British War Medal (184535. CDT. C.V. MARSHALL. R.A.F.); 1939-45 Star (611 C.V. MARSHALL); Africa Star (611 C.V. MARSHALL); War Medal 1939-45 (611 C.V. MARSHALL); Africa Service Medal (611 C.V. MARSHALL); Efficiency Decoration with Union of South Africa top bar reverse engraved (CAPT. C.V. MARSHALL G.S.C.)
Clement Marshall was born in Dundee, in the northern part of Natal on 18 December 1900 the son of William Vause Marshall and his wife. At the time of Marshall’s birth the small town of Dundee was still recovering from the Battle of Talana a year before and had been occupied and looted by the Boer forces who had entered the town after the British troops withdrawal to Ladysmith.
The onset of World War I in August 1914 would have found a 14 year old Clement far too young to even contemplate joining the service but, having attained his 17th birthday, he was quick to enlist for service overseas with the Royal Air Force and, having taken passage to England, arrived on 21 October 1918. Marshall was not to know that his arrival was just over month before the end of the war and that, as a result, he wasn’t destined to see any action. In point of fact, possibly as a result of the rigours of his voyage, he was admitted to York Hill War Hospital in Glasgow on 6 November 1918 from the C.D.D. (Cadet Distribution Depot)
His posting back to the C.D.D. on 25 November meant that he had missed the end of the war and now all that remained was for him to await instructions as to his future. On 18 December 1918 he was posted to “D” Section at the R.A.F. Depot in Bedford from where he went to the Training Wing and Repatriation Camp on 24 January 1919. On 6 May 1919 the London Gazette announced that he had been promoted to 2nd Lieutenant with effect from 15 February of that year.
Marshall was awarded the British War Medal impressed to 184535 CDT. C.V. MARSHALL, R.A.F.
Having returned to South Africa he took up farming with his father in Dundee. The Natal Witness carried an announcement to the effect that “the wedding of Alvina Francis Maude, only daughter of Mr. And Mrs. C. Krause, Dundee, to Clement Vause, only son of Mr. W.V. and the late Mrs. Marshall, of East Lynne, Dundee District, will take place at the Wesleyan Church, Dundee, on December 15th, 1928, at 1.30 p.m. Reception at Atwell’s Theatre. Cordial invitation to all friends and relations. No cards.”
Marshall now settled down to the business of farming and raising a family. He hadn’t forgotten his military obligations however, and enlisted with the 2nd Royal Natal Carbineers for peacetime service.
The Statement to be Completed in the case of Candidates for Commissioned Rank in the Union Defence Forces that he completed on 30 July 1931 provides us with the details. Providing his address as “The Willows”, P.O. Glencoe Junction, Marshall was still a Farmer by profession. He mentioned that he had been a Corporal with the 2nd Mounted Rifles (Natal Carbineers) with no. 37684 from 13 September 1921 until 1 July 1925 and that, before this, he had been with the R.A.F. as a 2nd Lieutenant in Great Britain from 20 October 1918 until 14 February 1919. He had been allowed to retain the rank of 2nd Lieutenant as per the Air Force List (page 4905) of November 1919.
On 1 July 1925 he had been drafted to the A Class Reserve. Courses he had attended were Vickers Machine – Instructor’s Qualifying Course from 28 April until 7 June 1924 and the Lewis Gun -Instructor’s Qualifying Course from 16 June until 5 July 1924. Marshall’s nomination for appointment as 2nd Lieutenant in the 2nd Mounted Rifles (Natal Carbineers) was forwarded and recommended by Lieut. Col. Teasdale, O.C. of the regiment, from Ladysmith, on 27 August 1931.
A Minute from the Prime Minister’s Office dated 30 September 1931 and signed by both J.B.M. Hertzog and Earl Clarendon, the Governor General, confirmed Marshall’s appointment at the rate of pay of 4/6 per day.
Eight years later, on 6 September 1939, South Africa entered the war and Marshall, on 14 September 1940 as a serving Officer with the 2nd R.N.C. was assigned to the newly formed S.A.T.C. – South African Tank Corps with the rank of Captain. Initially he was destined to revert to the rank of Temporary Lieutenant on transfer from the R.N.C. to the S.A.T.C. but this order was cancelled on 11 November 1940. (Marshall had been promoted to the rank of Temporary Captain on 27 April 1938)
Now a Platoon Commander with the 14th A.A. Company of the S.A.T.C., Marshall set about the tasks assigned to him. (The 14th had been formed at AFVTC Voortrekkerhoogte in September 1940 on conversion to armour of the 2nd Royal Natal Carbineers.)
