The Saluting Battery at the Castle of Good Hope Cape Town 1910-1942

Abstract

Although the guns of the Castle of Good Hope in Cape Town never fired a shot in anger, they often fired salutes in honour of Royalty (the King's Birthday), visiting heads of state and warships, Union Day (a salute of 19 guns in 1931) and on other appropriate occasions. The subject of this article is the Saluting Battery on Katzenellenbogen Bastion at the Castle which was operational from about 1910 until about 1942. In 1912 the Castle was the only authorized saluting station in the Union of South Africa. The battery was manned by personnel of the Royal Garrison Artillery until it was taken over by South Africa in 1921.