LONGUEVAL, 6 July 2014 - A South African soldier who fell in France at the start of the First World War has been re-interred at the South African National Memorial at Delville Wood, Longueval. Private Beleza Myengwa of the South African Native Labour Corps, died on 27 November 1916 within days of his battalion arriving in France. The practice at the time was to bury WW1 casualties near the hospital (sometimes civilian) where they died, so Pvt. Myengwa was initially laid to rest at a civilian cemetery in Le Havre, rather than the South African Labour Corps military cemetery which was later established at Arques La Bataille near Dieppe. As a symbol of reconciliation and nation building, Pvt. Myengwa’s remains were exhumed from Le Havre, and were re-interred during a moving ceremony on Sunday, 6 July 2014 at Delville Wood, near Longueval. His casket was carried to its final resting place by representatives of all branches of the SANDF. As the procession approached the museum, an honour guard of South African and French veterans dipped their respective veterans’ association’s banners in salute to their fallen comrade-in-arms. Private Myengwa is the first ‘person of colour’ to be laid to rest at the Delville Wood memorial. Entombed within in the Museum, he now lies alongside the 600 South African soldiers who fell at Delville Wood during one of the fiercest battles of the Great War. One of the greatest travesties is that Black and Cape Coloured soldiers, who made up 42 per cent of the South African forces in WW I, where not honoured for their services. Medals were withheld and in subsequent years, owing to racist political aims, their legacy was actively removed or excluded from the history books, both in South Africa and Europe. The First World War is therefore often perceived as a ‘white man’s conflict’. Nothing can be further from the truth, however; more than 80,000 South African ‘men of colour’ served alongside their ‘white counterparts, albeit in non-combat support roles. Black and Cape Coloured soldiers performed diverse roles, including engineering, medical orderlies, stretcher bearers, stores and logistics assistants who off-loading and stored the tons of supplies and munitions from ships. They also served as drivers, cooks, and military police. They felled forests for wood which was used to build trenches and as fuel, and they dug and fortified trenches and defences. These roles are recognised as pivotal in any modern army. These men were exposed to the horrors of war in France and hundreds paid the ultimate sacrifice on French soil. Added to this is the 616 South Africans (607 of which were black) of the SANLC, who went to a watery grave on the troopship SS Mendi when it sank after been rammed in the English Channel. In the loss of the SS Mendi, a full battalion-worth of men was lost in 30 minutes – marginally more than at the entire Battle of Delville Wood! This travesty of history and forgotten valour was finally corrected on Sunday 6th July 2014, during the ceremony in France attended by Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa, the Minister of Arts and Culture Nathi Mthethwa. The SANDF personnel present together with the South African Legion of Military Veterans stood in honour and witnessed the re-interment of Private Myengwa’s remains at Delville Wood. The inscription on the side of Pvt Myengwa’s new resting place inside the museum says everything as to the symbolic purpose of his placement: ‘Here lies the remains of the first South African Native Labour Corps member to die in France. His presence represents all the members of the SANLC whose deeds were not acknowledged in the past. He is buried here amongst his comrades as a symbol or reconciliation and nation building. Their contribution was not in vain and their heroism will forever be cherished by their nation.’ History needs to be righted; the contribution of these men needs to take its rightful place in our accounts of this war and in this respect it is the right thing to do. Picture by Kevin Brown, copyright Alex Cromarty
Posted on: Wed, 09 Jul 2014 11:11:10 +0000
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