On 21 March 1941 they proceeded north from Zonderwater by train to Broken Hill which they passed through on convoy on 26 March. After a long and arduous journey they arrived at Nairobi in Kenya on 10 April 1941. Shortly after arrival, at Gil Gil, they merged with No.13 A.C. Coy., in April, to form 6 SA Armoured Car Regiment.
They next entrained at Nairobi for Mombasa, and from there, embarked aboard the S.S. “Northleigh” on 5 May 1941 Suez and service in the Middle East arriving on 2 June 1941.
On 3 March Marshall was admitted to 5 General Hospital with an undiagnosed complaint, being discharged after treatment on 15 March.
Now part of the 6th S.A. Armoured Car Regiment this is where Marshall was to spend his time until, on 20 April 1942, he embarked at Suez aboard the “Ile de France” for the Union, disembarking at Durban on 2 May 1942 where he was taken on strength at the Base Depot.
For Marshall his war, as far as active service in an operational area was concerned, was over. After a spot of leave he was told to report to the Armoured Fighting Vehicle Training Centre (A.F.V.T.C.) at Kafferkraal on 1 June 1942.
On 18 January 1943 Marshall was transferred to the G.S.C. (General Service Corps) and moved to Fortress Durban where he took up the responsibilities of Recruiting duties.
His stay in Durban was to be short-lived; on 1 June he was moved from the Recruiting Staff to Pietermaritzburg for duty at the P.O.W. Camp there as Cage Commander and Officer in Charge. The P.O.W. Camp was off Durban Road, the main artery connecting Pietermaritzburg to Durban. Travellers using this road passed close by and could see crowds of unhappy men standing at the tall barbed wire fences, staring at the passing traffic. Some were German soldiers captured in North Africa, awaiting transfer to P.O.W. camps in Canada. (With the sentiment in South Africa still leaning towards the German cause in many circles it was deemed prudent to get them out of the country as soon as possible.)
Thus, apart from some Japanese and other oriental prisoners, those in long term captivity in Pietermaritzburg were mainly Italians, captured in Abyssinia, Eritrea and North Africa. Few of these it would seem were committed to the war and it was therefore possible to release quite a number on parole. Some were employed by the military authorities whilst others worked on nearby farms or in factories. Marshall, as Officer in charge of Outside Employment, would have been responsible for these postings.
There were several thousand prisoners settled in the Durban Road camp, among them officers and men with many skills and abilities. They ran their own school, had a library and a full concert band. The standard of music was understandably high and three public concerts were given in aid of charity in the Pietermaritzburg City Hall. A beautiful church was also constructed by these prisoners, inaugurated by the Apostolic Delegate to South Africa, Archbishop van Gijlswijk, on 19 March 1944.
Marshall’s sojourn in Pietermaritzburg was cut short by his posting on detached duty to the P.O.W. camp at Weza, near Kokstad to the south of Natal as Camp Commandant. This took place on 30 August 1943.
His son recalls many interesting anecdotes about their time in Weza. The most important Italian there was the Medic, Doctor De Angelis. This chap was a strict disciplinarian which made the Camp O’C’s job all the easier. Italian P.O.W’s who reported sick and were found to be malingering, were given short thrift by the Doctor, a man of short stature and who reminded everyone of Mussolini – it was he who would arrange extra heavy duty for those who had wasted his time.
On 8 March 1946 he was transferred back to the P.O.W. camp at Pietermaritzburg as Cage Commander before being taken on strength at the Dispersal Depot in Durban on 1 April 1947 (in absentia) for release. On 16 June 1947 he was given an indefinite release on demobilisation.
On the Recommendation for Promotion of an Officer form Marshall it was stated that ‘This officer has been doing good work and his promotion (to War Substantive rank of Captain) is recommended.’
In terms of courses attended Marshall listed them as:
• D & M, Abyssinia – Oct- Nov 1941 – Pass
• Squad. Comdr. Kafferskraal – July – August 1942 – Pass
• Squad. Comdr. Kafferskraal – September – October 1942 – Pass
He made mention of the fact that he had been awarded the Efficiency Decoration on 3 July 1946 and that he was a Town Ranger employed by the Dundee Municipality (this function is now known as the Sheriff of the Court)
At the age of 65 years and 2 months Clement Vause Marshall passed away at the Scottburgh Hospital on 6 February 1966. He was resident at his holiday home at Oslo Beach on the South Coast of Natal at the time and was survived by his wife and three sons, Kenneth, Desmond and Eric.
