THE DEATH MARCH

Graham Jooste dips into the diary of Rudolph Jordaan, who, with other Allied prisoners of war, was forced to work, and ultimately walk, across much of Europe towards the end of the Second World War.

- Graham Jooste

In front of me is an elegant copy of a soldier’s diary. On the leatherbound cover, the gold print states: Dad’s Diary Second World War 1939-1945. This is Rudolph Jordaan’s account of his experiences during the Second World War. From its faded pages, a remarkable, pencil-written story emerges, put together by a soldier who survived the infamous Death March.

When war was declared on Germany in September 1939, Die Middellandse Regiment (DMR) concentrated it's recruiting in the Karoo and Eastern Cape farming areas. The 23-year-old Jordaan volunteered in October of the same year and was allocated to C Company, DMR. On the day of his enlistment, his mother, who was farming on Remia, in the Maclear district of the Eastern Cape, wrote on the front page of Jordaan’s diary: “When the leaves of this album are yellow with age and the words that I write are dim on the page … still think of me darling, and do not forget there is a mother who loves you and thinks of you yet.”

DMR was incorporated into the 2nd South African Infantry Division, which trained at Voortrekkerhoogte, near Pretoria, and departed for Durban en route to Egypt and the Western Desert.

The division saw action at Bardia in January 1942, and ended up freeing 8 000 Allied prisoners and capturing 6 000 Axis troops.

DEFEAT AT TOBRUK

Further action at Sollum and Gazala saw them taking Tobruk with the idea of consolidating the Allied position and keeping General Erwin Rommel away from the Suez Canal.

The Tobruk garrison faced the enemy without air cover, and with insufficient anti-tank weaponry and anti-aircraft cannons.