Page 109 - KBHA BULLETIN 6

Naval ships continued to call at the Cape and to give leave. The naval hospitality scheme

continued until the Naval Commander-in-Chief at Simon’s Town said that it was time to

stop. The last organized leave was for the officers and seamen of H.M.S. Vanguard which
conveyed King George VI, Queen Elizabeth and the two princesses to South Africa for the

Royal Visit in February 1947.

In 1947 S.A.W.A.S. Command 13, after distributing their funds to various scholarships for
women students and financing a ward for the projected Red Cross Children’s Hospital,

used the final surplus to establish a home for elderly women – known as S.A.W.A.S. House

– in Pinelands. Later that year the movement disbanded. This home remains to this day and
bears tribute to the magnificent work done by all S.A.W.A.S. auxiliaries during the war,

and until the end of 1947.

References :

Bean, Lucy (1970) Strangers in our midst, Howard Timmins, Cape Town.

S.A.W.A.S. Command 13 Souvenir Brochure "Salute the Women", in conjunction with

st
African Consolidated Theatres (Ltd) at Alhambra Theatre Cape Town, 31 March 1941.

The Women's Auxiliary, published from 1939 - 1946.

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