ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING HELD AT DICKIE FRITZ SHELL HOLE, EDENVALE ON 1st MARCH 2014 Before opening the Annual General Meeting Chairman Charlie Norris welcomed and thanked all those present for attending. He then read out the Roll of Honour of the twenty two members who have passed on since the last AGM.

This was followed by a minute of silence. Present – 15 of which 13 were voting members Apologies – Patrick Hill; Ian Bate; Pat Armstrong; Peter Mincher; Dave Pope; Richard Blaylock; Wayne Bouch; Dave Russell; John Cannon; Gary Huxham; Terry Pittaway; Luiz Figueredo; Mick Jeffrey; Mark Taunton; Gus Mason; John Cannon; Doug McGibbon; John Norman, Nick Skipworth-Michell and Pete Gombart. The AGM was opened at 11h15.

Previous Minutes Accepted - The Chairman referred to the Minutes of the previous AGM and asked if anyone had any questions. It was noted that the apology from Terry Griffin was incorrectly recorded as from Terry Griffiths.

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With this amendment, and as there were no other matters arising, the Minutes of the AGM held on the 25th August 2012 were adopted. Proposed by Bill Wiggill and Seconded by Chris Ras. The Last Year in Review – Charlie Norris reviewed the activities of the Association over the last year and highlighted the following: • The 2013 Annual Reunion and Remembrance Service event was a success and very enjoyable but the Memorial Service and Dinner on the Saturday was poorly attended with about 60 people attending. Due to this, the committee decided to tone down the event for 2014 and have it on one day only. • The 2014 Annual Reunion and Remembrance Service went off well and was well attended.

All feedback has been positive. • The Committee and members attended various memorial services throughout the year. Wreaths were laid at the following: • The SADF Commemoration Service at the Voortrekker Monument. • The Delville Wood Parade and Memorial at the Johannesburg Military Museum. • The Sidi Rezegh Parade at Dickie Fritz Shellhole. • The Rhodesian Forces Memorial Service at Dickie Fritz. • A 9mm pistol range day organised by Alan Strachan was well attended and an enjoyable day had by those who attended.

• Rob Marsh arranged the Post Traumatic Stress Disorder event at Dickie Fritz. The turnout for this was very good but only a few people have taken advantage of Dr Peter Jones special offer for counselling members suffering from PTSD. • A sub-committee has been formed to investigate the various possibilities of erecting a permanent RLI Memorial in Gauteng. The committee is headed by Gary Huxham who has had architectural drawings done and will be presenting these for discussion. A bank account has been opened for receiving donations for this project.

Financial Report – Treasurer Rob Marsh thanked Sylvia Wiggill for her assistance in producing the set of accounts. Income statement: Membership Fees invoiced total R67 100 however only about R25 000 is expected to end up in the bank account due to lethargy on behalf of the others.

The sales of the Africa’s Commandos Book brought in R342 000 up to the end of December 2013. Against this figure are expenses of R349 000 including royalties which puts this project in a near breakeven situation. Profit on sale of memorabilia; Len Beechey was thanked for the tremendous effort he puts into the sale of memorabilia.

Len sets up a sales table at any opportunity he can find and Rob Marsh advised that sale of memorabilia was up by 25% from the previous financial year. Len received a round of applause for his commitment.

A donation of R35 000 was made to the Shamwari Trust making the RLI RA (Africa) the biggest single contributor to the Shamwari Trust compared to any of the other units involved with the Trust. Profit = R38 000 for the year.

Balance sheet: Debtors amount to R58 000 including outstanding membership fees and royalties from overseas sales of the Africa’s Commandos books. Stock on hand is R65 000 which includes R10 600 of the Africa’s Commandos books at cost. Cash on hand was R189 000 as at end of December. Book Creditors owed are R33 000.

Rob asked if anyone one had any questions. Having no questions the Financial Report was accepted.

Proposed by Chris Ras and Seconded by Bucks Theron. Secretaries Report – Secretary Alan Strachan Correspondence, Resolutions and Meetings: Correspondence has been of a general nature, mainly in the form of round robin emails received throughout the year inviting members to memorial services, parades, shows and other association’s activities.

There has also been inter-branch correspondence of a general nature. Correspondence out has been by the way of replies to invites, thank you letters and general inter branch communication. 4 Resolutions have been signed since the last AGM. Resolution 01/2013 was to give Bill Wiggill the necessary executive powers to fulfil his position as the project manager of the Africa’s Commandos Book Project.

Resolution 02/2013 was to give authority to Rob Marsh to open a savings account in the name of The Shamwari Trust Savings Account. Resolution 03/2013 was authorizing the bank to add Charlie Norris as a signatory to the bank account and at the same time to remove Bill Wiggill as a signatory.

Resolution 04/2013 was authorizing Rob Marsh to open a separate bank account for the receiving of donations and for making payments with regard to the Memorial Project. A total of 32 Committee meetings have been held since the last AGM.

With the odd exception, the committee members meet to discuss affairs of the Association every two weeks for about an hour. Membership: In 2009 we had a total of 233 members, 2010 a total of 283 members, 2011 a total of 387, 2012 a total of 426 and in 2013 we had 435 members registered with the Africa branch of the Association. The breakdown of the current Africa branch membership as of yesterday morning is as follows: Life members – 6 (these members do not pay subs) Honourary members – 21 (these members do not pay subs) Affiliate members - 14 Associate members – 15 Full members – 352 Only 86 of these members have paid their subs for the 2014. Add to this the 6 Life members and 21 Honourary members, the current membership is only 113 members (about 25% of the registered members are paid up). To date subs paid totals R26 630. For this year some changes were made to the membership fee structure in the hope that more members would be encouraged to pay their subs. These changes haven’t really made the difference that were hoped for.The committee will continue trying to find a solution to this problem and if anyone has any ideas they would like to share, the committee would like to hear them.

