Abraham Sluysken, Holland had been overrun by the French, which meant all Dutch colonies now belonged to France, including the Cape of Good Hope.
French possession would have spelled the end of Britain’s access to the East, so they decided to capture it first. Exploiting the lack of communications, British commander Admiral George Elphinstone conveniently neglected to mention that Holland and Britain were now on opposing sides, so the Dutch continued tolerating them until they attacked.
However, the Battle of Muizenberg was an unequal one and it was easy to sympathise with the Dutch soldiers who spiked their two cannons and beat a hasty retreat across Zandvlei to Retreat, beyond range of the British guns.
I realised that patrons at Knead, a favourite eatery at Surfers’ Corner, would have had a great view of the retreat, although a more unwarlike place would be hard to find. The laid-back tones of hip surfer muso Jack Johnson drifts out on the sound system as patrons wolf down their famous artisan bread and crisp pastries.
Back then, the soldiers could have done with an almond croissant or two, but had no such luxuries. They couldn’t have envisaged Muizenberg would become South Africa’s Riviera, complete with brightly painted changing booths on the beach and mining magnates vying for the best properties on Millionaires’ Row in its heyday. Or that today’s Pavilion, surrounded by a miniature golf course, swimming pools, a jungle gym and a snaking water slide, would leave generations of youngsters with treasured holiday memories.
The soldiers subsisted on meagre rations while they continued skirmishing for the next couple of months, with the Dutch forces growing weaker as unpaid burghers insisted on going home to their farms to deal with trouble on the home front. Disgruntled German mercenaries who hadn’t been paid switched sides when the British offered them ready cash.
‘The Dutch had a rag-tag army up against a superpower, they didn’t have much chance,’ said Chris.
After British reinforcements arrived, two columns of about 5000 men left Muizenberg on 14 September and arrived at the Castle two days later. The Dutch surrendered, heralding the beginning of the first British occupation.
However, had Commissioner-General Sluysken been able to send a quick SMS to headquarters to check on the status of the European war when the first small British force appeared in Simon’s Town, history might have turned out quite differently in this part of the world.
We could have been speaking French instead of English. But hey, c’est la vie!
The British commander conveniently neglected to mention that Holland and Britain were now on opposing sides, so the Dutch continued tolerating them until they attacked
Guns Galore
Once in power, the British set about strengthening the defences in False Bay. At Simon’s Town, the Martello Tower was built in 1796 to protect the gunpowder magazine nearby. A number of old cannons can be seen at the Navy Museum in Simon’s Town, alongside more modern artillery. The powerful 9,2-inch guns at Scala Battery in the hills above Simon’s Town date back to the Second World War and have a range of 14,5 nautical miles.
To read more about Cape Town’s formidable big guns and forts, go to tiny.cdcapeguns.
Travel planner
Things to do
The Battle of Muizenberg Open-Air Museum is open by appointment. Tours cost R20 a person. Tel Chris Taylor at 021-788-1069, cell 082-908-3456.
Cannon and Battery Trail tours from Muizenberg to Simon’s Town are conducted by maritime historian and former naval commodore Andre Rudman of Africa Discovery Tours. Tel 021- 786-1406, email info@africa-discovery.co.za, www.africadiscoverytours.com.
Visit the South African Naval Museum in the dockyard at Simon’s Town. Open daily from 10h00 to 16h00. Entrance is free. Tel 021-787- 4686, email navpro@telcomsa.net, www.simonstown.com.
Millionaires’ Mile self-guided walk with a brochure from Muizenberg’s info office in the Pavilion includes Rhodes Cottage (open 10h00 to 14h00, entrance by donation) and Het Posthuys Museum, which has a diorama of the Battle of Muizenberg (open by appointment, tel 021-788-5951).
Muizenberg beachfront activities include miniature golf (R14 a player) and rides on the waterslide (R35 an hour).
Surfing lessons: R350 for 1,5 hours, including equipment. Learn 2 Surf, cell 083-414-0567. See Drop in the Ocean on page 28 for more surf schools.
Try blokarting in land-based sail karts at Sunrise Beach car park. Tel 083-658-8583, www.blokart. co.za.
Sandy beach walks stretch for miles and the concrete coastal walkway from Muizenberg to St James is also popular with anglers.
Explore the galleries, eateries and bohemian lifestyle shops in Palmer and York roads, at the heart of the old village.
Sunrise Beach Flea Market is a hive of activity every Sunday.
For more ideas, see www.cornerchat.co.za and www.capepointroute.co.za.
Where to eat
Casa Labia Cafe in Main Road serves light meals and decadent desserts in the ornate Venetian surroundings of its cultural centre and gallery which hosts comtemporary exhibitions. The baked cheesecake is a must. Tel 021-788- 6062, www.casalabia.co.za.
Knead is famous for artisan breads and baked goodies, and is right on the beach at Surfers’ Corner. Try the open sandwich heaped with mozzarella and fresh herbs to tickle your taste buds. Tel 021-788-2909.
The food and goods market at Blue Bird Garage in Albertyn Road is the most chilled place to be from 16h00 to 22h00 every Friday. Gourmet treats and micro-brewed beer are top of the pops. Tel 082-493-9055, email bluebirdgarage@gmail.com.
Essential reading
Battles of South Africa by Tim Couzens (David Philip, 2004).
More info on the city of Cape Town | More info on the Western Cape area |
|
Subscribe to GetawayIf you enjoyed this article and would like to read more about travel and the outdoors, why not subscribe to this quality publication? Give a Gift Subscription to a FriendLooking for a gift for someone with wanderlust and a passion for nature? Let them receive a copy of this great magazine from you every month. Latest issue of GetawaySee what’s in the latest exciting issue of Getaway. |