Page 64 - Bulletin 11 2007

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was walking out of the Yard to the British Hotel for a drink, it was a sign for them to do the
same. I remember walking out with other apprentices. We changed and caught a train for

Cape Town.

“The trains were packed and on arrival in Cape Town you couldn’t move. The crowds were

so dense that even the trams, taxis and horse-drawn cabs could not move. After a struggle
we managed to get to the Pier at the foot of Adderley Street only to find that this, too, was

jammed full of laughing and cheering people. As the bars were emptied of their stocks, so
they closed their doors. Then someone said you could still get a drink at the Regent Palace

in Plein Street. After struggling to get there, we found they were closing up: “Sold Out”.
The trams were locked in Adderley Street and couldn’t move. However, when people

realised that Cape Town was “DRY” they started to wend their way back to the suburbs and

it was only after 11 p.m. that the trams were able to move. The train back home was the
same – trains were packed. I and several other apprentices were lucky to be able to squeeze

into a compartment and left Cape Town for Simon’s Town at midnight. Everywhere you

looked somebody was either letting off rockets or cannon crackers. Everyone seemed to be
in a jolly mood. I suppose it was a way of getting rid of tension. We returned to work on

the Wednesday. Nobody questioned us as to why we didn’t turn up for duty and we just
carried on. On payday we found we hadn’t even been checked for lost time.”

The sequence of events in Cape Town itself began with the firing of guns from Signal Hill,

and this was followed by a public gathering on the Parade at 4 p.m. Long before 4 p.m. the

Grand Parade was packed with people and surrounding buildings filled with onlookers. On
a special stand in front of the City Hall, with the City Orchestra below, were gathered the

Mayor Mr Thorne, Councillors, City Officials, Rear-Admiral FitzHerbert the Naval C-in-C,
Brig-Gen Martin the GOC, Prime Minister Louis Botha, and Sir Thomas Smartt. (Fig.

1.39). They sang Psalm 100, and a motion of thanks to the Almighty for delivering victory
to the just was read, as was another to the King expressing gratitude for the performance of

his forces in securing the victory. There were cheers for the King, the Imperial Forces, the