The Speaker of Council in the City of Johannesburg, Cllr Colleen Makhubele, laid a wreath at the commemoration of the Battle of Delville Wood on Sunday, 16 July 2023. The Battle of Delville Wood that was the first major engagement by South Africans on the Western Front during the First World War where for six days and five nights a soldier was killed every minute, with one South African soldier dying every three minutes.  

The commemoration started on Friday, 14 July and will continue until 20 July 2023, to cover the mentioned six days of the battle.

Despite fierce counterattacks and artillery bombardments from German divisions, the SA brigade refused to surrender. 

“We are here commemorating the Delville Wood Battle to honour the memory of those that passed during the war, those that paid the sacrifice with their lives for the country that we live in. it is important that we highlight these moments and talk about the battles that were fought for this nation. May battles were fought in our history, this one in particular was against the German. This history needs to be told to the youth,” said Cllr Makhubele.

“As this is an important day, I want to say that this nation is diverse and there are many people that have made sure that we are part of this one diverse rainbow community.”

 “As the South African Legion, we thank you Speaker to help us keep the history alive. It is important that we work together as a diverse country and learn from history to work on a better South Africa for our future,” said Maurice Paoli. 

Written by Thembelihle Radebe

17/07/2023