SPRINGBOK CYBER NEWSLETTER
December 1999 editionThis of course will not only be the last edition of the SCN this year, but also of the millennium. As we look back over the events of the past 50 or so years it is naturally easy to become depressed, as we have witnessed the whole of Africa being abandoned to the forces of darkness, culminating, of course, in the tragic surrender of Rhodesia, SWA, and more recently even our beloved South Africa itself, to the tender mercies of terrorist rule.
Elsewhere around the world, of course, the forces of western civilisation have also been under sustained attack, with internationalist entities usurping the powers of nation states, and the ties of global kith and kin being continually weakened.
But in spite of all these disasters there have been two most encouraging developments during 1999. Firstly there was the significant triumph of the Eurosceptic parties in the Euro-Elections (not only in the UK, but throughout the EU), and secondly, and perhaps more importantly, there was the fantastic victory for the "No" campaign in the Australian Constitutional Referendum, which was a clear vote by Australians in favour of the ties of kith and kin.
Events in world history have a tendancy to move very rapidly, and sometimes in a most unexpected direction (one only has to remember the profound events of the end of the 1980's, when the Iron Curtain came down, the Berlin Wall crumbled, and even the Soviet Union itself collapsed, all within a few brief months). With these recent encouraging events in both Europe and Australia we may well find that the dynamic of world history is once more moving in favour of western civilisation and ethnic kinship, and as a result a return to civilised White rule in Southern Africa may be closer than we think.
As we approach the new millennium we should not be depressed therefore. Events are starting to move in our direction, and we must have full confidence in ourselves and our cause for this new era. The future belongs to us.
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NOVEMBER SPRINGBOK CLUB MEETING
As many supporters will know, we were hoping to welcome the Hon. Ian Douglas Smith as our Guest of Honour for our Rhodesian theme meeting in November, as he was in the UK at the time. Unfortunately his tight schedule prevented this, but we were able to make direct contact with the great man, and he confirmed that he would be prepared to address the Springbok Club if he was ever to find himself in the UK again.
As it was, however, we staged a somewhat "low-key" meeting instead, which featured an informative illustrated talk on the history of the "Save Rhodesia Campaign". There was a small but enthusiastic audience, which included a mysterious unknown individual with a "skinhead" appearance, who arrived late and who nobody knew anything about. Does anybody know who this person was we wonder?
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DECEMBER SPRINGBOK CLUB MEETING
For our special "Day of the Vow" commemoration meeting this year we will have the very great honour of welcoming as our Guest of Honour the Rt. Hon. the Earl of Burford.
The Earl of Burford is the eldest son and heir of the Duke of St.Albans. He shot to fame in October of this year when he staged a dramatic protest on the Woolsack in the House of Lords against the plans of the present British Labour government to abolish the hereditary nature of the House of Lords, and against increasing national power being surrendered to the EU. The Earl of Burford studied at Hertford College, Oxford, where he gained a first-class degree in modern languages. He is President of the "Shakespeare Oxford Society" and has lectured on Shakespeare throughout North America. He is also Director of "Freedom in Action" and President of the "De Vere Society". Following his famous protest he has been instrumental in establishing the "New House of Peers", a grouping formed under the provisions of Magna Carta which stated that it only takes 25 hereditary peers to assemble anywhere in the land to constitute a legitimate House of Lords. In his keynote talk the Earl of Burford has agreed to tell us a bit more about both "Freedom in Action" and the "New House of Peers".
The details of this gathering are as follows :-
Date : Saturday 18th December 1999
Time : 18.30 hrs. for 19.00 hrs.
Venue : The Morpeth Arms, 58 Millbank, Westminster, London SW1.
(close to the Tate Gallery and Vauxhall Bridge
nearest Underground Station : Pimlico)
A full buffet meal will also be provided at this event, and admission will be free for all Full and Life Members of the SPRINGBOK CLUB, £4.00 per head for Associate Members, and £8.00 per head for other friends and supporters. Although payments may be made on the night, we would appreciate it if those intending to attend could inform us in advance so that we can confirm numbers. This can of course be done either by e-mail at: springbk@netcomuk.co.uk, or by writing to THE SPRINGBOK CLUB, BCM SAPAT, LONDON WC1N 3XX, UK (all payments to be made payable to "Patriotic Press").
