East Fort Hout Bay The Worlds Oldest Working Battery of original working guns. A pictorial review. Rev Jun 2014
(Above) In 1999/2000 the Peninsula suffered the greatest veld fire in living memory stretching from Simons Town to Hour Bay. East Fort suffered severe damage and all the gun carriages were either destroyed totally or severely damaged. Today the guns have been restored, proofed and tested and now constitute the Oldest Working Battery of Original Working Guns in the World.
Gunners of the Cape Garrison Artillery run out No 1 gun at the sites middle precinct s Gun Pit. Maj General Roy Anderson prepares to fire No 1 gun. Foreground Maj Vidius Archer, O.C. Cape Garrison Artillery.
Brig Gen Notshweleka (Artillery Formation), the late Prof Kadar Asmal, Heritage Trust Chairman Richard Timms and Mrs Asmal at a memorial service for all who have given their lives for our nation, held ateast Fort Nov 2006. Members of the Cape Field Artillery at a ceremony in honour of the 150th anniversary of the Regiment. The oldest volunteer artillery regiment in the Commonwealth. The CFA regularly execute the ceremonial 21 gun salutes for the President and eminent visitors on special official occasions.
Lt Col Johannes Moraka (Artillery Formation) prepares to fire No 6 gun as part of a Rolling Salvo Salute to the 15 year friendship between the Cape Field Artillery and the Hout Bay Heritage Trust. The Hout Bay Gunners are dressed in Batavian Republic Artillery uniforms of c.1806, the period between the first and second British occupations when the Cape was part of the Batavian Republic. The Heat of Battle. This photograph of a rolling salvo was to honour the visit of the replica c.1745 sailing ship Gotheborg the worlds largest wooden ship. All the guns were made in Sweden which opened the door for the event. The gunners were the Head of the Indian High Commission, the British Consul General the Swedish Ambassador, the CEO of TOTAL SA (representing France), Piet Westra representing the Netherlands and Mr Cecil Graham (Chairman of the Hout Bay Heritage Trust) representing SA.
The 2007 visit of six NATO vessels to Cape Town was celebrated by gun crews from each ship. The event was also attended by the SA Corps of Military attaches representing USA, Canada, Netherlands, Germany, Portugal and Denmark. Hout Bay s East Battery is a favoured destination for all visiting naval vessels and can promote great friendship between visiting service personnel and the SANDF. Visiting VIPs and the Captain and officers of the INS MUMBAI Flagship of India s visit to the AAD in 2007. Included with the dignitaries is Dep High Commissioner to SA is Mr Vikas Swarrup (blue neck tie) author of Questions and Answers filmed as Academy Award winning Slumdog Millionaire.
(Above and Below) Bastille Day 14th July. The East Fort site was established in 1781 by the French Pondicherry Regiment (based 50 km south of Madras (now Chennai). We were honoured by the staging of an investiture at the site where two high ranking French Naval Officers were presented with the Legion d honeur the highest decoration that can be awarded on behalf of the President of France.
Col Andries Oelofse (Artillery Formation) fires No 1 gun to salute our Hout Bay s Historic Military Heritage. Sat 12th Sept 2009. As well asregular visits from the CFA and CGA, the Trust has hosted many visits of Military representatives including, Big Gen Notshweleka, Maj Gen Andersen, Members of School of Armour Bloemfontein and 29 Commando Royal Artillery UK. NATO Naval representatives from Canada, Germany, Sweden, Portugal, USA and Denmark. In addition we have had Naval visits from France & India. The British Consul General to Cape Town (No 6 gun) prepares to fire the final gun of a six gun rolling salvo in honour of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth s Diamond Jubilee. The celebration was televised across the World as Hout Bay s part of the World s largest ever International cultural heritage event with Hout Bay s Honourable Artillerymen on top form.
Above: Hout Bay s Heritage is a TV hit! Above nine teams of two participant in the Norwegian version of the well know TV reality show THE AMAZING RACE was filmed in Cape Town with East fort being the last destination. Each team fired on of the guns before finally clocking in to the final check point. Below: The BBC History Channel used the Fort as a set for part of their History of the World series. East Fort replicated one of the Banda Islands in Indonesia where nutmegs were first discovered in 1616. The Island became Britain s first colony but only for three years, after which it was given to the Dutch in exchange for Manhattan!
In recent years the British Royal Navy has visited Simon s Town on many occasions and East Fort has become an R&R visit for crews who think Cape Town is the finest City on Earth (which it is). Seen here are some of the Officers and crew of HMS Dauntless. Below: HMS MONTROSE was greeted by a rolling salvo salute on entering the Bay before leaving for the South Atlantic. The Traditional Hats Off has become the standard response after an acknowledgement by the ship.