Last Sunday, Graham Scott of Wessex Archaeology’s Coastal & Marine team attended the annual commemorative ceremony at the South African National War Memorial at Delville Wood on the Somme.
 
Graham has assembled a group of UK and South African heritage and creative professionals, including Wessex Archaeology, who are donating their time and expertise to create a permanent exhibition at the Memorial’s impressive museum. The exhibition will commemorate the loss of more than 600 men of the South African Native Labour Corps, who were drowned when the Liverpool ship Mendi sank off the Isle of Wight in 1917 on the way to the Western Front. The exhibition will mix art and archaeology to tell the story of the Mendi and of the Labour Corps and explain why the loss of these men is so important to the people of South Africa today.
 
The ceremony on Sunday was officiated by the South African Deputy President Cyril Ramaphosa. The centrepiece was the re-interment of Beleza Myengwa of the Labour Corps at Delville Wood. This is intended as an acknowledgment of the sacrifices made by non-white South Africans during World War 1 and to act as a symbol of reconciliation and nation building.
 
During a short break in the ceremony Graham met Mr Ramaphosa to explain the Mendi project. He was subsequently delighted when the Deputy President departed from the script of his official speech to praise the project on behalf of South African President Jacob Zuma.
 
Wessex Archaeology’s Coastal & Marine archaeologists have studied the Mendi in depth – read more about the vessel and its history, and the men of the South African Native Labour Corps, on our dedicated webpages.