It has been noted that year after year it is the same ouens paying their subs. Nominal Roll: The Nominal Roll is still being worked on but very little information is coming through. Old commando photos are a good source of information but it is time consuming recording all the names. If anyone would like to get involved in this project and give Tiny Jansen and Alan Strachan a hand please let them know.

Bill Wiggill suggested that Pauline Liversage be contacted as she is looking for some way to assist the Association. He also suggested that Ian Carswell be contacted as he has also indicated that he would like to be involved in an admin roll.

SA Legion: The RLI, SAS, Selous Scouts and Rhodesian Air Force associations in conjunction with the Shamwari Trust are in discussion with the SA Legion to set up a branch of the Legion for the ouens to join and to get the many benefits offered by them. When a clearer picture of this emerges the Association will advise and encourage our members to join. It is understood that annual subs are only R80.00 per year.

Bill Wiggill was asked to comment on this as he has been in discussion with the other units on how best to implement this project. Bill gave an outline of the advantages of joining the SA Legion and how he felt it should be established. Bill will have a meeting with Pat Armstrong of the Selous Scouts Association to discuss ways with him to join the SA Legion as a combined force. Alan thanked the other committee members for their support and their commitment to the Association.

He also thanked all you ouens present for making the effort to attend. Regional Representative Reports: Gauteng: Bucks Theron advised that the numbers of people attending the monthly prayer meetings has doubled since changing from Friday nights to Saturday afternoons. He also advised that the monthly prayer meetings would continue to be held at Dickie Fritz with the exceptions of the July and December meetings which will be held at his house in Honeydew. Eastern Cape: Pete Gombart was unable to attend but sent Charlie Norris a report by e-mail.

Hi Charlie, We have had quite a busy year although there is very few us, most of them being very productive apart from the loss of my wife, anyway, we are note here to talk about that so I will carry on with the good points. I have been ably assisted by Mark Taunton who has not only become my right hand man, but also a loyal and trusted friend. I have met with Jimmy Jameson a few times last year when he has had to come to PE for medical chats and we have had very good skinnering sessions. I must say that he is looking very fit and full of the joys of spring. Mark and myself were invited to lay wreaths for the RLI Association at to major parades in November with Mark having to do the lion’s share of marching due to my knee injury and perhaps a bit of rank pulling. The parades went of very well, one set back was when a woman approached Mark and asked him if he was a Springbok (Due to the green blazer).

We have also now have a standing invitation to The Prince Alfred Guards and are invited to all there Dining in Nights, to which we have made sure our presence is known. One of the good things that have come out of the Wreath Laying Sessions is that we were able to link up with the BSAP Association and we were invited to their Christmas Braai. We have also established some firm friends amongst our BSAP counter parts and in fact are invited to another braai at the end of the month. To end on a more sombre note, I would like to thank the RLIRA for their support and well wishes at the loss of my friend and wife Dawn, I received hundreds of calls from all over the world. We hope this year is better on the home front, but have some hopeful prospects cropping up, with a Rhodesian Forces Day coming up and some links we have heard about concerning new members.

Regards Pete and Mark PS, were happy with the way things are going and the people who are holding the reigns, so no changes from us. Kwa Zulu Natal: Skippy Mitchell was unable to attend but sent Charlie Norris a report by e-mail. KZN Report for Association AGM 2014 Greetings Chairman, Committee members, members of the Association and visitors! General The KZN region continues with its regular first Friday of every month which are well attended (by Durban standards) by ex members of RLI and various other Units.

Events At the end of November it was the Rhodesia Assoc of South Africa Annual Golf day held at Toti Country Club which fielded 6 members of the RLI RA. We arranged for Skydivers with the RLI flag trailing below to jump into the event, however the weather would not allow take off. November also saw the Annual SAS Remembrance service held at Flame Lily Retirement Centre which was again well represented by the RLI with Robin Tarr laying the wreath on behalf of the Association. Thanks to Al Strachan & Carol Doughty for coming down from Joburg for the event. Membership KZN’s member listing now stands at 88 with a couple of guys signing up over the last 18 months – namely Alistair Bond (ex 2 Cdo) and Ian Dickinson.

QM Stores I still hold a small amount of stock of T shirts, Golf shirts and caps as well as Africa’s Commandos books should anyone from our region wish to purchase. As in previous AGM reports I have intentionally kept it short and to the point so that the Gauteng and Cape guys can waffle on aimlessly taking up valuable drinking time!!! Thank you and Regards Skippy Michell KZN RLIRA Cape Province: No report received. Bill Wiggill advised that John Norman had sent through his apologies. Awards Crow Awards have been awarded to Toni Floyd and Lynette Theron.

These will be presented at an appropriate event. Election of Office Bearers 2014 /2015 The Chairman advised that no nominations other than nominations for the existing committee members had been received. As Rob Marsh and Alan Strachan were prepared to stand again, the position of Treasurer – Rob Marsh and Secretary – Alan Strachan would remain unchanged.

