April 20, 2006
By Thabang Mokoka
REGARDED as the "spiritual and symbolic home of regular and reserve soldiers and veterans", the Military Museum in Saxonwold has upgraded its premises.
Added to its impressive collection of military artefacts are new halls and a library, which enhance its image as the custodian of military history in southern Africa.
The halls include the Aviation Hall, the War Store and the Armada Hall. Work on the buildings began in 2003 and ended in 2005, according to the public relations officer and curator of art and aviation, Allan Sinclair.
The Aviation Hall, also known as the Group Captain Sailor Malan Hall, houses three German aircraft – the FW190, BF109 and the ME262. The latter was "the first jet in its time to be used in World War Two" Sinclair added.
Over at the War Store collectors and interested people can buy military memorabilia and objects. Next to the shop is the Armada Hall, otherwise called the Major-General Whe Poole.
It is home to a number of military vans that were used in World War Two.
Above the shop and the Armada Hall is the library, named after Lieutenant-General Andrew Masondo. Masondo was a member of Umkhonto we Sizwe, later becoming a general in the South African National Defence Force. He is also the uncle of Johannesburg Executive Mayor Amos Masondo.
The library houses a unique collection of books, journals and archival material, as well as official South African World War 2 art and photographs. Photo-archivist Gerda Viljoen, who is based in the library, said she received calls and emails from people overseas and in South Africa inquiring about images, thanks to the library's large collection.
Most people visited the library once, and then kept returning, she said. It was often used as a reference library. It is also used to conducts interviews as part of its ongoing collection of oral history and it has a number of publications for sale.
Sinclair said the library had one of the biggest collections of its kind in the southern Hemisphere.
The museum is a member of the South African Museums Association, the International Council of Museums, the International Association of Museums of Arms and Military History, the Ordnance Society and the South African Association for the Conference Industry.
Lieutenant General Andrew Masondo, uncle to Executive Mayor Amos Masondo
The Friends of the South African National Museum of Military History supports the Museum in a number of ways, while the South African Military History Society is an affiliate of the museum. A number of other organisations, such as the South African Arms and Ammunition Collectors Association, the South African Arms and Armour Society, the Johannesburg Branch of the International Plastic Modellers Society and the Warsaw Flights Commemoration Association, are also stakeholders in the museum.
The South African National Museum of Military History is on Erlswold Way, Saxonwold, above the Johannesburg Zoo. It is open seven days a week, from 9am to 4.30pm, but is closed on Good Friday and Christmas Day.
Admission is R5 for adults, R3 for senior citizens, and R2 for students. For more information, contact Allan Sinclair on 011 646 5513, fax 011 646 5256 or email milmus@icon.co.za.
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