December 2025 - One Hundred and Twenty

The Castle of Good Hope

South Africa is not a great destination for castle enthusiasts. However, what we do have are forts. The Castle of Good Hope is a bastion fort.

Its predecessor, the Fort de Goede Hoop, was built in 1652 and now lies beneath the Grand Parade.

Hout Bay has the East Fort and the West Fort, gun batteries built by the Dutch and French in the late eighteenth century to discourage British ambitions. The remains of the Amsterdam Battery lie mostly buried beneath the V&A Waterfront in Cape Town.

Simon’s Town has a Martello Tower, one of about two hundred built by the British during the Napoleonic Wars.

Port Elizabeth has Fort Frederick, built in 1799 by the British to protect the landing place. Nevertheless, it has never been attacked by anything more dangerous than vagrants.

A Brief Military Detour to the Castle of Good Hope

I have a story about the Castle of Good Hope.

In 1965, I served as a conscript in what was then the 2nd Armoured Car Regiment, now the School of Armour. The base lay in Tempe, Bloemfontein.

For reasons I still do not understand, every year a troop of very happy soldiers left our Free State hell camp and travelled to Cape Town on what amounted to a holiday.

After a very drunken train journey, we fell in on the platform and marched to the Castle. I remember pedestrians clapping as we passed, as if we were returning from the wars.

Cape Town did not appear to have many soldiers at the time. It did, however, have hundreds of ice cream vendors. We later learned that they belonged to the Navy.

Life in Castle of Good Hope

With so many sailors available, we wondered why tank troops had been sent to guard the disused Wingfield Air Force Base under naval command. Military intelligence, as they say, is the original oxymoron.

The Castle served as our base for six glorious weeks.

We ate meals off proper plates, served by waiters. No steel varkpanne appeared anywhere. We were amazed.

Our routine was simple. Two days on guard at Wingfield, followed by one day off. We could explore Cape Town during the day, but not at night. That rule proved easy to break.

My mate Gary and I owned civilian clothes. We slipped out through one of the small exits in the Castle walls, hid our uniforms in nearby bushes, and headed for Adderley Street.

The Biscuit Incident

One cold winter’s night, fog rolled in from the Atlantic. At Wingfield, one of our squad, a postman in civilian life, opened a large parcel of biscuits sent by his loving mother and began eating them.

When asked to share, he refused.

A plot followed.

While the others distracted him with loud complaints about selfishness, I went outside. I then leopard-crawled silently back into the guardroom and lunged for the bag of treats.

Postmen must develop a sixth sense for danger. As I reached for the biscuits, his large boot connected solidly with my face.

What followed was not pretty.

They threw him out into the cold, wet night. We devoured the biscuits. I went to sleep bruised but well fed.

Military Justice (of a Sort)

Some time later, a flashlight beam woke me. A large naval petty officer stood over me and said, “So you are the bully!”

The next morning, two things happened at parade.

One soldier, very drunk, fell over. A vodka bottle rolled out of his battledress. We had obtained the alcohol by bartering with locals through a hole in the fence around the airbase.

I was then marched into an office. Behind the desk sat a young veldtkornet (a lieutenant). In those days, the army had revived the ranks used by the Dutch East India Company.

An elderly corporal and the aggrieved postman stood nearby. Neither man would have set IQ records. They delivered long and mournful accounts of my alleged crimes.

I had, they claimed, committed assault and battery, stolen biscuits, deliberately jumped on eight army beds until they collapsed, and ridden the corporal’s bicycle into a wall.

As they spoke, visions of the dreaded DB (Detention Barracks) filled my mind. Rumour had it that few returned sane, if they returned at all.

Then I noticed the veldtkornet biting his lip to suppress laughter.

I received one week of confinement to barracks. No DB.

A Final Note

The Castle of Good Hope appears briefly in The Boys from Umgazana, mentioned in a previous blog – see https://onehundredandtwenty.com/?p=240.

You can read more at
https://frankcollierauthor.com/

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If you have already read the book, I would enjoy hearing your thoughts. Email me at frank@frankcollierauthor.com
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The entrance to the Castle of Good Hope, the old fortress in Cape Town, South Africa.

Newsletter #3 – The Redhouse Skeleton!

Several years ago, a surprising discovery shocked residents—the mysterious Redhouse skeleton was uncovered during trench digging along a busy street in Redhouse.

The excavation of the Redhouse Skeleton

Soon afterwards, their digger reached the electrical sub-station. At that moment, the bucket tore into the soil and exposed a seated skeleton with a round hole in its temple.

Immediately, the police arrived and declared a crime scene. Nevertheless, common sense soon prevailed because no villager would bury a victim beside such a busy road, even at night.

How old was the skeleton?

It would have been fascinating to determine the Redhouse skeleton’s age. After all, the railway line through Redhouse opened in 1875, and the famous Red House likely existed by 1850. Furthermore, growing activity followed the arrival of the 1820 settlers, by which time few Khoi clans remained intact.

The hole in the skull suggested a gunshot wound.

Therefore, we asked the police for forensic testing to date the bones. Interestingly, the Khoisan—formerly called Hottentots and Bushmen—sometimes buried their dead in a seated posture.

However, by March 2025 the SAPS Forensic Science Laboratory faced a backlog exceeding 140,000 cases. Consequently, I do not expect results soon.

So, what might have happened to this Redhouse skeleton?

Was he a war victim?