The Office Bearers were accepted. Proposed by Charlie Norris for Rob Marsh and by Chris Ras for Alan Strachan and Seconded by Bucks Theron for Rob Marsh and Bill Wiggill for Alan Strachan The meeting was closed at 11H50. POST TRAUMATIC STRESS DISORDER On Saturday 3 August 2013 the RLI RA (Africa Branch) hosted a talk on Post Traumatic Stress Disorder by Dr Peter Jones a specialist Integral Traumaologist Psychognologist. The talk was attended by approximately 70 men and women including members from RLI, SAS, RR, Air Force and BSAP. A DVD has been produced of the event and will be available to other branches of the RLI RA should they require one. Positive feedback was received from most attendees and it appears that the talk was much appreciated, a lot of interest was expressed and everybody found it very helpful and informative. Should anybody wish to contact Dr Peter Jones his contact details are as follows?

Jones 011 023 4431 E-mail. AFRICA NEWSLETTER Africa’s Commandos Report The Association has just about broken even with original costs of publishing (R 320 000.00) but ran out of hard cover books. This has been rectified with some 600 soft copies recovered with hard backs.

The hard covers were by far the best seller at the launches and subsequently. From next month the book will be published via Hellion publis hers in the UK and they will distribute for us in the USA, Europe and Australia. Also distributed by 30 Degrees South (South Africa). The Association therefore will keep a very limited stock holding within our stores. Books for the short term can still be purchased directly online at the link: but this will only be until the stocks are depleted.

All profits from sales are destined to the Shamwari Trust to help our less fortunate brothers in arms. 2013 Annual Reunion The Annual reunion was held over the weekend of 1st/2nd February with an informal gathering taking place on the Friday night at Dickie Fritz. This eve ning was well attended with old and new faces seen. A good time was had by all with lots of banter taking place. The late Joe Wiper, Merv Gallias and Ia n Rose The Saturday function This was held at the Victoria Lake Club in Germisto n.

Before the service took place and the colours were marched on, all the ‘Ouens’ formed a circle un der the guidance of Titch Brotherton and a toast to the regiment was proposed by Trooper Janie Van W yk. The Remembrance service for all the Fallen was cond ucted by Padre Bill Dodgen with the setting over-looking the lake.

The service was followed by a dinner and dance with a live band and music from the past, which was well received with lots of people showing their mov es on the dance floor. The food was excellent and the ambiance fitting for the occasion. The evening wound down at around 23h00. A big thank you to all those who travelled from afa r i.e.

Zimbabwe, Botswana, Cape Town, Durban, East London and Port Elizabeth. Viscount Umniati Memorial Service – 9th February 2013 The Memorial Service for the passengers and crew of Viscount Umniati was held at the very impressive Viscount Memorial at the Voortrekker Mon ument in Pretoria. Air Rhodesians Flight 827, Viscount Umniati, was the second Viscount shot down by ZIPRA terrorists on the 12 th February 1979 shortly after take-off from Kariba. There were no s urvivors. Benoni High School Pipe Band, past world champions, provided the music whilst guests arrived, greeted and took their seats The Service was conducted by Padre Bill Dodgen and Mike Westcott gave a very warm tribute to the victims of this tragedy. Mike Westcott read out the Roll of Honour which brought tears to many of the guests and a two minute silence in honour of the victims and their families was observed.

The Service was well attended with guests arriving from all over the country. After paying tribute to the victims, a very moving rendition of The Last Post was played by Laura van Niekerk and the Rhodesian flag was lowered. Reveille was played by Benoni High School Band and this was followed by the Wreath laying ceremony.

A couple of RLI ‘ouens’ were asked to lay Wreaths f or the passengers and crew of the Viscount Umniati. After the Benediction, the Benoni High School Band led the procession to the picnic area where lit braais were ready and guests relaxed and mingled re miniscing the ‘good ol’ days’. Mile Westcott entertained throughout the day but the highlight of the afternoon was the fly past of a Hawker Hunter jet. The pilot did a couple of fly pasts lea ving all in awe of this impressive jet from days go ne. The day ended with the draw for the magnificent Elephant painting done by Craig Bone and generously donated by him. A few other items of Rhodesiana and some books were auctioned off and the day ended with all having had an awesome day out Gauteng monthly get-together After a favourable response to an email sent out by the Gauteng Regional Representative, Bucs Theron, it has been decided to move the monthly get -together to the first Saturday of every month, starting at noon, with the first being held on the 6th April which showed a marked increase in attendance.

A roll of honour was read for all fallen in the mo nth of April and a toast made, this will be the norm going forward. Please be reminded that you are welcome to bring fa mily or friends to the monthly get-together. All Forces Bash – Saturday 14 April The All Force s bash was a great success and well executed, well done to Carol for organising and to Lynette who pro vided a great lunch. As always with Carol at hand the event went off without a hitch and was enj oyed by all. A few of the ‘Ouens’ and friends doing a bit of cat ch up whilst Carol worked away.

We had Hannes Botha from the Zimbabwean Pensioners Support Fund who gave us a run down on the Pensioners plight in Zimbabwe. The Zimbabwean Pensioners Support fund is no longer able to receive food parcels due to the political situation in Zimbabwe and ask that donati ons be made instead.

The Pensioners in Zimbabwe really need our help and any donation woul d be welcome. For further information or to find out how to go about giving a donation, go to t heir website Forthcoming events SADF REMEMBERANCE DAY: The Rhodesian Light Infantry have been asked to lay a wreath at this day. The service will be held at the SA Defence Force Wall of Remembrance at the Voo rtrekker Monument in Pretoria at 0900 for 0940 on Sunday 26 th May 2013. Dress code is Blazer with medals, tie a nd beret. We welcome all to attend. DAY AT THE RANGE: The RLI RA Committee is arranging a morning at a fi ring range when the OWENS can fire off a few rounds.

