Service of Remembrance for SS Mendi war dead (From Daily Echo)
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Friends of Delville Wood organise service to pay tribute to South African soldiers
11:12am Thursday 14th March 2013 in News
Service of Remembrance for SS Mendi war dead
South African soldiers who lost their lives off the south coast during the First World War have been honoured.
Recently-formed Hampshire group the Friends of Delville Wood held a service at the Hollybrook Memorial at the Hollybrook Cemetery, in Southampton, on Sunday.
They were remembering the sinking of the SS Mendi in the English Channel on February 21, 1917, en route to the Western Front in France, which led to the deaths of 646 men of the South African Native Labour Corps.
The names of soldiers who died in the sinking are on the memorial wall.
Representatives from the Australian, New Zealand and Canadian navies as well as the Royal Navy were present.
Wreaths were laid at the memorial wall.