His Last Will and Testament, dated 6 November 1958 bequeathed everything to his wife. A codicil, signed at Port Shepstone on 11 June 1964, bequeathed his eyes for therapeutic or scientific purposes to the St. John Ophthalmic Hospital. His son, Kenneth, purchased the family’s 1951 model Vauxhall and the amount left over for distribution came to R 2 705.73.
On Wednesday, 9 February 1966, a matter of three days after his death, the Daily News columnist, “The Wayfarer” – a lifelong friend of Marshall’s – published the following in respect of his old acquaintance under Talk of the Day. Entitled “When Major Miller flew in to seek... it read:
The emergent generation –
Clement Marshall, who was cremated in Durban yesterday, belonged to what I suppose you call Natal’s emergent generation. He was born in time to see the passing of the old leisurely colonial order and the entry of the new exciting age with modern wonders tumbling upon one another.
Clement Marshall was a sturdy, tough farm boy when World War I broke out, living happily on the broad acres of “East Lynne” which his father farmed imaginatively and progressively.
Those were, of course, still the days of the horse and saddle and of wagons and ploughs drawn by oxen. And they were the days of lamps and candles. Mechanisation and electricity had not reached even the best tended of lands.
They were hard days too. Good farmers and their sons started work before dawn and they rarely, if ever, ended before dusk. But they were good peaceful days when men took pride in well-kept lands, fine herds and first grade crops, and when good horses were a proud possession.
It was into pastoral scenes such as this that Major Alister Miller, the hero of all young men, came barn-storming on what must go down in history as the most amazing recruiting campaign in all South African history. At Dundee they mowed a hay field below Talana Hill and when Alister Miller brought his crazy old kite to a noisy bumping landing on it, every youth in the district was there to give him a roaring welcome.
It was the first aeroplane they had ever seen; an exciting, tremendous moment in their lives. Miller’s job was quite easy, really. Mr. A.E. de R. Labistour delivered a patriotic speech and produced a £5 for the first fellow who signed up.
Then someone produced a table and three chairs and Miller sat down with the village doctor and a Justice of Peace.
The village doctor didn’t have to examine any of the boys he knew them all inside and outside. On his advise Miller picked out these he wanted and the doctor filled in the forms. Then the lucky ones took the oath before the Justice of the Peace and, heigh ho, they belonged to Miller’s “Circus”. Clement Marshall was one of them.
It was all so easy - and so quick. He shook hands with the boys, someone gave the propeller a swing and he was away in a deafening, rattling, shaky take-off.
In a matter of days Alister Miller’s boys from all over rural Natal were assembled at Durban and embarked; ready to run the gauntlet of the U-boat blockade which had been stepped-up.
They got to England all right; in good time for the Zeppelin raids which the Kaiser had erroneously thought would demoralise the British people. The war ended, but I doubt whether life was ever the same for the emergent generation. Somehow the zest had gone from the simpler things in life. Take horses for instance. Those were the days when horse sickness took a heavy toll every summer and when Watkins-Pitchford, the great veterinarian, was striving desperately to find a vaccine.
We had an arrangement whereby our horses ran with the Marshall horses high up in the Berg during summer and sometimes, just for the hell of it, Clement Marshall and I would ride up with them to the summer camp.
With good African grooms we would set off at 5 ‘o clock in the evening with about 150 horses and ride non-stop throughout the night. We dared not stop in case some of the horses strayed. We would take a route through Hattingh Spruit, Dannhauser and Newcastle and arrive at the foothills of the Berg at dawn. From there, after a mighty breakfast at a Mission Station, we would drive the horses up Muller’s Pass to the summer camp; rest in the caves for a few hours and then ride back non-stop. It was a great adventure, although cruel on the horses we rode.
Oddly enough I never lost touch with Clement Marshall, although we rarely saw each other. I bumped into him once during World War II and a few years ago he came to see me and we talked interminably about our young days.
Today I mourn him and the good things he and his generation stood for.
Medals are in good condition unless otherwise indicated. Sold with copy photos and a file of research.
