HOUT BAY’S INTERNATIONAL HERITAGE ON VIEW.
At the request of the French Consul General to Cape Town, Bruno Clerc,
we were delighted to host a party of students from France who were in South
Africa for a cultural and sporting visit to our country. The twenty five
strong party of young men and women were fine ambassadors for their country
and expressed great interest in Hout Bay’s East Fort and our community.
Two of the smartly dressed students Stanislas Landry and Nicolas Law de Lauriston
readily volunteered for duty to become Honorary Gunners of the Republic of
Hout Bay, and their authentic dress uniforms added to the delight of those
present. The Ecole Polytechnique was originally established by Napoleon Bonaparte
as a Military Academy, but today it is a science university which is proud
of its historic origins.
East Fort was built by the French Pondicherry Regiment during the
period when the French occupied the Cape in the period 1781-3, when Cape
Town was often referred to as ‘Little Paris’. The French presence
was only withdrawn following the treaty of Amiens which ended the American
Revolutionary War, and the tension between France and Britain temporarily
lessened.
Later, in 1796, whilst the British, under the command of General James
Craig who accompanied Admiral George Keith Elphinstone, were further expanding
the East Fort Garrison, Napoleon Bonaparte was given his first major command
of the Army in Italy. Napoleon was first and foremost an artilleryman and
did much to develop the science of gunnery of the day. Fate ruled that Napoleon
was never to change the fortunes of the Cape subsequently, but it is interesting
to note that one of Admiral Elphinstone’s last orders was to transport
Napoleon to St Helena where he spent the remainder of his life.
Hout Bay is proud to have friends in France who cherish their role
on the stage of World History, which in turn is a part of our heritage that
must never be forgotten.
D.C. |
