Glory days still ahead for Dardanelles MOTH members

Carrying their unity beyond the trenches and bushes of the battlefield is The Memorable Order of Tin Hats (MOTH).

A haven of comradery and friendship, the ex-servicemen social organisation has several hundred halls across South Africa. Founded in 1927 by a man looking to reconnect with people he encountered in military service, the organisation has a worldwide footprint and support structure. Among the oldest in the country, the Florida division has been active since 1938 and is soldiering on with no intention of waving the white flag.

Influenced heavily by British terminology used during The Great War between 1914 and 1918, the MOTH refer to their clubhouses as shell holes and dugouts, reminiscent of the trench-warfare era bunkers. Old Bill, Adjutant and Pay Bill are the terms used to describe the Chairperson, Secretary and Treasurer, respectively. Membership is open to anyone who served in the military in any era, with the core ethos being the appreciation of those who made the ultimate sacrifice and the care of those who made it home.

Members of the Florida dugout, known as Dardanelles, are made up predominantly of veterans of the border wars that raged from the mid-sixties to the late-eighties. The Dardanelles’s dugout was on the brink of extinction when members of the MOTH Motorcycle Association, including current Old Bill James Williams, revived the dugout. “The place has become very close to my heart. Restoring the dugout was something that needed to be done. It’s just a lot of like-minded people knowing their brothers have their back, it’s what the MOTHs stand for,” said James.

The MOTH pride themselves on helping fellow veterans through hardship by practicing the three founding principles: true comradeship, mutual help and sound memory. True comradeship is displaying the respect and unity of service in daily life, while mutual help is the acknowledgement of duty to oneself and their fellow servicemen. Most importantly, sound memory is described as “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”.

Dardanelles regularly take part in MOTH parades and have social events such as their ‘frosty Fridays’, a Friday afternoon get-together. The original meeting spot was at the old Florida town hall but have called the hall at the corner of Fourth Road and Green Street home for many decades. Once boasting over 400 members, Dardanelles is calling on any ex-servicemen to join the remaining 19 to share the memories of the past before the inevitable sunset call.