Warrior: a person, who shows or has shown great vigour,
Courage or aggressiveness in their endeavours
HISTORY
The idea to form Warrior Shellhole came from 5 members who in the early 1950s got together on an open stretch of land at Muldersdrift to make it happen. The first Old Bill, in 1952, was Vic Clapham, who is perhaps better known to the general public for his founding role in the Comrades Marathon. Our Charter was granted on the 9th February, 1952. Over the next few years the Moths of Warrior Shellhole themselves built the Shellhole Building and Club premises, as well as the first three cottages.
Warrior is proud to have a connection with Moth O, who designed a Crest for our Shellhole, the central feature of which he described in 1957 as “crossed Crusader swords”, and these are still to be seen in the middle our Banner.
Moth O was also involved in the rebuilding of Moth McArdle’s cottage in 1957. Moth McArdle had built a cottage for himself on the hillside overlooking Muldersdrift and one day when he was out, it caught alight and burned down. The Members of Warrior Shellhole got together and rebuilt his cottage. Moth O heard about this and he officiated when the Shellhole handed over the rebuilt cottage to Moth McArdle.
It was a cold day, to judge from the photos which show him wearing a greatcoat (maybe a Naval coat?) over his MOTH uniform. At the opening he said the following –
“This day, is a day of victory for Warrior Shellhole and to underline it, it becomes my pleasant duty to bring you greetings from a brotherhood of … Dugouts and Shellholes extending over the Union …”
Since these first building efforts by Warrior Shellhole, the members of Warrior Shellhole have themselves built all the other buildings which we see today on the Warrior property. Members of Oasis Shellhole have also contributed to building work and today we have 25 cottages through which we give shelter to those of our members who need our Mutual Help. We are grateful to be able to offer these cottages in True Comradeship, recognizing our duty of Sound Memory to remember the service which our brother Moths have given.
Regrettably in 2021 a decision was made to sell the property as it was not longer viable. Most of the tenants were relocated to other Moth Cottages in the area. The Warrior Shellhole as of February 2022 now meets at Caprivi Protea Shellhole.
Past Old Bills
1974 Moth Shorty Weber | 1975 Moth Shorty Weber | 1976 Moth Jim Hay |
1977 Moth Jim Hay | 1978 Moth Shorty Weber | 1979 Moth Shorty Weber |
1980 Moth Dick Isaac | 1981 Moth Robbie Maxwell | 1982 Moth Dick Isaac |
1983 Moth Bob Kearns | 1984 Moth Bob Kearns | 1985 Moth Bob Kearns |
1986 Moth George Euvrard | 1987 Moth Jim Hay | 1988 Moth Tony Euvrard |
1989 Moth Tony Euvrard | 1990 Moth Len Orchard | 1991 Moth Arthur Cooper |
1992 Moth Arthur Cooper | 1993 Moth Arthur Cooper | 1993/1994 Moth W Ellis |
1994/1995 Moth A Euvrard | 1995/1996 Moth W Ellis | 1996/1997 Moth W Ellis |
1997/1998 Moth D Prowling | 1998/1999 Moth A Cooper | 1999/2000 Moth A Cooper |
2000/2001 Moth A Cooper | 2001/2002 Moth A Cooper | 2003/2004 Moth G Clark |
2004/2005 Moth G Clark | 2005/2006 Moth C Viljoen | 2006/2007 Moth C Viljoen |
2007/2008 Moth C Viljoen | 2008/2009 Moth C Viljoen | 2009/2010 Moth C Viljoen |
2010/2011 Moth L Crator | 2011/2012 Moth L Crator | 2012/2013 Moth L Crator |
2013/2014 Moth L Crator | 2014/2015 Moth K Gradidge | 2015/2016 Moth K Gradidge |
2016/2017 Moth G Clark |