TOPIC:

Adrian's post about meeting up made me regret the fact that I can't easily join you.

It also reminded me of some email correspondence from a few weeks ago about a possible conference in October 2014 to celebrate the 115th anniversary War. This may take place in Dundee to coincide with the Talana Museum’s 'Talana Live' between the 17th and 20th October 2014.

Has anyone heard any more details of this?

The conference is confirmed:

From the Boer to the Great War
International Military History Conference
115th Anniversary Anglo Boer War 1899-1902
Centenary The Great War 1914-1918

20 – 22 October 2014
Talana Museum – Dundee – South Africa

It seems impossible to believe that next year will be five years since we arranged that conference in Ladysmith to coincide with the 110th anniversary of the Ladysmith battles in 2010.

Next year will, therefore, be the 115th anniversary of the beginning of the Anglo-Boer War and, of course, the first major battle at Talana on the 20th October 1899. It will coincide with Talana Museum’s “Talana Live” between the 17th and 19th October 2014.

Talana Museum will be producing a display to commemorate the centenary of the outbreak of WW1 and will open to the public at the beginning of August 2014. It seems to me that there was an opportunity to hold a conference similar to that held in Ladysmith, possibly focusing on the Battle of Talana but also with a link between the Anglo-Boer War and WW1. The National Chairman of the SA Military History Society (Mrs Marjorie Dean) supports the idea and has given the go-ahead for the Society to be associated with it, as was the case in Ladysmith in 2010.

The purpose of this letter, therefore, is to ask you if you would be interested in presenting a paper at such a conference. Please bear in mind that there is unlikely to be any sponsorship whatsoever.

Talana Live will take place over the weekend of the 17th to 19th October 2014. This will then be followed by the conference from 20-22 October 2014.

Would you be interesting in presenting a paper (as mentioned, I’m afraid there is unlikely to be any funding available to subsidise transport or accommodation costs)?

Do you wish to add anything, for the organising committee to consider?

Regards,
Ken Gillings

The way to unlock money for projects such as this one is to involve people who actually have money and/or have direct access to the public purse. In South Africa we all know who they are.

Perhaps there are such people amongst the descendents of men who played and unsung role in the Battle of Talana. Elsewhere on this forum, I wrote about the Natal Native Scouts and included the following:

"Recommendations and remarks by Jabez Molife, Chief of Native Scouts, in connection with men with whom he had to do during the late Anglo-Boer War.

In August 1899, General Penn-Symons had me summoned to him to inform him who were the most trustworthy men I would recommend for spying what the Boers in Transvaal and Orange River Colony were doing. I recommended W.G. Mini, Waka Sopela, Stephanus Xaba, Simeon Kambule, Chief Ncwadi, and Chief Mayime, Hlubi's brother in Zululand. These men were from that day forward used to get information about the Boers for the Authorities and they worked well."

For example, Molife used his contact with one Liba Sikosana, one of Lucas Meyer's policemen, to meet with Meyer himself. Afterwards he went south, first to Nqutu and then on to Helpmekaar and was there able to report on his meeting to the British.

Brett

A provisional programme for the conference and a Registration Form.

Best wishes
David

Looks like I will be going to this. Be wonderful to meet up with forum members.

It will indeed!