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S.A.PATRIOT-IN-EXILE No.35
As all UK subscribers will now know, S.A.PATRIOT-IN-EXILE No.35 has at last been safely published.
Unfortunately, however, we haven't been able to afford to post out any copies to our South African subscribers so far (or to those elsewhere in the world for this matter), and we estimate that we need to raise approximately another £144.00 in order to complete this task. A good method of helping us in this regard (as well as helping to "spread the word") would be to purchase a bulk quantity of the magazine for re-distribution. Bulk prices are as follows :-
25 copies £8.00 R80.00 or US$24.00
50 copies £12.50 R125.00 or US$37.50
100 copies £20.00 R200.00 or US$60.00
200 copies £35.00 R350.00 or US$95.00
All orders should of course be sent to :-
Patriotic Press, BCM SAPAT, London WC1N 3XX, U.K.
All payments from South Africa should be made payable to "N. Lamprecht" in Rand, from North America they should be made either in US cash or cheques WITH THE PAYEE'S NAME LEFT BLANK, and from the UK or the rest of the world by cheque or P.O.'s made payable to "Patriotic Press" in Sterling. Also please confirm whether you would like to receive a batch of edition No.35 only, or a selection of all our most recent issues.
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BRANCH DEVELOPMENT
Brendon Jones, who was attempting to form a Devon Branch of the SPRINGBOK CLUB, has recently moved from Devon to Wiltshire - but he is now hoping to establish a branch in this new location. We have also been contacted by supporters in both Glasgow and Co.Down who are most keen to form branches in their respective areas, and of course already have embryo branches in Kent, London, Cheshire/Lancashire and Hampshire (as well as co-ordinators in Australia, the United States and Sweden). If you are from any of these areas and would like to become more actively involved then please contact us in this regard at :
springbk@netcomuk.co.uk
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MONDAY CLUB MEETING
Several SPRINGBOK CLUB members attended a meeting staged by the "Conservative Monday Club" in November which was addressed by Lord Lamont of Lerwick on the subject of that great friend of the true South Africa, General Augusto Pinochet.
Although Lord Lamont's speech was by its very nature somewhat depressing, he did however expertly remind us all about the great friendship and achievements of the good General, and how he had now been unlawfully detained by the Blair government for over a year. This speech reminded us all about the terrible injustice being meted out to this great friend of both Britain and South Africa, who was now truly being held as a political prisoner. Hopefully we will now all be encouraged to redouble our efforts to procure his early freedom.
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BOOK OFFER
COVOS BOOKS of South Africa are specialist publishers of Africana, and offer a range of most interesting and illuminating books which will appeal to many of our supporters. Amongst the titles they stock are:-
FIREFORCE - One man's war in the Rhodesian Light Infantry, by Chris Cocks. Hard cover with dust jacket, 228 x 155 mm., 368 pages, 120 black and white and colour photos, plus maps and sketches. Widely acclaimed as the classic account of counter-insurgency warfare in Africa. Includes the RLI roll of honour, citations and operational orders. Price R185.00.
HOW WE KEPT THE FLAG FLYING, by Donald MacDonald. Hard cover, 213 x 137 mm., 303 pages, with frontispiece and 7 illustrations and various diagrams. This enduring story of the Siege of Ladysmith is the first in a series of Anglo-Boer War reprints. Price R169.95.
PAMWE CHETE - The Legend of the Selous Scouts, by Lt.Col. Ron Reid-Daly. The revamped, rewritten version of the best-selling "Top Secret War". With new, previously unpublished material, including the roll of honour and full schedules of citations and wings. New photo sections. The definitive account of this exceptional unit's short but distinguished service in the field of counter-insurgency operations during the Rhodesian Bush War. Price R225.00.
