DHS memorial service honours fallen heroes
November 12, 2004 Edition 1
Carvin Goldstone
World War 2 veterans, members of the armed forces, consular representatives from several countries and 700 pupils attended an Armistice Day memorial service at Durban High School yesterday. The service was held to honour former pupils who had died in war since 1914.
Among the DHS veterans in attendance was George Kirby, During World War 2 Kirby remained holed up in the top floor of a house in Italy for two weeks, while enemy troops occupied the bottom floor.
DHS archivist Jeremy Oddy said thousands of the school's old boys had fought in the world wars.
Oddy said 166 DHS old boys died in World War 2, and 78 died while serving in the air force.
One of these heroes was Capt Edwin Swales, a master bomber. Swales won the Victoria Cross after sacrificing his life to save his crew on February 23 1945.
Victoria Cross
Swales managed to hold his embattled Lancaster bomber steady while the rest of the crew jumped out of the aircraft. After the last man had jumped, the aircraft plunged to the ground. Swales was found dead at the controls.
A silver model of the bomber and miniatures of Swales's dress medals take a place of honour at the school.
The memorial day service offered present pupils a window into the past as they listened to the names of those who had died in battle being read out.
Kirby, like other war veterans attending the memorial service, believes that the way wars were fought in the 1940s differed vastly from how they are fought today.
He believes that the wars of the past were more personal because men could see their enemy. Today, wars are more technical.
Rod Edward, 82, a member of the Royal Natal Carbineers between 1942 and 1946, also fought in Italy. He believes that the reasoning behind going to war was also different.
"In those days, we were fighting for survival because the world was under threat by Hitler and nazism," he said.
Edward also emphasised that every South African who fought in the World War 2 did so voluntarily.
The Air Wing Commander of Air force Base Durban, Lt-Col Graham Barr, believes it is important to remind pupils of their culture and history, and to commemorate the heroes who fought on the war fronts.
