The Moth movement in Boksburg was formed in 1928. It is the second oldest in the Transvaal after the Cosy Corner Shellhole in Brakpan, which was started in 1927 and celebrates its 90th anniversary this year.
The Boksburg offices were initially located at the former women’s prison building, which is now a home for the destitute (New Beginnings Care Centre).
The offices were then moved to several other areas, before settling in their last home at the Apex Military Base in Brakpan.
The Moths is a national war veterans’ organisation. It exists to assist every serviceman or ex-soldiers who fought or rendered their service in the past wars, including World War I, World War II and the Border War – also known as the Bush War – in Namibia and Angola.
A Border War veteran and former member of the then South African Defence Force (SADF), Moths’ Kevin Fenton, who joined the Boksburg Moths offices and served as a director of the organisation, said closing the branch was one of the most difficult decisions they have had to make.
According to Fenton, who is now a member of the reserve force (the Regiment Oos-Transvaal – ROT), the dwindling number of members was the main reason for the closure of the branch.
The Boksburg office was by October this year left with six members. With no viable alternative and unable to find new members, it was therefore not feasible to carry on, so the board decided to close it down.
“The closure is sad. It would have been nice to keep it open, as we would have celebrated our 90th birthday next year – but it’s sad that it couldn’t survive.
“But it’s not end of the road, because we have the choice to move to other shell house,” said Fenton.
Fenton stated that the decline in membership and closure of some branches is inevitable, considering that in order to become a member of the organisation you have to have fought in the wars, and the last war ended in the late ’80s. The youngest people who fought in the Border War (known as fourth generation) are probably in their 50s and aged people who no longer have the time to be part of the organisation.
Fenton still believes that there other war veterans who are not members of the organisation and encourages them to join any of the branches in the Greater Oos Rand, such as the branches in Brakpan, Benoni and Edenvale.
For more information on joining the Moths, veterans can reach Kevin Fenton on 083 690 0089 or send an email to fenmark@mweb.co.za.
- The history of the Moths
The Memorable Order of Tin Hats, or Moths, is an ex-serviceman’s organisation founded in Durban in May 1927 by a remarkable man named Charles Alfred Evenden.
He was born in London on October 1, 1894, and as a young man emigrated to Australia and served with the Australian forces in Gallipoli during World War I, where he was wounded and evacuated to England.
After returning to Australia, he was discharged from the army.
Witnessing the annual parades, Evenden turned his thoughts to the formation of an association of front-line soldiers to perpetuate the comradeship gained from front-line service.
Later, he settled in South Africa, where he worked as a cartoonist on the staff of the Mercury, a morning paper in Durban, under the pseudonym “EVO” by which name he soon became popularly known to most people.
In 1927 he saw a war film that included an impressive scene of marching troops wearing tin hats and muddy uniforms and carrying trench equipment. Looking at the scene, it made him wonder what had become of his comrades in the army, where they were and what they were doing.
This line of thought inspired a cartoon on forgetfulness of a comradeship that had apparently ceased to exist. From this one idea other ideas came to the fore, then discussions with colleagues and friends and, eventually, the founding of an ex-serviceman’s organisation known as the Memorable Order of Tin Hats (Moth) in May 7, 1927.
The order is added on concord and harmony and operates independently of race, religion or politics in the same way as front-line service, but with full democracy.
The three Moth ideals are true comradeship, mutual help and sound memory.
- TC (true comradeship) by practising front-line friendship in civilian life;
- MH (mutual help) by acknowledging the personal and collective obligation to help each other as in front-line service;
- SM (sound memory) by remembering the fallen as a living companionship and to serve their memory in practical actions which rise above divisions of social status, race or politics.
The Moths Emblem
The centre of the emblem of the Moths Order is the tin hat, hallowed by the Light of Service. The complete emblem includes the crossed rifles of sacrifice, surrounded by 12 stars that signify mutual help, the whole within an unending circle, expressing life and harmony without end.
(The history of the Moths is compiled from information supplied by Moths Kevin Fenton.)