As soon as a date has been confirmed we wi ll send out the details to everyone but we do know that it will be a Saturday morning either towa rds the end of May or early June – Best shot wins a prize. PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) The committee has been in touch with an Ex SADF se rvice-man who did time in Angola and is now a Specialist Traumaologist with a PhD, Dr P Jones. Dr P Jones has agreed to come and discuss the sympt oms and effectives of Post-Traumatic Stress with us. We are awaiting a date from Dr P Jones so that we can arrange a venue and send out details to all the members. There is a new understanding about PTSD and we enco urage all members to come and listen in. Charlie Norris Chairman – RLI RA Africa Eastern Cape Sitrep What’s happening in the Eastern Cape or should I sa y what’s not happening in the Eastern Cape, as we are of few brave souls and split over a large ar ea it is not often that we see each other.

Other than Mark Taunton and self, we don’t really see the other members until there is a birthday bash. It is funny though, the older we get, the more we seem to dream of the old days, lost loves, lost friends and family and mostly the loss of our belov ed country. My dreams and thoughts have been heightened by the advent of the new RLI book and the new Scouts book.

Both bring back poignant memories of t he brave men and women that we served with, some still here today, some sadly have since passed away, but we will remember. The other day we had the sad duty of attending my Boet’s wife funera l that lost her final battle with cancer.

The good thing about the funeral was that it showed Rhodies commitment to each other even in these days. It was very humbling to Have Pat Armstrong, Kip Donald and Tom Thomas attends the funeral service.

It was hilarious sitting with them at the wake afte r and listening to the good old Rhodesian humour, if you are ever in the company of one of these gent lemen (especially Kip) ask them about “Leg over Lucy” and “Apples and Pro Vitas”. My thanks to all three gentlemen who took the time to honour my brother in his time of grief. On a more serious note, we have been honoured by th e MOTH organisation in that they have invited to lay a wreath on the Poppy Day parade every year, both the RLIRA and the Selous Scout association. This will be the third year that we wi ll attend as RLIRA and the first year for the Scouts Association. Every year it brings tears to the eyes of Rhodies in the crowd to see the RLI beret marching by, now this year with is both Scouts and RLI.

I would like to invite all members in the Eastern Cape who want to attend these ceremonies to please contact m e. As a last thought, if any of you are not members of the MOTH organisation, think seriously about joining it, they have been the saviour of many of u s in times of need. Pete Gombart Recent Jols – KZN Region It has been a long time since there was an e Cheeta h report from the Regions, but alas all is quiet on the “Eastern” coast. There have been the regular First Friday get togethers at the NMR and a few other so cial events related to the forming of Shamwari Trust in KZN which is ably head ed by George “Papi” Bolton (1 Cdo).

Most recently was the Durban Exhibition Knife Show which was held in Umhlanga and Andy Surgeon (2 Cdo) had a display of his excel lently hand crafted knives, including a few that he has left of the RLI 50 th Commemorative knife. Should you want one of these collectors items please order thr ough the Association? Towards the end of last year was the Flame Lily’s a nnual Golf day which is represented by at least one four ball from the RLI. The RLI four ball never seems to scoop any prizes and this may be credited to the fact that beers were already slipping down before Tee off at 8.00am.

13 th October last year saw the inaugural launch of “Afr ica’s Commandos” which naturally was hosted by Durban – we set the high benchmark for the other regions to follow! It was good to catch up with a lot of the ouens wh o came from all over the Province and a pleasing amount of book s were sold. A regular event in Durban is the annual SAS Remembr ance service held at the Flame Lily retirement centre in Queensbrough which is attended by all the Rhodesian Associations including some SANDF units. This year the RLI RA was invited to share the Sentry around the Plinth for t he service and I would like to thank the SAS RA for our inclusion in your special event. RLI & SAS Sentry 10.11.12 Remembrance service. RLI Contingent Lana Michell, Basil Dipenaar, Dave Hosking, Robin Tarr. Chinas signing on (new members) – No new members as such, but Ian (Boss Doug) Douglas has joined our socials, Boss Doug was a PJI at New Sarum so a few may remember him.

(Skippy Michell) Shamwari Trust The activities within the combined forces welfare t rust (Shamwari Trust) are gaining momentum fast. There is a fund raising team now well established in Kwazulu Natal that has held a number of fundraising events to date and are set for a very busy remainder of 2013.

The Trust is exp loring a number of avenues to establish fund raising events and secure donors into the future. A number of associations have made donations to the Trust as se eding finance and this is a really good show. The Trust has also had some very generous personal donations from ex RLI men and this is a blessing to the welfare to say the least. Ian Bate represents the RLI RA and is current chair man of the Trust. There are a number of initiatives in the Trust that are in the boiling pot and as the Association is informed of the developments we will let you all know. Bill Wiggill CEO. MESSAGE FROM THE CHAIRMAN What a great year the Association has had, with two 50th Birthday Celebrations, the first in South Africa in February and the second in England in September.

Both were superb events and got together members from all over the globe, many who had not met for 30 years or more and got that old RLI comradeship back together again. The organisers of both events did a superb job and both were really unique occasions and very much enjoyed by all those who attended. Also during 2011 we saw the establishment of a new Australia and New Zealand Branch, and Digger Essex-Clark, Jimmy Swan and ‘Granny’ Johnson need to be thanked for this. Their first major function will be the ANZAC Parade and Dinner in Canberra in April 2012, and I urge all those who can arrange to be in Australia at that time to join them in the March and Dinner, to show our support for this newly formed Branch. We want them to feel part of the global RLI Brotherhood, like all those who made the effort to attend this year’s celebration in RSA and UK did. Sadly this year saw the passing of our most senior former CO, Lieutenant General John Hickman, who had fortunately been able to attend both the RSA and UK Celebrations this year and whose attendance was much appreciated by all those present.

