Marmon-Herrington armoured car displayed by DCD as it celebrates its long history
Without a doubt, the oldest military vehicle on display at the Africa Aerospace and Defence (AAD) 2024 exhibition this week is a vintage Marmon-Herrington...
Navy Festival seen as a teaser for submarine museum
The return of the SA Navy (SAN) festival to Simon’s Town in October opened a window of opportunity too good to miss for the...
Moving memorial to heroic but doomed Warsaw Uprising and SAAF airlift
High-ranking members of the South African Air Force (SAAF), diplomats, military veterans and leaders of the Polish community last weekend commemorated the 80th anniversary...
SA Navy museum submarine SAS Assegaai finally home
“It is with the greatest pleasure that we can advise you that Assegaai is finally home and safe in her new museum precinct and...
Nigerian military heritage delegation fact finding visit to two SA military museums
Current expertise allied to experience gained, in one instance over more than 50 years, by South African military museums attracted the attention of the...
Shackleton engine start-up an International Museum Day highlight at AFB Ysterplaat
The SA Air Force (SAAF) Museum at Air Force Base (AFB) Ysterplaat in Cape Town was an active participant in last month’s International Museum...
Submarine Museum relocation moves forward with major boost from mayoral donation
The Mayor of Cape Town has made a significant contribution of R750 000 to the Naval Heritage Trust (NHT) to support the relocation of...
SA heritage gun register totals five hundred plus
The South African heritage gun register, a Gunners’ Association of SA project, now has 529 guns on record with 350 inspected by a committee...
SA Air Force Museum’s Korean War Hall re-opens
This week the Korean War Hall of Remembrance at Swartkop Air Force Base Museum in Pretoria was opened after a substantial upgrade. The Ambassador...
Sod turned for Cape Town Labour Corps memorial
A sod turning ceremony in Cape Town’s Company Garden this week marked commencement of construction of the Cape Town Labour Corps (CTLC) memorial, a...
Erasmus Castle renovation bids being evaluated
The “serious intervention” needed to ensure the Erasmus Castle on the eastern side of Armscor’s headquarters property in Pretoria returns to its national monument...
Lest we forget – SS Mendi 21 February 1917
SS Mendi was a British 4,230 GRT passenger steamship that was built in 1905 and, as a troopship, sank after collision with great loss...
SA Special Forces Association also part of submarine museum project
In a move sure to be welcomed by those behind the submarine museum project, the SA Special Forces Association (SASFA) will appeal for donations...
Remembrance Day 2023 breaks more than a century of tradition
South Africa’s military veterans and civic groups held the 103rd National Civic Remembrance service on Sunday 12 November, which is known as Remembrance Day,...
Cape Town hosts first “Turn towards Busan” Korean War commemorative ceremony
In a heartfelt tribute to the South Africans who served and lost their lives under the United Nations flag during the 1950-53 Korean War,...
SA Naval Museum 30 years on
The SA Naval Museum this year marks its 30th anniversary with its origins going back 57 years to 1966 when a naval historical collection...
Progress on submarine annex to Naval Museum
The latest addition to Simon’s Town’s naval infrastructure – a dedicated submarine annex to the SA Naval Museum – is moving slow ahead with...
Simon’s Town muzzle loading cannon firing dates finalised
A historic 9-inch rifled muzzle loading cannon (RML) is one of the South African Naval Museum’s premier exhibits and its firing is proving a...
Forward movement for SAN submarine museum
Slow and steady wins the race is the mantra of those working to create a permanent home for the last remaining Daphne submersible in...
SA Jewish community honours forgotten South African war heroes
At a unique ceremony late last month, the South African Jewish community honoured soldiers who made the ultimate sacrifice in the two World Wars...
Desecrated Barberton gunners’ plinth restored
As September – Heritage Month in South Africa – draws to a close the efforts of old soldiers in restoring an important part of...
UPDF delegation in Simon’s Town
The Uganda People’s Defence Force (UPDF) delegation visiting South African military museums interrupted its study tour for a courtesy call on Flag Officer Fleet...
Battle of Delville Wood commemorated
The Battle of Delville Wood was the first major engagement entered into by the South Africans on the Western Front during the First World...
Gunners’ Memorial Service
Sunday, 15 May, sees the Annual Gunners’ Memorial take place at Dassierand, Potchefstroom in North West.
Presented under the aegis of the Gunners’ Association of...
The Battle of Cuito Cuanavale remembered
South Africa’s Department of Military Veterans (DMV), part of Minister Thandi Modise’s portfolio, has this month commemorated the December 1987 to March 1988 Battle...
