South African Veteran Signallers' Association

22/04/2026

29/03/2026

PPM BORDER WAR 60-Year MEMORIAL SERVICE

Lest We Forget: 60 Years Since the Start of the Border War

Sixty years ago, a chapter of our history began that would touch the lives of countless individuals and families. This August, we gather at the Fort Schanskop Amphitheatre to honor the memory of those who served and those who were lost.

Join the Pro Patria Museum for a formal Memorial Service as we reflect on this 60th anniversary with dignity and respect.

• 📅 Date: 23 August 2026
• 📍 Venue: Fort Schanskop Amphi, Voortrekker Monument
• 🕙 Time: 10h00
• 👔 Dress Code: Step-Outs / Jacket & Tie / Formal (Medals may be worn)
• 🔗 RSVP: Please ensure you RSVP online by 18 August 2026 at: https://forms.cloud.microsoft/r/mHTcryHFhh

We look forward to standing together in remembrance.

23/03/2026

02/02/2026

14/11/2025

The fact that South Africa was one of the first countries outside of the UK to develop and deploy its own radar technology during World War II is a profound, yet often forgotten, chapter of military and scientific history.

⚡ The SA Radar Project: A Secret Success

The South African radar program was initiated out of necessity and national security. With the outbreak of World War II in September 1939, the vital sea route around the Cape of Good Hope became a target for German U-boats and surface raiders. Britain, while having developed the technology, could not immediately supply radar sets to its Dominions due to the intense needs of the Battle of Britain.

🔬 The "Schonland Team"
The project was spearheaded by Professor Basil Schonland , a renowned physicist and Director of the Bernard Price Institute for Geophysical Research (BPI) at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits). Schonland was one of the senior scientists invited to the UK just before the war to be briefed on the secret technology (then called RDF - Radio Direction Finding).
On his return, Schonland assembled a small, brilliant team of local engineers and physicists.

⏱️ Achieving the Breakthrough
The team was given the task to design and build a working radar set in an incredibly short timeframe to "learn the technique."

* 1939, September: War breaks out; Schonland returns to South Africa.

* 1939, December 16 (Dingaan's Day): The South African-built radar successfully records its first echo from the Northcliff Water Tower, 8 km away from the Wits campus. This was just three months after starting the project!

* 1940, Early: The system successfully detects a test aircraft in flight.

The success was achieved using components largely sourced from local amateur radio suppliers, demonstrating remarkable ingenuity and resourcefulness.

🚀 The Operational "JB" Radar
The initial prototype evolved into the first operational South African radar system, affectionately known as the "JB" (for Johannesburg).

* Coastal Defence: The JB sets were rapidly deployed along the South African coast as part of the Special Signals Services (SSS) to monitor the crucial shipping lanes for enemy vessels.

* Deployment Overseas: The home-grown radar was so effective that the British military, initially skeptical, was quickly impressed. The JB sets were deployed to East Africa (1940) and later to the Middle East (1941-42), supporting Allied operations and protecting installations like the Suez Canal. In some instances, the local South African JBs were reported to achieve better results than the larger, purpose-built British sets operating nearby.

This pioneering effort not only protected the South African coast but demonstrated a world-class level of scientific and technical capability, cementing South Africa's role as a vital Allied technical partner in the war.

11/11/2025

As dawn broke over Sydney, the sails of the iconic Sydney Opera House were illuminated with a sea of red poppies, as the Last Post rang out across the harbour.

Today, we pause together in remembrance, honouring the courage, resilience, and sacrifice of those who have served, and those who gave their lives in defence of our nation.

05/11/2025

On November 7th, 1920, in strictest secrecy, four unidentified British bodies were exhumed from temporary battlefield cemeteries at Ypres, Arras, the Asine and the Somme.

None of the soldiers who did the digging were told why.

The bodies were taken by field ambulance to GHQ at St-Pol-Sur-Ter Noise. Once there, the bodies were draped with the union flag.

Sentries were posted and Brigadier-General Wyatt and a Colonel Gell selected one body at random. The other three were reburied.

A French Honour Guard was selected and stood by the coffin overnight of the chosen soldier overnight.

On the morning of the 8th November, a specially designed coffin made of oak from the grounds of Hampton Court arrived and the Unknown Warrior was placed inside.

On top was placed a crusaders sword and a shield on which was inscribed:

"A British Warrior who fell in the GREAT WAR 1914-1918 for King and Country".

On the 9th of November, the Unknown Warrior was taken by horse-drawn carriage through Guards of Honour and the sound of tolling bells and bugle calls to the quayside.

There, he was saluted by Marechal Foche and loaded onto HMS Vernon bound for Dover. The coffin stood on the deck covered in wreaths, surrounded by the French Honour Guard.

Upon arrival at Dover, the Unknown Warrior was met with a nineteen gun salute - something that was normally only reserved for Field Marshals.

A special train had been arranged and he was then conveyed to Victoria Station, London.

He remained there overnight, and, on the morning of the 11th of November, he was finally taken to Westminster Abbey.

The idea of the unknown warrior was thought of by a Padre called David Railton who had served on the front line during the Great War the union flag he had used as an altar cloth whilst at the front, was the one that had been draped over the coffin.

It was his intention that all of the relatives of the 517,773 combatants whose bodies had not been identified could believe that the Unknown Warrior could very well be their lost husband, father, brother or son...

THIS is the reason we wear poppies.

We do not glorify war.

We remember - with humility - the great and the ultimate sacrifices that were made, not just in this war, but in every war and conflict where our service personnel have fought - to ensure the liberty and freedoms that we now take for granted.

Every year, on the 11th of November, we remember the Unknown Warrior.

At the going down of the sun, and in the morning, we will remember them.

17/10/2025

-Yoda

16/09/2025

In 1825, while painting a portrait in Washington, D.C., Samuel Morse received a letter informing him that his wife was seriously ill. The next day, another letter arrived with devastating news; she had died. Morse immediately abandoned his work and rushed home to New Haven.

By the time he arrived, his wife had already been buried. The slow pace of communication meant he had missed her final moments and couldn’t even attend her funeral. The emotional toll of this experience left a deep mark on him, fueling a desire to find a faster way to transmit urgent messages over long distances.

This personal tragedy became the catalyst for Morse’s groundbreaking work in telegraphy. Driven by grief and frustration, he developed a system of electrical signals that could be sent quickly across wires, what we now know as Morse code. His invention revolutionized communication and changed the world forever.