He was a great CO, who during his tenure set the way forward for RLI’s COIN Role, and really got the Unit ‘on net’ for the war that followed. He was a great Soldier and Rhodesian Patriot and we offer our sincere condolences to all his family. Also during the year George Dempster gave up his appointment as our Webmaster. George has done a fantastic job for the Association and it was his establishment of the Web Site in October 2006 that really got things moving in the Association. Since then he has been an active member of ExCo and also the Chairman of the Africa Branch.

To George and Shirley we thank you for all your efforts in getting the Association to the buoyant stage it is now. This year the UK Branch was also invited to participate in the Royal British Legions Remembrance Day Parade in Bedford, which they did and opened the invitation to all Ex- Rhodesian Servicemen in the area. It went off well, and looks as to become a regular landmark on the UK Calendar. Our Museum continues to improve and expand and is attracting increasing numbers of visitors as more people hear about it.

We have expanded to include displays of uniforms and memorabilia of all Rhodesian Services and in September the RhAF display was opened. It really is an excellent Museum and Martyn Hudson and his team deserve our sincere thanks for their ongoing efforts to enhance the displays. In this regard if any members still have items that could be displayed please get hold of Martyn. All in all it has been an excellent year for the Association, the membership globally continues to expand, and it is great to have those members from ‘down under’ back in the global fold. To continue the momentum we all need to support the RSA 51st Celebrations in Cape Town on 3/4 March 2012, and more especially the ANZAC Day Dinner and Parade on 24/25 April 2012 in Canberra. To all our members, on behalf of ExCo I wish you a Happy Festive Season and all the best for 2012. May the Saints continue Marching on Ian Buttenshaw Chairman RLIRA.

“The Viscount Team have great pleasure in announcing that the Board of Directors of the Voortrekker Monument Heritage Site have unanimously approved the erection of Viscount Memorial Plaques in the Memorial Gardens for the 107 victims murdered by terrorists in the Viscount disasters of 1978 and 1979 respectively. The granite plaques will be engraved and erected on the site as agreed with the Heritage Foundation by not later than the end of March 2012, to be ready for the annual SADF commemoration service on 3 June 2012, and for the unveiling of the commemorative plaques and commemoration service on 3rd September 2012. All costs involved are covered by our undertaking to raise the necessary funds and to pay this over in a lump sum to the Voortrekker Monument in due course. DONATIONS Donations are invited to fund this very important historical and exciting project. Our target is to raise R50,000 to cover the Memorial plinth, plaques, supporting wall and for maintenance purposes. To provide security to contributors, the Flame Lilly Foundation’s National Managing Committee have given their approval to the proposal that the FLF be the recipient of donations intended for the Viscount Memorial to be erected in the grounds of the Voortrekker Monument.

The bank account into which funds should be deposited or transferred is as follows: Name: Flame Lily Foundation Account No.: Bank: ABSA Branch: Brooklyn Court Code: 335345 Swift address: ABSAZAJJ Donors MUST write “Viscount” followed by their surname and initials in the Reference. Donors are asked to follow up their donation with an email to the FLF at rasa@iafrica.com, notifying them of their donation. The FLF undertakes to transfer to the Voortrekker Monument those funds donated for the provision of plaques and erection of the Viscount Memorial, on receipt of an invoice from the Voortrekker Monument after completion of the Memorial. The FLF considers it a privilege to be involved with this important item of Rhodesia’s history. We wish you every success in the achievement of your vision.

John Redfern Honorary National Secretary Flame Lily Foundation PO Box 95474 Email Tel: 012 460206 Fax: 0 0145 Waterkloof It would be much appreciated if confirmation of donations made be forwarded to info@viscountdown.com Letters expressing our extreme gratitude and appreciation have been forwarded to the Voortrekker Heritage foundation and Flame Lily foundation. TO SEE PICTURE OF MEMORIAL, VISIT Memorial and Commemoration button. IT’S STUNNING! Thanks, Keith and the Viscount Team”. THE RLIRA - S A BRANCH MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING HELD AT THE DICKIE FRITZ MOTH HALL EDENVALE, JOHANNESBURG SATURDAY, 27 AUGUST 2011 AT 12H00 The AGM opened by Alf Winston playing “The Saints” on his bagpipes followed by the reading of the names of the 16 members who had passed away since the last AGM.

This was followed by a minute silence in remembrance and an opening prayer by Bill Wiggill. Members Present There were 28 full members present. Apologies Apologies were received from: John Dollman; Roy Matkovich; George Dempster; Don Price; Neville Craig Smith; Brendan Houston-Brown; Alan Thrush; Pete Gombart and Phil Kaye. Welcome The Chairman, Bill Wiggill, welcomed everyone and advised he would not be using a projector as it would not be a long-winded AGM.

Bill thanked the Dickie Fritz Shellhole and Wally for the use of the venue and also thanked Bucs Theron and asked him to pass on thanks to his wife, Lynn, for the preparation of the meal. He also thanked Carol for organizing things and all the ladies that had helped.

Bill also thanked Debbie Huxham for manning the front table and the selling of merchandise and thanked Mervyn Kluckow and Chris Ras as committee members. There was a big thank you to George Dempster for all the work he had done for the Association. Bill advised that George had resigned as Webmaster and also from the Exco. Operating System Concepts 9th Edition Instructor Manual Torrent there.

