SA War Memorial is opened at Delville Wood

Date: 10 Oct 1926
Updated: 10 Oct 2025

The South African National War Memorial was opened outside the village of Longueval, France, next to the historic Delville Wood. The Memorial was unveiled by mrs Annie Botha, the widow of General Louis Botha, after an address by the then Prime Minister, Gen J.B.M. Hertzog in commemoration of the thousands of South Africans who fought during the First World War. The inscription was later broadened to include those that fell during the Second World War too. The Memorial was topped by a sculpture of Castor and Polloux holding hands and was designed to symbolise the unity between all nations of South Africa.

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01Potgieter, D.J. et al. (eds)(1970). Standard Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa, Cape Town: NASOU, v. 3, p. 638; v.11, pp. 511 & 512.
02worldwar1,' South African National Memorial and Museum Delville Wood ',[online],Available at www.worldwar1.nl[Accessed: 27 September 2013]

Last updated · 10 Oct 2025

Cite this entry

South African History Online. (2011, March 16). SA War Memorial is opened at Delville Wood. South African History Online. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0011482

South African History Online (2011) 'SA War Memorial is opened at Delville Wood', South African History Online, 16 March. Available at: https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0011482 (Accessed: 18 August 2026).

South African History Online, SA War Memorial is opened at Delville Wood [website], https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0011482, (accessed 18 August 2026).

"SA War Memorial is opened at Delville Wood." South African History Online, 16 Mar. 2011, https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0011482. Accessed 18 Aug. 2026.

South African History Online. "SA War Memorial is opened at Delville Wood." South African History Online. March 16, 2011. https://sahistory.org.za/ref/E-0011482.