During the Third Frontier War, Khoi and Xhosa forces attacked the Star Fort near the Papenkuils River. They captured livestock and retreated toward present-day Kleinskool. Afterwards, they settled down to a celebratory braai, probably enjoying Karri, a fermented honey drink.

Meanwhile, the dragoons recovered their horses and followed the raiders’ trail. Eventually, they reached the braai, joined the gathering uninvited, and killed about forty people. Perhaps our skeleton was one of those casualties.

Alternatively, he may have been killed by passing sailors many years earlier. This Redhouse skeleton raised fascinating questions about the area’s early history.

Ultimately, we will probably never know.

Christmas shopping now looms. Therefore, consider buying a signed copy of The Boys from Umgazana for your favourite aunt. Each copy costs R325, plus courier charges when needed. Email me at frank@frankcollierauthor.com if you would like one!

You will find more information at https://frankcollierauthor.com/ or

https://jackandtemba.org/

For more stories about the Village of Redhouse, visit my Redhouse History page.

Shipwrecks!

Newsletter #2 – Shipwrecks!

Spoiler alert: The Boys from Umgazana includes a shipwreck!

The Wild Coast

More than two thousand ships have come to grief along the South African coast since the 1500s.

In May 1500, four Portuguese ships foundered in a storm off the Cape of Good Hope. Bartholomeu Dias, the first modern-era explorer to round the Cape, captained one of them.

Over the centuries, many famous wrecks entered South African maritime folklore. Their dramatic ends ensured they remained unforgettable.

– the São João (1552).
– the Nieuw Haarlem (1647).
– the Doddington (1755).
– the Grosvenor (1782).
– the Waratah (1909).

World War II

One lesser-known wreck recently forced its way back into public attention. Meanwhile, its story continues to unfold.

On 11 February 1943, U-boat U156 torpedoed the British merchant ship SS Helmspey about eleven miles off Cape St Francis. The ship carried a mixed cargo, including 1,457 tons of rubber bales.

Later, during a recent storm, thousands of these rubber bales broke free. They surfaced and washed ashore along beaches from Cape St Francis to Woody Cape, east of Port Elizabeth.

After more than 80 years underwater, the bales have begun to rot. Consequently, they now pose a danger to sea birds and other marine life.

Treasure Ship!

Shipwrecks don’t only produce debris — sometimes they harbour treasures. In fact, some carry astonishing wealth.

The richest wreck ever found, the San José, a Spanish galleon, sank near Cartagena in 1708 after a British attack. Her cargo includes an estimated US$17 billion in gold, silver, and emeralds. This excludes the priceless historical artifacts still aboard.

Search teams located the wreck 600 metres below the surface. However, its precise position remains a tightly guarded secret.

The Colombian government intends to raise the treasure. Nevertheless, multiple groups have filed competing claims.

These include the Spanish government, indigenous Bolivian communities, and a salvage company. Furthermore, modern-day fortune hunters have also taken interest.

A book as a Christmas gift?

If you’re still wondering what to give someone for Christmas, perhaps give them a book.

This is the link to The Boys from Umgazana:

https://frankcollierauthor.com

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The Boys From Umgazana

The Blog Returns — After a long break, the blog is officially alive again to celebrate the launch of my historical adventure novel, The Boys From Umgazana.

Read all about it on my author website: frankcollierauthor.com or visit the dedicated book site: jackandtemba.org.

You can also subscribe on my author site to receive these updates directly.

**What The Boys From Umgazana Is About**

Set in the rugged wilderness of 18th-century South Africa, the story follows two boys—one English, shipwrecked and orphaned, the other born of both Mpondo royalty and English heritage—who grow up as brothers.

Their world changes when a Dutch trader arrives, pulling them into the turbulent landscape of early 19th-century frontier South Africa, where courage, loyalty, and identity are forged in fire.

The Boys From Umgazana blends adventure, cultural collision, and the power of place into a sweeping historical tale with timeless relevance.

The Boys From Umgazana launches at the Zwartkops Rowing Club

The novel launched on 8 August 2025 at the infamous Zwartkops Rowing Club—fuelled by a festive flood of alcohol that almost certainly helped boost sales among the cheerful crowd.

Aftermath of The Boys From Umgazana book launch at Zwartkops Rowing Club

A week later, I left for Ireland, Italy, and the Gulf of Bonifacio—leaving behind several administrative boxes spectacularly unticked.

They Printed the Wrong Version of The Boys From Umgazana … And Eagle-Eyed Readers Noticed

It didn’t take long for sharp-eyed readers to message me about mistakes—most notably “1982” instead of “1782.”

The culprit? The wrong version had been printed and uploaded.

The correct edition is now live on Amazon, Takealot and all international platforms.

Writing The Boys From Umgazana Was Only Half the Work…

Finishing a novel is only Step One. Step Two is introducing it to several billion unsuspecting readers.

I approached book marketing with enthusiasm—initially. Then reality intervened. When the plumbing fails, I call a plumber. It’s not that I doubt my ability to fix a sewage problem… but my wife certainly does.

So, discussions with actual marketing professionals are now underway.

What’s Coming After The Boys From Umgazana

I am already writing the first of three sequels to The Boys From Umgazana.

I’m also planning three short documentaries that explore my adventures across the First World.

Comments—supportive, or otherwise—are welcome at frank@frankcollierauthor.com.

Visit the main site for more posts and updates.