A SHORT HISTORY OF THE SERINGAPATAM MEDAL OF 1799
By: Anzel Veldman - Curator, DITSONG: National Museum of Military History War has been a constant presence in human history and as such rewards have been bestowed upon deeds of valour and martial daring. War medals have a long and storied
MRS PLES (STS 5) FROM THE STERKFONTEIN CAVES, SOUTH AFRICA
By: Francis Thackeray, Honorary Research Associate, Evolutionary Studies Institute, University of the Witwatersrand and Lazarus Kgasi, Plio-Pleistocene Palaeontology, DITSONG: National Museum of Natural History “Mrs Ples” (Sts 5) is the nickname of a Plio-Pleistocene skull (Fig. 1) attributed to Australopithecus africanus,
IMAGES OF SOUTH AFRICAN NAVAL OPERATIONS DURING THE SECOND WORLD WAR (1939 – 1945)
By: Allan Sinclair - DITSONG: National Museum of Military History Introduction For centuries it has been the tradition throughout the world to depict war and battle scenes in art. During the 19th century, war art was recognised as a genre and war
THE HISTORY AND THE ROLE OF MILITARY SURVEYING AND SIGHTING DURING WARS
By: Abraham Mohale - Junior Curator, Communication, Sighting and Survey, DITSONG: National Museum of Military History Figure 1, WW 1- A surveyor on the battlefield. Introduction In the 18TH century modern techniques and instruments for surveying emerged. A British mathematician, astronomical and scientific
THE SPATIAL ORGANISATION AND LAYOUT OF A ZULU ROYAL IKHANDA/AMAKHANDA MILITARY HOMESTEADS
By: Tinyeko Captain Ndhlovu, Curator: Insignia, Memorial Plaques, Postal History, DITSONG: National Museum of Military History This article focuses on the description of the spatial organisation and layout of Zulu military homesteads, known as Royal ikhanda (head)/amakhanda (heads), which were introduced
HINKY-DINKY PARLEZ-VOUS: SOME WORLD WAR I SONGS AND TRENCH LINGO
By: Anzel Veldman - Curator, DITSONG: National Museum of Military History In the muddy, bloody, and hellish battlefields of World War I (1914-1918), soldiers developed a unique language and songs that reflected the harsh realities of their daily lives in the
A MEDICAL PRACTITIONER WHO BECAME A PALAEONTOLOGIST
By: Lazarus Kgasi, Junior Curator, DITSONG: National Museum of Natural History In the history of South African science, Robert Broom ranks among the most flamboyant and controversial individuals. The tall, eccentric doctor, who was born in Scotland, is most known for
THE FORCE INTERVENTION BRIGADE
By: David Rilley-Harris - Curator, DITSONG: National Museum of Military History The Force Intervention Brigade Insignia (Wikipedia). The Great African War (1998-2003) brought about the formation of a UN (United Nations) peacekeeping operation in 1999. It would become the largest ever UN peacekeeping
NELSON MANDELA INTERNATIONAL DAY 2023
This year’s Nelson Mandela International Day on 18 July will be celebrated under the theme: “It is in Your Hands.” Nelson Mandela, in addressing the scourge of poverty, suffering and deprivation, said: "It is in your hands to make our world
2023 FIELDWORK AT BOLT’S FARM CAVE SYSTEM
By: Lazarus Kgasi, Junior Curator: DITSONG: National Museum of Natural History The Bolt’s farm team, under the leadership of Dominique Gommery from, Centre National de Recherché Scientifique and Sorbonne University in France, has been meticulously excavating fossils from the Bolt's Farm