SURVIVAL COURSE, by Chris Cocks. The sequel to "Fireforce", chronicling the author's fifteen-month experience, up until the advent of Zimbabwe in 1980, as a stick-leader in the specialist PATU (Police Anti-Terrorist Unit), operating on Rhodesia's eastern border. Part 2 deals with the author's traumatic and harrowing transition to civilian life. Price R95.00.
COVOS BOOKS can be contacted at : P.O.Box 6996, Weltevredenpark, Transvaal, 1715, South Africa. Tel.: +2711-4769926, fax.: +2711-4769927, e-mail : covos@global.co.za
We are happy to be able to announce that the Springbok Club can now supply copies of all these books, prices being £20.00 (Fireforce), £15.00 (How We Kept the Flag Flying), £27.50 (Pamwe Chete) and £10.00 (Survival Course). All payments should be made payable to "Patriotic Press", and sent to: BCM SAPAT, London WC1N 3XX, UK. (Please add 10% for p.& p.).
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WHERE ARE THEY NOW ?
A regular feature in which we ask whether anyone knows the current whereabouts of a friend or colleague who has lost contact. (We have been informed that our inclusion of Owen Parvess in this section last month was the second time that we had included him in this section. Apologies for this duplication therefore - so now we will give you a second "No.16"!)
No.16 : Mr. LANCE TERRY.
Although Lance Terry was born in Surrey in the UK, he emigrated to South Africa with his parents at an early age, and lived with them at Eerste Rivier in the Western Cape, where they evidently ran a dog kennels and cattery. He was reading law at UCT when we knew him during the 1980's, when he was both a good friend of S.A.PATRIOT and an active member of the "Moderate Student's Movement" at UCT (an affiliate of the anti-NUSAS "National Students' Federation"). We are uncertain whether he is still in South Africa or has returned to the UK, but in either case we would like to re-make contact with him.
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RECOMMENDED WEB-SITE
A 200-hectare farm called "Die Bos" bordering the N2 in Somerset West is being carefully re-developed into an entire and completely secure town called "Heritage Park". This is not some "pie in the sky" scheme like so many of the "Afrikaner homeland" ideas, but a viable and well-planned enterprise which will provide full security and safety to its residents within the increasingly lawless and collapsing South Africa. In a way is can therefore be regarded as a "holding-operation" for its inhabitants to live in safety until civilised rule can be re-established in the country.
Heritage Park has an excellent web-site which can be accessed at :-
http://www.heritageprk.com
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OBITUARIES
We were all of course greatly saddened by the recent death of Pieter Kenyon "P.K." van der Byl. P.K. van der Byl was of course the charismatic and leading member of the Rhodesian Government during the days of UDI, holding at various times the portfolios of Defence and Foreign Affairs. He was a truly inspirational figure, exulting confidence and defiance amongst all Rhodesian troops and citizens who he came into contact with. He was actually the son of a South African cabinet minister under Jan Smuts, and here, alas, lay the root of one of the greatest tragedies to befall Southern Africa. The National Party South African PM John Vorster could evidently never forgive van der Byl for the fact that his father was a leading United Party parliamentarian, and was therefore prepared to stab Rhodesia in the back. If there had been more people like P.K. van der Byl and less like John Vorster in Southern Africa then the world would undoubtedly be a far, far better place today.
We have also recently learnt of the sad death of Eve Brierley a few months ago. Eve Brierley was the Chairperson of the Durban Branch of the "South African/Rhodesian Association" (SARA), and with her eager team of lady supporters was a familiar figure collecting funds for the Rhodesian cause in the Durban area during the 1970's - particularly outside King's Park at the time of big rugby matches! Although she initially worked closely with the more politically-orientated "Save Rhodesia Campaign", there subsequently developed great friction between these two organisations, which of course greatly damaged the Rhodesian cause at a very important moment for the country's existence. It is not our purpose now to accredit blame; all we will say is that here again was a great and avoidable tragedy for Southern Africa. Nothing however can deflect from the sincerity and dedication of Eve Brierley, who furthermore was still a great and active supporter of expatriate Rhodesian organisations in South Africa until her death.
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