A long way from home.

It was the morning of the 4th of May, 1978. It was four am and the day had arrived. Skillie, with the rest of the 366 Composite Para Batallion, comprising mostly Citizen force reserve parabat units were in the hanger quietly fitting weapons, equipment and parachutes. They had been away from family and friends for …

Old War Stories

I knew very little about my grandfather. He died when I was five. What I do remember was his tool shed and garage, his pigeons and all of us cousins piled into the back of his car careering down the back streets of Umbilo trying to "leave our stomachs in the air" as we went …

https://www.backabuddy.co.za/champion/project/warren-loader

The Pocketwatch

It was a sunny spring day when the finely dressed gentleman stepped off the gangway and onto the dock at Durban. He walked past the white hull of the ship, the Royal Mail Ship Dunluce Castle which had carried him on his two day journey from Delagoa Bay. He paused for a moment, put down …

#1stSunday

Let us today remember the men of B Company 1st RDLI who fell on this day the 7th of June 1942. Let us also remember the rest who are no longer with us.

The first Sunday.

The first Sunday of June has always been reserved to remember the men of B Company, 1/ Royal Durban Light Infantry who fell on the 7th June 1942. What not many people are aware of is what happened on that fateful day. At about 6 o clock on the evening of June the 6th, Captain …

Hitching in browns

I only went home twice while in the army. My first was a weekend pass organised just after bush phase. Our leutenant had managed to wangle us an extra day as Durban was quite a distance from Potch. I will never forget that trip. The two of us, Jackson and myself climbed into the Samil …

Saturday

I will never forget that one day in the army. It was a Saturday morning and some of the guys that lived in Johannesburg had organised weekend pass. Us guys that lived further away were doing regular stuff like washing, ironing, writing or reading in our bungalows, just passing time after breakfast when suddenly the …

B Company, friends for life.

Looking back at my youth, I was so lucky in the late 70's and 80's to have been brought up amoungst the men and women of the RDLI bowling club in Durban. My gran and grandfather were part of the furniture there and we often went down on Sunday afternoons to have a late afternoon …

Stories of buttons

During lock down the other day I decided to get down my box of "relics" that I have found over the years. It's amazing, with literally hundreds of pieces, how I can remember where they came from and even the emotions I felt when I found them. I have found a new way to clean …