‘WE REMEMBER THEM’: MOTH Mark Schroeder lights a candle on a World War 1 military helmet at the start of the Delville Wood memorial on Sunday July 13 at the Eddie Grant Memorial Hall, home of the Port Alfred MOTHS. Pictures: SUE MACLENNAN
The Port Alfred MOTHS had to borrow extra chairs for their Delville Wood parade on Sunday, as the MOTHS Motorcycle Association roared up to swell the numbers at the Eddie Grant MOTH Hall behind the Port Alfred River and Ski Boat Club. The nine bikers from two chapters of the association – Settlers District and Garden Route – had spent the previous night in Bathurst on their way to support the 2025 edition of the annual commemoration of a dire episode in the World War 1’s Battle of the Somme.
Mark Schroeder is the designated historian for the Port Alfred MOTHS and he never fails to engage his audience with a new perspective on the old story, no matter how many times they’ve heard it.
The brutal bottom line of Delville Wood is that of the 3 433 soldiers of the 1st South Africa Infantry Brigade who entered Delville Wood on July 15, 1916, more than 2000 were killed or badly wounded. On July 20, after nearly a week of terrible combat among the blackened stumps that were all that remained of the forest, only 750 South Africans walked out.
Schroeder brought home the grim fight for survival that it had been for the soldiers. Brandishing a shovel that had formed a standard part of a soldier’s kit, he reminded his audience, who included the wide-eyed young members of Port Alfred Sea Cadets, that the soldiers had gone into the forest with only what they could carry on their backs. “This was used for digging trenches, shallow graves, and even hand-to-hand combat,” Schroeder said.
The strategic angle Schroeder focused on at this year’s Delville Wood memorial was the Schlieffen Plan. Named after the former Chief of the General Staff of the German Army, it was a deployment plan for a decisive offensive against arch-enemy France. Instead of invading across their common border, the German army would instead effectively surround France via the Netherlands, Luxembourg and Belgium.
Years after it was devised, during World War 1 the plan was adopted, but in a much watered-down form. Schroeder’s explanations of strategy, and the basic maths of war, are always fascinating and this was no exception.
Membership of the Memorable Order of Tin Hats (MOTHs) is on the basis of having served in the armed services, or currently doing so. Founded in 1927 to support war veterans, its membership criteria specify certain campaigns (most pre-1994) and roles. Post 1994 criteria include active service in Allied and Nato forces in various campaigns since 1990 as well as deployment in on campaigns in support of African Union, SADC- and United Nations operations throughout the African continent. More details at moth.org.za
This article was first published in Talk of the Town, July 24, 2025. The newspaper serving the communities of Ndlambe and the Sunshine Coast, with a weekly wrap of Makhanda news, is available at stores from early on Thursdays.
