World War 1 Memorial, Kingston Frost Park

●All the South Africans who served in the First World War were volunteers.There was no conscription and the rewards were pitifully few. So they really laid down their lives for a cause to which their country was committed. ●All the names listed are English with the exception of Gunner van Blerk. But all the regiments are South African apart from the Royal Flying Corps. People are quick to dismiss these as Englishmen fighting for King and Empire.They were South Africans fighting under the South African flag. ●Only one was a commissioned officer Lieut. J. Borrowman who served with the Royal Flying Corps, predecessor to the RAF. There was only one non-commissioned officer, Sergeant Cage. That reflects the working class character of Brixton at the time. ●One third were privates in the South African Infantry – the cannon- fodder of most wars and especially this one. ●It reflects in a small way the huge loss of life in the First World War. Second World War Memorials tend to be tacked on to First World War ones simply because the death rate in the First was so much greater, the second seems almost insignificant. Interestingly there is no second batch here. ●The enormous and elaborate Prince Albert War Memorial in East London commemorates 9 men who died in several Frontier wars. This commemorates 12 men from one suburb. For funds to be raised in a blue collar community for such a monument indicates how strong local feeling was. This is essentially a local monument which was erected by a local community at a time when working class families were experiencing great hardship.