Chris Cox would be moving to greener fields and would not be doing the e-Cheetah anymore. Ian MacFarlane, based in Australia, is now the new editor for the e-Cheetah and his very good first edition had just been sent out to members.

Gary Huxham had resigned as quartermaster about a year ago (but had still continued to act as quartermaster while a new one was being looked for) and had still been the Gauteng Rep. Bill said that the success of the Association was due to these guys and their support. Bill advised that Chris Ras was stepping down as Secretary of the Association. The Chairman related the story about the Rhodesian flag which was hanging from the podium. At the funeral of Trooper R A Binks the flag had been draped over his coffin. Derek and Edith Taylor had the flag and wanted to give it to Cocky Binks.

Cocky had spoken to the family and they had decided to donate the flag to the Association and it would now become a memorial at future meetings. Bill also told a story of how the Para Fireforce used to jump in PT shorts and tekkies. However a fun jump had been arranged at Mtoko when the new CO, Col Peter Rich took over the unit and on a tour of the units in the field he wanted to join the fun jump. Unfortunately he landed in a thorn bush and thereafter it was ordered that full battle dress would be worn when jumping.

Life membership was bestowed on Chris Cox and Bill presented him with a framed certificate from the ExCo. The Chairman also advised that there is a system that needs to be followed and this governs the awarding of awards to members. Bill also advised that the idea of the honorary crows had now been written into the Association Articles. Bill advised that at the meeting of the Exco before the 50th Birthday he had discovered that the term of office for the post of Chairman was 3 years. Australia and New Zealand were now back in the fold – being run by Digger Essex Clark, Jimmy Swan, Granny Johnson and Quinton Fourie. They were not permitted to use the name “ANZAC” as yet and so are known as the Australia/ New Zealand Branch.

Bill handed over to Mervyn Kluckow to give a summary of the financial accounts for the year. TREASURER’S REPORT Mervyn related a story about a conversation he had with one of his clients. The gentleman had pointed out that we are all born to die but as Christians we are given the option of eternal life. He told how during our lives we try something and if we fail we are given a second chance to get up and start again and how this can happen many times during our lives.

However, at the end of the road when we get the pearly gates and have to draw our wings and harp there are no more chances – will St Peter let us in? The other option is too frightening to even think about. As Mervyn said – thinking about this shook the hell out of him! Mervyn thanked Bill as Chairman and the whole team of the 50th Anniversary function. Talco Mazel Tov Rapidshare Library. The whole show had been a resounding success. Mervyn also thanked George Dempster and his wife, Shirley, for everything they had done for the event and for all the hours they had put in. Mervyn wondered if Shirley had been an MP at some stage – she had done a great job with everyone trying to step onto the red carpet.

He also thanked Carol Doughty for all her hard work for the Association. Financial Report Mervyn advised that as the Association was a non-profit organization the financial accounts were not required to be audited but would still go to an auditor for signing off.

This would put everyone at rest as the accounts will have been checked and formulated. Account numbers are used as deposit references and funds go direct to the account – therefore no funds go into a suspense account. The Chairman gets a copy of the accounts by 7th of the month and he needs up to date information to make decisions. It has been a much improved year financially but not all members have paid their subs. Not all members are in a position to pay subs - there are many not as fortunate and able to pay. Things are tough and getting worse.

The auditors Greyling & Van Der Merwe’ had not audited the accounts but have given a letter stating they are in agreement with the financial accounting policies considered appropriate to the business. Income Statement The 50th Anniversary had brought in R97 675.00 in takings. An amount of +/-R30 000.00 had been made. Mervyn had detailed copies available for anyone who wanted to see the financials. Sales of memorabilia for 2011 was +/-R69000.2010 had been +/-R54000.

2010 RLIRA AGM – SA Branch THE RLIRA - S A BRANCH MINUTES OF THE ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING HELD AT THE DICKIE FRITZ MOTHS HALL EDENVALE, JOHANNESBURG SATURDAY, 28 AUGUST 2010 AT 12H00 Members Present There were 38 members present. Apologies Apologies were received from the following: Basil Dippenaar / Steve Hageman / Chris Cocks / Titch Brotherton / Peter Gombart / Dennis Croukamp Welcome The Chairman, Bill Wiggill, welcomed everyone and thanked those that had traveled far to attend. The Moths were thanked for the use of the shell hole as a venue and the Moths ladies were thanked for providing the catering as it was very convenient to have a sit-down meal and Bill requested that some of the guys please help re arrange the tables and chairs after the meeting to organize seating for lunch. Chairman’s Report The Chairman said it had been an interesting year and that two main objectives had been set for the past year. The first objective had been to look for members and to increase membership by 10%. The membership had increased from +/-240 to 333 even though not all of these were full membership – some were families and affiliates.

The first goal had therefore been achieved. It was to be an ongoing exercise to continue to find members and it was estimated that there were at least another 100 ex RLI members in South Africa. It was also mentioned that the continuation of the society in the future depended on getting sons and daughters to join and to strengthen the bond of brotherhood.

The second objective, although hard to measure, was to continue to build on the good foundation that had been built by George Dempster two years ago. The Chairman showed a slide presentation of the organization. There was an idea to set up Unit Liaison Officers to look for people.

On the slide of the Committee there was a post created for Membership Officer and this had been filled by Mark Adams who was now knee deep in paper that had been submitted for the RLI book. A site had also been set up on Face Book as the society was now using all different means to find people. 2010 Outcomes The e-Cheetah was launched during the year – Bill showed us a training session video in this regard and assured all present that no animals had been hurt during the making of the video!!

