Military history comes alive with Moths

IN a joint effort to document the historical accounts of ex-national servicemen who served on the border from the 80s to pre-1994, Mills Bomb Shellhole has started hosting individuals to recount their military experiences for the public.
Mills Bomb Shellhole Old Bill Roelof van Rensburg explained they have teamed up with 32 Batallion Veteran’s Association (32Bn VA) to host the events purely for public benefit and so that the personal accounts of their speakers are documented for posterity.
“The entry charge covers the food costs and any additional funds garnered from the events are divided between the Moths and 32Bn VA to fund their projects,” said Van Rensburg. From this month, the initiative is also being supported by Special Forces KZN branch.
Entry costs R100 for veterans and R150 for members of the public. The next event takes place at the shellhole, which is located at the end of Ellcock Road in Warner Beach on Saturday, 13 June at 11am for 11.30am.
The decision to start documenting ex-servicemen’s accounts of their wartime experiences was made in 2013, and since then the shellhole has hosted among others, Col Jack Dippenaar and Capt Peter Williams, Joaquim de Gouveia, John Dovey, Taffie Pelser, as well as authors David Mannell and Douw Steyn. With the support of Barry Roper, the shellhole has DVD copies of their accounts on file.
This weekend’s next such personal account will be delivered by longtime Toti local, Cedric Carr, who will speak about his experiences in a talk entitled ‘From nipper to sapper’. He will regale the audience with musings from his time as a national serviceman from January 1985 to December 1986, how basic training initiated him into military life and his development through various units until he deployed to join his 25 Field Engineering Unit based in Oshakati in the former South West Africa, headquarters of sector 10, to conduct mine hunts.
The talk is sure to be an eye-opener and anyone with even a moderate interest in miltary incursions and history would do well to take a trip back in time at Mills Bomb Shellhole on Saturday.