The Great War , livre ebook

Te Great War: Letters HomeTe Great War: Letters Home
Letters and Diaries
of a South African family
1913–1920
Edited by John Stanford
MVUSI BOOKS© John Stanford 2020
ISBN: 978-0-9869791-5-6
ebook 978-0-9869791-7-0
Mvusi Books, Makhanda, South Africa
mvusibooks@gmail.com
ebook and international distribution
http://www.africanbookscollective.com/publishers/mvusi-books
Editor: Robert Berold
Text design: Liz Gowans
Cover design: Robert Berold & Liz Gowans
Cover image: Battalion crossing bridge between Songea and
Mbamba Bay, western Tanganyika: Photographer probably Jarvis Murray.
Tis and most other photographs in this book were kindly provided by
the Murray Parker Collection, BC330, Special Collections, UCT LibrariesContents
Introduction – John Stanford ................................................................. 9
1913 LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS
General News ..................................................................................18
Kamfer’s Kraal – Lil Molteno .......................................................... 20
Janet – Lil Molteno .........................................................................21
1912–1913
Te Balkan War – Letters from Ernest Anderson ............................. 27
1914
A Visit to Basutoland – Efe Anderson ...........................................33
1914 THE BOER REBELLION
Diary – Kenah Murray ...................................................................40
Te Graaf-Reinet Commando – John Molteno ..............................48
1914–1916 LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS
Letter from Efe Stanford (nee Anderson) / East Griqualand .......... 52
A West Coast Voyage – Willie Blenkins ...........................................57
In Memoriam ..................................................................................65
1914–1918 THE WAR IN GERMAN EAST AFRICA
Letters from Jarvis and Lenox Murray ............................................. 67
1915 THE WAR IN GERMAN SOUTH WEST AFRICA
Diary – Kenah Murray ....................................................................93
1915 THE WAR IN EUROPE
Letters from Ernest Anderson / France .......................................... 108
Letter from Willie Anderson / France ............................................ 110om Caroline Murray / London ......................................... 115
Loss of H.M.S. Goliath – Lieut C W Parker ................................. 116
Letters from Gerald Sandeman / France ........................................ 121om George Murray / France ............................................ 1281916 THE WAR IN EUROPE
Letters from Kenah Murray / France ............................................. 141
Te Battle of Jutland – Percy Molteno ........................................... 148
Letters from Kenah Murray / France 151
Geneva and the War – Marguerite Genequand ..............................156
1917 THE WAR IN EUROPE
Letters from Kenah Murray / France ............................................. 161om Betty Molteno / London ........................................... 165
Te Albert Hall Meeting – Betty Molteno .....................................168
Letters from George Murray / France ............................................ 171
Letter from Ronald Beard / France ................................................ 175
1918 THE WAR IN EUROPE
Letter from Betty Molteno / London 178
Letters from May Murray-Parker / London ................................... 179
Letter from George Murray / France ............................................. 180
George Murray death announcement ............................................183
Letters from Kenah Murray ........................................................... 183
American Canteen Work in France – Letters from Nan Mitchell ...185
Te Labour Conference – Betty Molteno / London ...................... 190
Te Naval Surrender – Letters from Gordon Tomas .................... 192
Letter from Alice Greene / London ............................................... 196
Te Baltic Expedition – Letters from Gordon Tomas .................. 198
1916–1920 LOCAL AND GENERAL NEWS
Drought in the Karoo 1915–1918 ................................................204
Episodes of Farm Life – Kathleen Murray ..................................... 206
Gamin – A Police Dog – Bessie Molteno .......................................211
Travel Diary – Kathleen and Margaret Molteno ............................ 213
Memorial Service for General Louis Botha – Percy Molteno ......... 215
Editorial closing the Chronicle – Kathleen Murray .......................217 THREE 19TH CENTURY REMINISCENCES
Reminiscences as a magistrate in Mount Frere 1879–1880
– Willie Blenkins ..........................................................................220
Reminiscences of the Molteno Family in the 1860s
– Caroline Murray ......................................................................230
Te Prah Expedition in the Ashante War 1871–1874
– Dr C.F.K. (Charles) Murray ......................................................240
REFERENCES ..................................................................................245INTRODUCTION
Tis book is a selection of letters and accounts, mainly from members
of the Molteno family, as published in “Chronicle of the Family”, a
tri-annual journal which was printed and published between April
1913 and April 1920, and distributed by post to family and friends.
Te Chronicle was founded in 1913 by my mother, Evangeline
Anderson (later Stanford) and her cousin May Murray (later Parker).
Tey were both granddaughters of Sir John Charles Molteno. In 1913
they were aged 27 and 32 respectively. From 1915, the Chronicle was
edited by Kathleen Murray, May’s younger sister.
According to the foreword of the frst edition, the Chronicle was to
be “a family magazine for distribution solely among members of the
‘charmed circle’”. Despite this rather exclusive-sounding statement,
the Chronicle included many contributions from non-family friends.
Te writers were of all walks of life and all ages. Teir letters and
accounts are eloquently written, with a delightful respect and courtesy.
It is interesting to consider that they were written in times when it
was sometimes difcult to get paper, quill pens and ink, and in often
terrible conditions, such as the trenches of World War 1. Tere was
indeed a great urge to communicate, even though some thought that
the subscription, 15 shillings per year, was too high.
Finances were scrupulously reported annually, as in the statement
below.
December 1915
FINANCIAL STATEMENT
EXPENDITURE RECEIPTS
Printing £. s. d.Balance in hand per last £ s. d.
April 8 19 0 statement 1 13 2
August 11 8 0 Arrear Subscriptions 6 15 0
December 7 18 0 Subscriptions for year 1915 30 15 0
Wrappers, Postage Subscriptions in advance
and P. Cards 16 5 for 1916 1 15 0
Balance 12 19 3 Extra Copies 1 2 6
£ 42 0 8 £ 42 0 8
9Te frst issue of Chronicle of the Family, April 1913
10Te Molteno family in South Africa is descended from John Charles
Molteno (1814–1886) who came to the Cape in 1831. His forebears
lived in London, having left the village of Molteno in northern Italy
in the 18th century. Starting as an assistant at the Cape Town library,
he soon became involved in business and in farming.
He later entered politics and became the frst prime minister when
the Cape government was established in 1872. A confict between
Molteno and the governor Sir Bartle Frere led to his dismissal as prime
minister in 1878. In 1882 he was knighted.
John Molteno had 19 children, of whom 14 reached adulthood.
His frst wife, Maria Hewitson, died in childbirth together with their
frstborn, on their remote and primitive farm in the Beaufort West
district. His second wife (my great grandmother) was Maria Jarvis,
whose mother, Maria de Vos, was Dutch. She had 14 children and died
at the young age of 42. Molteno’s third wife, Sobella Blenkins, was 32
years younger than he was. She had four children – one daughter and
three sons – none of whom married.
Te principal correspondents of the Family Chronicle were:
Elizabeth (Aunt Betty, 1852–1927) was the frst child of John
Charles Molteno and his second wife. She was a fearless left-leaning
idealist, a pacifst and campaigner for women’s sufrage. She and her
friends Olive Schreiner and Alice Greene tried to make amends for
the atrocities of the Boer War. She was excited at the overthrow of the
Tsarist autocracy, and inspired by Kerensky.
Caroline, John Molteno’s second child (1853–1937) married
Charles Murray, an Irish doctor who settled at the Cape after falling
in love with her. Of their ten children, the following seven contributed
to the letters:
Kenah Murray (1877–1950) as a medical doctor, kept an almost
painfully detailed diary through the East African and South W