South Africa Remembers Dead Of All Wars, On All Sides Special

South Africa has remembered its war dead with wreath-laying ceremonies marking Armistice Day, also known as “Poppy Day,” in Pretoria, Johannesburg and Cape Town.

In Johannesburg, the Remembrance Day Service and Parade had the theme of uniting all military veterans for the first time, some of whom had been on opposite sides during the struggle against Apartheid. Organisations, which had fought against the then Apartheid government, included the Mkhonto We Sizwe Military Veterans’ Association, which was the military wing of the current governing party, the African National Congress (ANC). Veterans representing former government servicemen included the Infantry Association, and the Hunter Group Veterans, among others. This was also the first time artillery were used at the event. This Digital Journalist spoke to a member of the Transvaal Scottish Reserves, Lieutenant David Chambers, who was wearing the Regimental sword. When I admired the “Claymore,” Chambers explained that it was a commonly made error. “Having Scottish and Irish family, I’ve been corrected on that,” he said, pointing out that the Scottish officer’s sword, or Scottish Broadsword, is not the same as the Claymore, which was a two-handed affair. Johannesburg Mayor Amos Masondo, speaking at the Cenotaph, paid homage to the veterans, stressing this year’s theme of unity and also giving some history of the monument. Masondo said it had been built in memory of South Africa’s dead from the First World War in 1926 and that the inscription for the Second World War dead was added in 1947. Finally, in 2002 an inscription was added to include all the dead of all wars and conflicts. The service, presided over by the Reverend Brent Chalmers, himself a veteran, opened with a prayer written by a rabbi, then challenged members of especially the military to love their enemies, arguing that doing so could break the cycle of violence. After the bugler played the Last Post followed by two minutes of silence to respect the memory of the dead, the air was rent by the crash of four quarter-pounder artillery pieces, which was repeated a few minutes later.

Christopher Szabo

An Artillery Salvo During the Commemoration

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There was a strong sense of national camaraderie, which I felt during the singing of the new national anthem, which is in five languages — the original Xhosa, then Zulu, Sotho, Afrikaans and English. I listened closely to an elderly veteran standing next to me to get the Sotho verse right, and then he leaned in to listen to the Afrikaans verse, after which we smiled at each other. Such was the spirit of the event. International representatives laid wreaths, among them the United States, the United Kingdom, France and Angola, as well as South African veterans’ organisations. Armistice Day goes back to World War One, when the an armistice was signed between Germany and the Western Allies and which came into effect at 11 o’clock on the 11th of November (the 11th month.) The U.S. and Commonwealth nations, including South Africa, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and others hold their remembrances on this day, or on the weekend nearest it.