In August 1918, a special column of the South African Overseas Contingent accompanied by the Union Defence Force Band and several officers arrived at Somerset West on the first stage of a recruiting tour of the Western Province. The rank and file numbered 126 men and they marched through the village followed by a number of motor cars and viewed by many interested spectators who lined the roadside. On arrival at the Town Hall they received a hearty welcome from Mayor Dummer. Mr James Rawbone rose to propose the health of the officers and men and was loudly cheered when he said Somerset West, Strand and Capex (AECI) had jointly recruited 200 men for the fighting forces earlier during the war.
On the 11th of November 1918 the joyous news of the armistice came and the end of the war in which thirty young Somerset West men had lost their lives. An interdenominational thanksgiving service was held in the Town Hall which a large crowd filled to capacity. Many people stood with bowed heads in the November sunshine outside. In the Strand flags were flown, bonfires lit, church bells rung and holiday was declared. In Gordon’s Bay flags and bunting appeared on all the houses, church bells were rung and a large crowd assembled in front of Watt’s Hotel in the evening. Psalm 100 was sung followed by the singing of the national anthem before the inhabitants adjourned to the beach to witness a large bonfire. Church services were held the next day and beach sports were held at the weekend.
Somerset West, Strand and Gordon’s Bay battened down and blacked out, came through World War Two with flying colours. Many of their young men served in the army, navy and air force while those on the home front laboured mightily in innumerable ways to further the war effort. Twenty two brave young men from Somerset West paid the ultimate price during this war. At Gordon’s Bay the harbour became the base of the South African Air Force Motor Boat Section whose functions were primarily those of rescue, patrol and maintenance.
Issued on the 7th of April 1946
Marshal Smuts Shellhole was started in the autumn of 1946 by nine dedicated blokes; they were Moths Ron Barnes, George du Plessis, Johnny Farrell, Tom Holder, Charles Larkin, Ernie Nomell, Major Reeve, Piet van Niekerk and Danie Wiehan. Through the commitment of the founding members, our Shellhole grew from strength to strength; starting off in the lounge of the old Somerset Hotel, obtaining their own army bungalow, using the hall of the All Saints Church of the Province of South Africa, until eventually in March 1971, the fine present hall at 105 Drama Street was leased from the Somerset West Municipality.
During the founding decade two more Somerset West men died in the Korean War. In memory to all those who founded and maintained our Shellhole for the past 65 years, in the words of Moth O Charles Evenden, “friendship is the greatest power given to man; it turns ideals into practical deeds.” We sincerely hope that our work at the Shellhole will show a bygone generation the practical friendship that can be performed by a new generation, in honouring their legacy, a legacy which has helped us to also commemorate those eight men from the Helderberg area who have fallen in the years since 1971. During 1993 Marshal Smuts purchased the premises from the Somerset West Municipality.
The names of 173 Moths appear on this Roll, starting with Moth Delph Amm and ending with Moth Chuck Charles (2010). We will remember them.
The gates at the front entrance to the premises were originally consecrated by the Shellhole Padre Moth (Reverend) Rose, assisted by Old Bill Moth Bill Paris. Named for one of our founding members, a new plaque and rededication was performed on the 24th of September 2010 (Heritage Day).
The cenotaph was designed and built by Moths Frank Joubert, Jim Peddie and Eddie de Kock and presented to the Shellhole during 1992. When Moth Pierre Olivier returned from Burma in late 1994, he brought with him soil that he had collected at the Bridge on the River Kwai. In a conversation with Moth Jim Peddie, the two of them decided to drill a hole in the wall, fit the soil, plug it up and affix a plaque to the wall. Over the next decade Moth Jim Peddie took the idea further and through international correspondence started to collect soil from battlefields all over the world. Today the following names can be found on the wall: Gulf War; Battle of the Atlantic; Delville Wood; Rorke’s Drift; Isandlwana; Dunkirk; Waterloo; Pearl Harbour; Arnhem; Normandy; Modder River; Magersfontein; Carter’s Ridge; Border War; Shangani River and El Alamein.
This project was started during 1996 when Marshal Smuts celebrated its 50th birthday. During 2010 the garden was upgraded and a brick wall erected to which the names of those whose ashes are scattered in the garden will be affixed. The new wall was consecrated on the 12th of March 2011, when the Shellhole celebrate its 65th birthday with a parade. The consecration was performed by Old Bill Brian Porter, assisted by Moths Pierre and Gerda Olivier.
The first traces of a Shellhole Newsletter can be found in the Minutes of Shellhole meetings during 1977. After obtaining permission from MOTH GHQ, the Shellhole published a monthly article in the local newspaper, the District Mail during the 1980s. This series of articles were called the MOTH Diary and was edited by Moth Doc Dockrall.
During the 1990s mention is again made in the Shellhole Minutes of a newsletter, and the practise was revived by Moth Brian Porter during 2007 and the end product was renamed the Bullsheet. These days the Bullsheet is edited by Moth Gail Jordaan.
The financial life line of the Shellhole and named for the Field Marshal himself. The official opening of the new pub was launched during 1992 and the bar area is now connected to the old Ladies Auxiliary lounge. The bar is open on Wednesdays from 17:00 and on Fridays from 16:30.
A framed oak leaf decorates the southern entrance wall to Oom Jannie’s. This leave was picked up by a British visitor to the Delville Wood Memorial. The visitor, who was a member of Rotary International was so impressed with the beautiful South African Oak Trees growing in Europe, he then decided to present the leave to the Helderberg Rotary Club. The Helderberg Rotary Club had the leave framed and in their turn presented it to our Shellhole Old Bill at the time, the late Moth Taffy Lloyd.
The tank was donated to Marshal Smuts Shellhole by the South African Defence Force during 1974. For many years a landmark in Drama Street, plans has already been put together to start with thorough restoration work.
Old Bill of the Order
Johnny Farrell – (1963/64)
Bill Paris – (1980/81)
Bill Paris; Ernie Nomell; George Lipmann and Johnny Farrell
Taffy Lloyd, Jim Peddie and Brian Porter
Stan Watson; John Williams; Charles Larkin; Danie Wiehan; Lionel Vigar; Bill Paris; H. Braude; M. de Wet; Phil Ferreira; George du Plessis; Johnny de Smidt; Taffy Lloyd; Bill Coyne; John Hobart; M.O. Peacock; Copper Clarke; Tommy Carpenter; Doc Dockrall; Jim Peddie; Cecil Blout; Guston Vassard; Pat Sleigh; Chuck Charles; Eddie de Kock; Brian Simmons; Duncan MacKenzie; Pierre Olivier; Gail Jordaan and Angus Walker
Adelè-Blanchè van der Merwe and Pat Colvin
George Gardiner and Malcolm Bouwer
Alf Hilder, Bert Johnson, Frank Joubert, John Sowter, Derek McLean, George Mann, Malcolm Bouwer and Daphne Foster-Sutherland.
