1917 Mendi maritime tragedy remembered in Tshwane

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The bravery and sacrifice by members of the South African Native Labour Corps (SANLC) when the troopship SS Mendi sank more than 100 years ago, have been remembered at the annual memorial service in Atteridgeville in Pretoria.

Speaking at the small gathering of mainly military veterans and serving members of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), Marina Valentine of the Memorable Order of Tin Hats or MOTHS, said this was an important occasion not only to pay tribute to those who lost their lives on the Mendi, but also all South African soldiers who had served their country and paid the ultimate price over the years.

She said this was a time to think of those soldiers who fought so bravely and made the ultimate sacrifice in conflicts around the continent – the Battle of Bangui in the Central African Republic (CAR) and during peacekeeping operations in Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) as well as within the borders of South Africa.

Valentine noted the example of humility and compassion that was set by the Reverend Isaac Dyobha, who was on board the ill-fated ship Mendi. He reportedly calmed the panicked men with the following words that have become one of the best-known accounts of the sinking of the troopship: “Be quiet and calm my country men, what is happening now is exactly what you came to do. You are going to die… but that is what you came to do. Brothers, we are drilling the death drill. I, a Xhosa, say you are my brothers, Swazis, Pondos, Basutos, we die like brothers. We are the sons of Africa. Raise your war cries, brothers for though they made us leave our assegais in the kraal, our voices are left with our bodies.”

Representatives of military veterans organisations such as the South African Legion of Military Veterans, the Pretoria Regimental Association, South African Armour Formation, and serving members of the military, diplomats from the United States, Pakistan, Ukraine, Kenya and France, together with the Tshwane Deputy Mayor laid wreaths at the memorial.

The spirit of the Mendi lives on in the South African Navy’s Valour Class frigate, the SAS Mendi, the now decommissioned offshore patrol vessel SAS Isaac Dyobha, as well as the country’s highest civilian order for exceptional bravery.

The ship sank after being struck by the SS Darro in the English Channel on 21 February 1917. The soldiers were on their way to France to assist the British during the First World War. Most of the dead – 607 black troops, nine white officers and some 30 crew – were never recovered.

A few bodies were later washed ashore on both sides of the channel.

There are several graves in Portsmouth, Hastings and Littlehampton in Britain, Wimereux in France, and Wassenaar and Bergen op Zoom in Holland.

The wreck of the Mendi was discovered off the Isle of Wight by a local diver in 1974.