Remembering SAS Donkin and the Navy in Eastern Cape
Gqeberha’s involvement with the SA Navy (SAN) via Naval Station Port Elizabeth (NSPE) and a former part-time force unit saw the Officer-in-Charge of the...
Empowering the guardians of military culture
Forward thinking by two academics and a senior warrant officer is paving the way for empowerment of the men and women traditionally known as...
Simon’s Town’s significance in SA military history showcased
The most senior warrant officers’ course in the SANDF (SA National Defence Force), the Joint Warrant Officers’ Programme (JWOP) based at the Warrant Officers...
Mariepskop SAAF radar site proving its worth 50 years on
Mariepskop is a prime SA Air Force (SAAF) installation in Mpumalanga, formerly Eastern Transvaal, monitoring airspace for effective protection and utilisation which continues today...
SA Legion reaches 100 years milestone
Opening the Centenary Congress of the South African Legion of Military Veterans, Deputy Mayor of Cape Town, Alderman Ian Neilson, last week said the...
France’s Macron calls 1961 massacre of Algerians an ‘unforgivable crime’
Emmanuel Macron on Saturday denounced as an "unforgivable crime" a bloody crackdown on Algerian protesters by police in Paris 60 years ago, the strongest...
The South African Legion to commemorate centenary in Cape Town
The SA Legion will be holding its centenary from 15 to 17 October in Cape Town, to be opened by Deputy Mayor Ian Nielson....
Lockdown regulations cut SANDF museums visitor numbers
With Heritage Month ending the three known SA National Defence Force (SANDF) museums have, in common with other repositories of history, been hamstrung by...
Black and Indian pilots are part and parcel of SAAF heritage
The SAAF (SA Air Force Museum) in its Heritage Month contribution notes the first “person of colour” to be awarded wings was Koomaresen Eargambram.
An...
Russian volunteers honoured at Anglo-Boer War Museum
A plaque has been unveiled commemorating Russian volunteers who had fought in the Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902).
Timed to coincide with South Africa’s Heritage Day, the...
Passion for military aviation leads to flight gear collection
A Cape Town residence is home to a veritable treasure trove of military aviation memorabilia including a South African designed, developed and fabricated helmet-mounted...
Military History Museum maintenance day
Ex-servicemen did their bit for South Africa’s military history days ahead of 1 September, which marks the start of Heritage Month, putting elbow grease...
Egypt finds ancient military vessel, Greek graves in sunken city
Divers have discovered rare remains of a military vessel in the ancient sunken city of Thônis-Heracleion - once Egypt's largest port on the Mediterranean...
British Empire’s African soldiers to receive belated recognition
African soldiers and bearers who fought for the British Empire in little-known theatres of World War I will finally be acknowledged equally to British...
Veterans spit and polish parade at Military History Museum
The premier showcase of South African military history - the National Museum of Military History in Johannesburg – will be on the receiving end...
SA military museums battling but not destitute
Preservation of South Africa’s history is an important component of the national psyche with the military side doing reasonably well compared to some other...
Spitfire 5518 restoration progressing despite COVID hiccups
Over the past 12 months, the SAAF Museum Spitfire Restoration Project has much inaction mainly due to the effects of COVID-19, with a major...
SA Naval Museum goes high-tech
With a new visitor enhancement feature now up and running, SA Naval Museum curator Commander Leon Steyn is keeping pace with international museum developments...
End of World War II in Europe commemorated at Freedom Park
8 May 1945 marked the end of the Second World War in Europe and in honour of this occasion, a commemoration and wreath-laying ceremony...
Air Force Association SAAF 100 book project progressing
Earlier this year the SA Air Force Association (SAAFA) launched its SAAF 100 book project to “reflect on milestones and highlights in the development...
Stamps mark SAAF centenary
Last year’s SA Air Force (SAAF) centenary celebrations were severely curtailed by the COVID-19 pandemic and in one instance saw only a handover of...
UK sorry for ‘pervasive racism’ over commemoration of Black and Asian war dead
Britain apologised on Thursday for failures that meant "pervasive racism" may have denied a proper commemoration to as many as 350 000 Black and...
Cuban Embassy delegation visits SAAF Museum
A delegation from the Cuban Embassy together with a representative of the Cuban Co-operation Brigades in South Africa has paid a visit to the...
Cuito Cuanavale commemoration
What has become popularly known as the Battle of Cuito Cuanavale was commemorated this week at Freedom Park, the first heritage project to rise...
SAAF Museum re-establishes ties with McGregor Museum
The SA Air Force (SAAF) Museum, the keeper of and responsible for South Africa’s military aviation heritage, renewed ties with the McGregor Museum outside...