Work is being done to have hard copies that resemble the old Cheetah magazine available at the 50th Reunion. Membership There had been a significant +/-50% growth in membership over the past year – however it was noted that some of the guys were unable to afford the membership fees and Bill reminded everyone that there was a membership assistance programme in place to help these members. Launch of Fund Raising Initiatives There had been a number of new fund raising initiatives during the year, i.e. Selling of walking canes, ring tones, etc.

And we can look forward to more in the year ahead. This part of the society needs to run like a business in order to generate funds for the society. Branch Infrastructure There was a lot of scope for creating new positions – if someone had an idea and wanted to do something a post could be created – i.e. Papi Bolton, who had done such a brilliant job with fund raising. Public Contact – SA War Museum Bill advised that although reticent in the beginning the Association had stepped into the public arena by putting up a table at the SA War Museum.

The table had been run by Papi Bolton, John Strachan, Len Beechy and Keith Blanchard. The Association was not a military regiment anymore but was now an Association and there were a number of military collectors who wanted to be associate members.

They want to help and at the 50th birthday celebration members would see how these people were prepared to help the Association. 50 th Planning The venue will have to be paid for we are looking at the very minimum of R250 per head. George Dempster was looking for affordable accommodation close to the venue and would also look for accommodation which could be used for the Friday night.

RLI Book Project The book would not be written by an author – it was to be a compilation of actual stories from the RLI members together with photographs and colour plates. Website Update The website had worked well so far but was in the process of getting a major make over by George Dempster. George is to give feedback a little later on. General On the whole, it has been mostly positive for the past year. The only negative comment the Chairman had received was “What do I get for my R200 membership subscription?” As the Chairman pointed out – you get a team who doesn’t sleep! The primary source of revenue was the subscription fees and it had been agreed at the last AGM that the fees would be R200 per member per annum.

The summary from last year shows that about 145 members had not paid their subs which translated to an outstanding amount of R29 000.00 Sales of the RLI merchandise were going well – the Association was committed to choosing the best supplier at the best price. Fund raising needs to continue as it was also a good source of revenue and we must support those members that were prepared to go and sit in malls with an RLI table and raise funds from the general public.

Donations that are received go to the benevolent fund and also to the book fund. Another source of revenue had been for those members with their own businesses to put them on the website at an advertising cost of R100 per month. This covered the year in review. Approval of the Minutes of the AGM held on 29 August 2009 was proposed by George Dempster and seconded by Gary Huxham. There were no matters arising. FINANCIAL REPORT by Mervyn Kluckow Income Statement In opening Mervyn reminisced about good memories by reading a poem about – jacarandas; maids; Tanganda Tea; Colcom ham; snakes; flying ants; swimming parties; honest police; ten shilling notes; the Matopos; dancing; beautiful gardens; window shopping; cafes and snow white takkies. Memories we all remembered well.

Mervyn also mentioned two great men, who had each been outstanding soldiers who lives had been entwined. He had know Peter Walls since 1957 in both work and sport and Mervyn recalled a story about having to paint Peter’s office and how he had played rugby with Ron Reid-Daly at the School of Infantry. Mervyn advised that the RLIRA is categorised as a Trust Account and it is compulsory to have this account audited.

The audit proves the correctness of how the account is operated by both the Treasurer and the Chairman. Control measures are in place and all payments are forwarded to the Chairman for approval. The inventory for the quartermaster is running smoothly and there is a double check all the time on what is going through the account. By the 3rd of each month the Management Accounts goes to the Chairman. It has been a better year financially except for the subs that have not been paid.

Members are advised of the membership fee of R200 when they apply for membership and they know they have to pay when they sign on. It is noted that it is tough for some of the members with rising costs of electricity, water, etc. But non payment of fees cannot be condoned.

There is an assistance programme in place for those that are struggling. The payment of membership fees had been disappointing and on occasions there was not stock in hand of memorabilia due to supplier problems. However a net surplus of R78 281.00 had been transferred to the balance sheet. The balance sheet showed R90 995.00 in reserves and liabilities and had improved tremendously. It was also noted that the financial year for the association was 1 July to 30 June and subs were from 1 January to 31 December. This will have to be aligned at some stage. Mervyn expressed his thanks to Bill as the Chairman and also to his wife and the wives of the Exco members.

The Chairman thanked the Treasurer for his work over the past year. SECRETARY’S REPORT The Secretary, Chris Ras, did not cover the membership as this had been covered by both Bill and Mervyn. Correspondence had been received during the year from Australia and USA from interested parties who had visited the website and wanted to find out more about the Association and the history of the battalion and ops during the war. An invitation letter had been received by the Chairman to attend the Annual Veteran’s Memorial Service at Fort Klapperkop in Pretoria on Sunday, 5 September 2010. The Secretary’s report was very short and sweet.

GAUTENG REPRESENTATIVE by Gary Huxham As the representative Gary sets up functions and finds the biggest problem is communication. He sets up the monthly Prayer Meeting and it has been difficult to find the right venue.

The Kempton venue didn’t work well and they have now moved to Ollie’s Pub and Grill on the R21 which is a great venue with lots of space and it is working well. It is hoped to continue to use this venue in the coming year.

The All Forces Bashes and the 49th Birthday Reunion events that were held this year were well attended. About 35 people attended the Potjiekos Competition arranged by Papi Bolton and over R5000 was raised.

