Wolraad Woltemade

Ever since I was a little girl of 9 years old, and I first heard this story in my history lesson it always fascinated me, and I remember crying for this brave man and the passengers on this ship that did not survive.

I found this information on http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolraad_Woltemade and I hope it interests you.
Wolraad Woltemade

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Wolraad Woltemade (c.1708 - June 1, 1773) was a South African dairy farmer, who died while rescuing sailors from the wreck of the ship De Jonge Thomas in Table Bay on 1 June 1773.1


Early life
Woltemade was born in Hesse-Schoumberg, part of present-day Germany, around 1708 He migrated to the Dutch settlement at Cape Town (Kaapstad) and worked for the Vereenigde Oostindische Compagnie (known in English as the Dutch East India Company) as a dairyman. (Although the notion seems strange to modern minds, many of the earliest European colonies were established by commercial companies, rather than through the direct intervention of the governments of the European nations. See for example the history of the British South Africa Company).

Shipwreck
In the very early morning of 1 June, 1773 (early winter in the southern hemisphere), a sailing ship, De Jonge Thomas,2 was driven ashore in a gale on a sand bar at the mouth of the Salt River in Table Bay. Many lives were lost as the ship started to break up but a substantial number of survivors were left clinging to the hull. The stricken ship was not too far from dry land and many sailors attempted to swim ashore. Most of those who did so perished; the water was cold and the current from the nearby Salt River too great. Apart from the very strongest swimmers, those who struck for the shore were carried out to sea.

A crowd of spectators stood on the beach. Some came to watch, others to try to help and yet others were hoping to loot the cargo that was being washed ashore. A detachment of soldiers was in attendance, to keep order amongst the mass. Corporal Christian Ludwig Woltemade, the youngest son of the by now elderly Wolraad, was amongst those standing guard. As daylight came, Wolraad left his home on horseback, taking provisions to his son.

Rescue
As he reached the beach, Wolraad was filled with pity for the sailors marooned aboard the wreck. Seeing that nothing could be done by those on the beach, he mounted his horse and urged the animal into the sea. As they approached the wreck Woltemade turned the horse and called for two men to jump into the sea and grasp the horse's tail. After a moment's hesitation two men threw themselves into the water and did so, whereupon Woltemade urged the horse forward and dragged them to shore. Wolraad rode out seven times, bringing back fourteen men. By this time he and his horse were exhausted but at that moment, as they rested, the ship began to collapse. Wolraad once more urged his horse into the water but by now the desperation amongst the sailors was tremendous. Seeing this as probably their last chance to escape before the ship was destroyed, six men plunged into the sea, grabbing at the horse. Their weight was too much for the exhausted steed; all were dragged below the waves and drowned. Woltemade's body was found the next day. His horse was called "Vonk".
Of the 191 souls on board, only 53 survived and of these 14 were saved by Woltemade.

Honour
Woltemade immediately became a hero. The Dutch East India Company provided amply for his widow and children. A suburb of Cape Town is named after him. The Union of South Africa King's Medal for Bravery, instituted in 1939, bore a depiction of Woltemade's heroic act on its obverse. In 1970 the Woltemade Decoration for Bravery was instituted as the highest civilian decoration for bravery in South Africa. This was replaced in 1988 by the Woltemade Cross for Bravery. The Woltemade Cross was discontinued in 2002, as part of the move towards establishing a new South African honours system, following the advent of majority rule.

The Name
In old Dutch Wolraad means "good advice" or "well counselled". Woltemade is more problematic. It is possible to interpret it as "well made".

Notes
Most of those whose mother tongue is English will have difficulty pronouncing his name. Try VOLL (rhymes with knoll) RARD (rhymes with bard) VOLL TER MARDER).
Roughly, the young, or the younger Thomas
See also
Union of South Africa King's Medal for Bravery
External links
http://www.vocshipwrecks.nl/out_voyages8/jonge_thomas.html
References
Schirmer, P. 1980. The concise illustrated South African encyclopaedia. Central News Agency, Johannesburg, about 211pp.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wolraad_Woltemade"
Categories: South African people

Bravery

It's great when people leave me comments or messages and especially questions because then I can get to blog again on this site. Lisa was asking me about the award that were received by the entertainers, I found a photo somewhere of the entertainers getting the award I will see if I can locate it.

Here is some information that I found on http://www.geocities.com/militaf/4-mno.htm

Oceanos Sea Rescue (1991) - A successful air force and naval operation to rescue 402 passengers from the sinking cruise liner Oceanos. It yielded more decorations than any other single event in South Africa: an Honoris Crux Gold, an Honoris Crux Silver and four Honoris Cruxes to navy personnel, and 27 Air Force Crosses to helicopter aircrew. Twelve years later, the new Mendi Decoration for Bravery was awarded collectively to the rescue operation.

Order of Mendi for Bravery - Instituted in 2003 as the Mendi Decoration for Bravery, and renamed as an order in 2004. It is awarded in three classes - Gold (OMBG), Silver (OMBS), and Bronze (OMBB) - to civilians and military personnel for bravery in saving lives. I found this photo on: http://www.info.gov.za/aboutgovt/orders/recipients/recipients2003.pdf Medi decoration for bravery in Silver.

Within 25 minutes of confirming that the Oceanos, with 587 passengers and crew on board was in distress along the coast, near East London, the Officer Commanding Rescue Co-ordination Centre launched a rescue mission which has become a textbook illustration of maritime rescue professionalism, indeed a benchmark studied by many rescue centres across the world.
Helicopters were immediately dispatched from Durban, Pretoria and Cape Town, and other ships
and craft in the vicinity were summoned to provide immediate assistance to the ship.

The first SANDF personnel on the scene found it to be listing badly to the starboard side and in imminent danger of sinking. South African Navy divers set about destroying cables and other protuberances to enable the rescue helicopters to get in closer to facilitate quicker evacuation.
Complementing a rescue operation by boat, the SAAF helicopters executed a seamless operation,
with helicopter after helicopter ferrying to shore, passengers and crew hoisted up from the badly listed ship.

When 21 passengers remained unaccounted for, erroneously as it turned, Navy divers reentered
the badly listed ship which they searched from stern to stern. The last divers were finally
evacuated after they were certain that no one was left behind, merely 25 minutes before the
Oceanos sank. All 587 passengers and crew were rescued with no loss of life.

The complicated mission demonstrated outstanding inter-service co-operation and tested the flying and diving skills, airmanship, judgement, dedication, endurance and perseverance of all SADF personnel involved in the operation. Moreover, all the navy and airforce personnel involved distinguished themselves by placing themselves in imminent danger throughout the mission.

The Oceanos Rescue Mission is a remarkable feat in the annals of maritime history which received much international acclaim and praise.

THE MEDI AWARD FOR BRAVERY IN SILVER WAS AWARDED TO MEMBERS OF THE UNITS OF THE FORMER SADF INVOLVED IN THE OCEANOS RESCUE MISSION FOR ACTS OF BRAVERY AND VALOUR DISPLAYED DURING THE RESCUE MISSION TO SAVE
PASSENGERS AND CREW OF THE OCEANOS CRUISE LINER IN AUGUST 1991