The Port Alfred MOTHs held their Remembrance Day parade at the Battleaxe Shellhole, the Eddie Grant Memorial Hall last Sunday, under the relentless glare of a bold November sun. The 20 uniformed members were matched by around the same number of family and other members of the public who honoured the memory of men, women and, indeed, animals who had died during armed conflict.
The ceremony, originally called Armistice Day, marks the day World War One ended: at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the eleventh month, in 1918. In South Africa and other countries around the word that commemorate it, it’s held on the closest Sunday to that date. Veterans of more recent conflicts closer to home, including the South African Border War/ Namibian War of Independence, as well as the Rhodesian Bush War/ Zimbabwean Liberation War continue the tradition.
Led by the Port Alfred MOTHs Old Bill (chair) Kevin Riddin, the traditions of two minutes’ silence, the lowering of the national flag to The Last Post and raising it again to Reveille, and the solemn laying of wreaths in honour of units represented at the shellhole were embellished by in-house historian Mark Schroeder and resident chaplain Neil Scott.
Schroeder explained how red poppies became the symbol of hope in a world devastated by war. He related the account of British fighter ace Cecil Lewis who was grounded and forced to traverse on foot the horrifying aftermath of battle. Lewis had described in his book, Sagittarius Rising, the unexpected and redemptive beauty of thousands of red poppies growing amid mud, charred treestumps and even human remains in Flanders, Belgium.
“It was a sign that in the despair of war there was a glimmer of hope – that the world would not remain broken forever.”
Scott spoke of the idea of military service being associated by some young men with glory, excitement and even fun.
“The reality is that all war is dirty, dehumanising, terrible, painful and very likely fatal.”
In the first few decades after 1918, the significance of Remembrance Day had been all too real for families who had lost sons, husbands and fathers. Now, Scott said, it was easy to forget the grim reality of war.
An emotional Tim Ord read an extract from a letter his brother, Lieutenant-Colonel Richard Ord, who described plans for the event in London, where he lives. More or less at the time Tim was reading his brother’s letter, Richard would be leading the Gordon Highlanders at the Cenotaph Remembrance Parade in Whitehall. “There will be a march past after the ceremony… about 1000 veterans will be on parade,” wrote Richard, 82.
Members of the MOTHs and their families, and visitors enjoyed refreshments in the hall afterwards.
- This article was first published in Talk of the Town, November 13, 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.