If members wish to donate items for raffles please let Gary know. It was pointed out that a lot of the prayer meetings were always supported by the same people – would like to see more people and especially the ‘committee members’ at the functions. Feedback Gary has received from the guys is that they don’t want a formal dress code for get-togethers unless it is for a formal function. Regarding the number of functions it was suggested that the committee put out an annual events list so everyone knows what is happening and when. Some of the guys are taking financial strain and would like to be able to plan better beforehand. It was also asked that the Chairman please send out a directive as to how to wear medals correctly as the guys were not sure and need to know.

Gary thanked Papi Bolton for all his help and also thanked all the members for their support over the year. QUARTERMASTER REPORT by Gary Huxham Stock of items was being built up but the local suppliers were not up to scratch and wanted orders of large quantities so they were now using a UK supplier, e.g.

Regarding ties - with a local supplier it would be R160 each whereas landed cost from the UK worked out at R100 each. Ties were now in stock and the blazer badges have just arrived and are available with either a black or green background. Berets are also in stock with different sizes but the badges are still coming. An update will go on the website with prices. Gary advised that it had been an honour serving the Association but that he would be standing down as the Quartermaster. KWA-ZULU NATAL REPRESENTATIVE by Skippy Michell Skippy advised that he was reporting from what Chris Cocks referred to as the SLV (Sweaty Little Vlei).

The KZN mission was very laid back. They had grown over the past year from 60 members to 71 members and an average of 37 members regularly attended the monthly meetings. There had been 11 meetings and attendance was growing.

The venue used was the Rhodesian Club and the Shamwari Club which was an all forces club shared with the Germans. In conjunction with the SAS and the Scouts they also used the NMR Drill Hall Officers Mess (+/- 30 to 40 SAS, Police, etc) as a venue. Skippy said that he had heard good things and was going to speak to Papi Bolton about some ideas for fund raising and for getting merchandise for the guys in KZN. Skippy thanked all the members and also the ladies in the Association for their support.

WEBMASTER REPORT by George Dempster George opened his report with a slide presentation showing the look of the new front page for the website. It will have a login box and he would resend and email to the members with their username and password. There were 214 SA members on the web. There would also be a request to advise if members did not want to have their details in the address book and members would have to advise if they wanted the information blocked. The gallery was also to be updated. BOOK PROJECT by Bill Wiggill Bill advised that Mark Adams who was managing the project would be going to the UK for a week to gather information. There were problems in accessing information from the army records that had been stored in the UK and Mark was going to try and get access to these records as the book would be poorer without this information.

The book would be about 60% photos / 40% script. At the moment it stood at about 50/50 as there were problems with the quality of some of the photos. Bill asked that members please pass any information that they have onto Mark. Fund raising from now would go to the book fund and they were hoping that the UK would also contribute as this would be the only official book. HONORARY CROWS In recognition of the help and assistance that the ladies had given to the association they were given that status of “Honorary Crows”. Name badges had been made and certificates were printed.

The ladies that were honored were Carol Sobey from J&N Helicopters who had let us use her premises for a venue for the 49th Birthday bash and had offered a helicopter to transport the dignitaries and when there had been a problem had hired a helicopter out of her own pocket. Kerrin Cocks was also honored as she had gone above and beyond the call of duty when she had filmed the event in Durban even though she was very ill and should have rather been in hospital.

The other ladies honored for service to the association were: Debbie Huxham, Shirley Dempster, Shirley Ras, Sylvia Wiggill, Marriet Kluckow, Francina Pittaway, Madelaine Goetsch, Lana Du Plessis and Carol Dougherty. The Chairman also expressed his thanks for the past year to the Committee of Mervyn Kluckow, George Dempster, Gary Huxham and Chris Ras and presented them with a set of cuff links, lapel badge and tie pin with the RLI emblem. Papi Bolton was also presented with a cigarette lighter embossed with the RLI badge for his outstanding contribution of fund raising totaling +/- R18 000.00. Martyn Hudson was unable to attend the AGM as he had been in hospital in the UK and had only been discharged earlier on the day of the AGM. UK BRANCH FEEDBACK by Shaun Ryan Due to Martyn Hudson not being able to attend Shaun Ryan gave feedback on the UK Branch. The main focus for the year had been on setting up the museum. The support for the museum had surpassed the wildest imagination and an enormous amount of items had been received together with uniforms and weapons.

They are still looking for an RPG2, Sterling, Sten and a Dragonoff. They are also looking for kit from the guys as there are 14 mannequins that need to be dressed and the display is static. Donations had been received from all around the world.

Good relations had been built up with the British Army and the display had been visited by the UK Minister of Defence. The membership has grown but traveling to events is expensive. They are happy to be associated with SA.

I know that you all where wondering about what happened to this blog for being so silent for all those months. I will try to explain. Since June 2016 I got a new job that required me to work during the night, picking bags and cases of snacks in high volume to send out to our customers.

As time progressed, my hours also increased, working 10 or 12 hours a day, while trying to maintain daytime activities such as groceries, enjoying time with my wife, and most of all get some rest before starting another run of 50 or 60 hour week. Recently I got a better position within the company, lesser hours (still from time to time working overtime), and best of all i am working daytime. But in the mean time I rekindled an old interest and hobby: Commodore Amiga computers. And i was Retro-gaming like no tomorrow. And I am still into that, and even thinking of creating a blog, or whatever type website on this subject. So, this blog is still alive, but not with a high rate of posting of albums like it is used to be.

However I will try to keep the links I posted alive as much I can. Therefor, I want to express my apologies to all for the inactivity on this blog for all this months. Thank you for understanding.