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| German fort in Etosha - Yes he was in South West Africa in 1914. |
In my previous blog post, I mentioned that I will be going through the history of three family members in the two world wars. I managed to get their military records which allowed me to get information on their units and dates of posting. Based on this information I have been able to start piecing bits together. This has been an amazing experience piecing together the history. I am now very sorry that I can no longer speak to any of them. It is essential that these little bit of history and the personal stories of the men who served in the World Wars are recorded before that get lost forever in the mists of time. The history of the wars are well recorded, but the personal stories of the men who served dies off with each passing of another soul. If the surviving family members do not make an effort to tell these stories, they will be gone forever.
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| Document signed by Richard Bragg |
So, lets start with the oldest records. This would be my Grandfather, Richard Bragg. As I have mentioned in a previous blog, all I knew was that he was at Arras and was gassed. From his military records, there is so much more. Some interesting information which I could gather from the document which he signed when he joined up was the details of his next of kin and their address. His father (my great grandfather) was listed as Joseph Bragg who lived in Whitehaven, England. So obviously my grandfather was the first to move to South Africa.
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| Arras in 1917 |
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| He was just 24 years old when he joined up for the 2nd time. |
When looking at the form in some detail, my eye fell on the question of if he had any other military experience. Much to my surprise, his answer was "yes". He spent 11 months with S.A.E.C in South West Africa. First question - what is S.A.E.C.? A quick search on the internet and I had the answer. South African Corp of Engineers. Somewhere in the dim and distant recesses of my mind I remember some story that my ancestor came to South Africa as a train driver. This must have been my Grandfather! He was a train driver.
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| Train at Tsumeb In S.W.A. Looks like Germans in the photo |
Based on his military records, he was part of the South African forces, under Generals Smuts and Botha, which defeated the Germans in South West Africa (now called Namibia). Interesting fact, my wife's maiden name is Botha and she has told me that there is some connect to General Botha. Not sure how, but that would make another interesting story. Who would have through that the grand children of two men who severed in the Great War together would later be married. At least this time, they were on the same side. There are stories from my Wife's side that her great grandmother (or could have been grandmother was in the concentration camps in the Boer war. She did not like the English. She was not alone and Smuts and Botha first had to sort out a Boer rebellion before they could take on the Germans. According to the military records of Richard Bragg, he was with this force in S.W.A. from 6 October 1914 to 31 August 1915. The conflict in South West Africa ended in June 1915 and he was eventually discharged at the end of August 1915. There is no clear evidence in the records of the time that he was in SWA that he was a train driver. There is, however, very clear evidence later in his records that he was a train driver. I assume that in the SWA campaign, he was also a train drive. The railway unit, at the time, was part of S.A.E.C. and there is clear evidence from his records that he was in the S.A.E.C.
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| A very dry country |
In his records, it is stated that he departed Cape Town for S.W.A. on the SS Colonial on 18 December 1914. After spending some time searching on line, I could not find any record of a ship called SS Colonial. I did, however, manage to find a image of a troop ship departing from Cape Town for S.W.A in December 1914. On this image, it is not possible to see the name of the ship. So, the bottom line, he left Cape Town, by ship for SWA in December 1914.
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| Troop ship departing Cape Town in 1914. |
The only other information I can gather from his records during the S.W.A. campaign was that on 2 February 1915, it was recorded that he scolded his hand in Keetmanshop. This is once again a bit of circumstantial evidence to the possibility that he was a train driver. Hot metal and steam being common in the engine of a train in that day and age. This is, however not conclusive proof. Accidentally handling a spent shell case from an artillery gun as it comes out of the breech would also scold one's hand. Ask me - I know how hot they get. When I was doing my national service and we were on the rifle range, the cartridge case from the R1 of the guy standing next to me found its way from the breech of his rifle down my shirt. It burnt the hell out of me and luckily my belt stopped it doing down my pants, or we would have had fried eggs!
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| Image of a train in the S.W.A. Campaign |
Based on the history of the S.W.A. campaign, the railway played a critical role in defeating the Germans. Anyone who has been to Namibia knows that it is a vast, very dry country, particularly in the South. Most of the accounts refer to conflicts along the railway line. There are also records of building railway lines to connect with the lines in the Northern Cape to the captured German train lines. A South African record for laying railway lines was set during this campaign when over 8 km of line was laid in one single day.
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| The only details of the S.W.A campaign in his records |
Last record of the S.W.A. campaign and Richard Bragg was his discharge on 31 August 1915. This was nowhere near Arras or being gassed, which was all that I knew previously of my Grandfathers military history in the Great war, so there must be more to this story. There is so much more so stay tuned.
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