Maritzburg College celebrates Remembrance Day
Monday | 11 November | Memorial Chapel and the First World War Memorial, Clark House
“They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, not the years condemn,
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
we will remember them”
Today, Maritzburg College staff, boys and old boys gathered with special guests in the school’s Memorial Chapel for the annual Remembrance Day ceremony. This time-honoured tradition is when we, as a school community, remember the 262 Old Collegians and three staff members who have died in battles and wars, since 1873. It is also an opportunity to pay sombre tribute to all people who have died in conflict, and to ponder such timeless issues as service, duty, loyalty and courage.
The service was followed by the traditional laying of wreaths and lowering of flags, in front of the campus’s World War 1 Memorial outside Clark House. This special event is held each year, ending at 11h00, as close as possible to the “eleventh day of the eleventh month”.
The theme for this year’s event, “Honouring the SS Mendi”, pays tribute to the troopship, SS Mendi, which sailed from Cape Town bound for France, on January 16th 1917, carrying 805 black African privates of the South African Native Labour Corps, 22 white officers and NCOs, as well as 33 crewmembers. At about 05h00 on the morning of February 21st, another ship, the SS Darro, travelling at full speed and giving off no warning signals, rammed the much smaller Mendi, slashing a 6m hole in her starboard side. It ripped through to crowded holds, where men were sleeping in tightly-packed bunks, and the ship sank in 20 minutes in the icy waters of the English Channel. A total of 646 people drowned – including 607 black African troops. The tragedy was made much worse due to the failure by the captain and the crew of the Darro to offer any help. A famous legend from the incident is that, as the Mendi began to sink beneath the waves, the Reverend Isaac Dyobha, a pastor on the ship, inspired the doomed men with fiery words, and led them in the now famous, barefoot ‘DEATH DRILL OF THE MENDI. We salute those men for their bravery and their sacrifices. Their warrior spirit – shown 107 years ago, as they faced death in those icy waters so far away – lives within us today! Members of Maritzburg College’s Nguni Society’s contributed to the ceremony with Mr JS Mhlongo reading the story of the Mendi, while the 4th form ensemble provided a vocal tribute and performed the “Death Drill”.
Dr Luman, College’s headmaster delivered an address highlighting the significance of Remembrance Day and read out the Maritzburg College’s Roll of Honour for 1917, the year of the Mendi.
After the speeches and wreath–laying, guests moved to the Wall of Remembrance for the always special unveiling of 14 new plaques, and to join with family and friends of these members of the College community whose lives we honoured.
In the words of OC Alan Paton:
“Old Walls that echoed to our cries,
Our oaths and prayers and laughter,
And echo now to cries of those
Who follow after.
“When earth has taken back to earth
Our unremembered bones’
Preserve the echo of our names
About your stones”
Pro Aris et Focis