South African Military History 
Society

P.O. BOX 12926
MOWBRAY
7705

CAPE TOWN BRANCH
NEWSLETTER NO 485 – MARCH 2020

FORTHCOMING MEETINGS

THURSDAY, 12 MARCH 2020:

Alexander the Great – Marius van der Merwe

Alexander III of Macedon, commonly known as Alexander the Great was born in Pella in 356 BC and succeeded his father Philip II to the throne at the age of 20. He spent most of his ruling years on an unprecedented military campaign through Asia and northeast Africa, and by the age of thirty, he had created one of the largest empires of the ancient world, stretching from Greece to north-western India. He was undefeated in battle and is widely considered one of history's most successful military commanders. Military academies throughout the world still teach his tactics and he is often ranked among the most influential people in history.

Our Speaker will discuss this king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon at the hand of the following 4 pertinent questions:

Fellow member Marius van der Merwe has an avid interest in military history ranging from ancient to modern times (especially Eastern Front WW2) and has presented a number of talks to the Society over the last few years. He was born in 1960 in Upington and matriculated at Outeniqua High School in George. He did his SADF National Service 1979 at Infantry School in Oudtshoorn and was deployed at 53 BnOwamboland while enlisted for SADF Short Service in 1980-’81 and again in 1987-’88. He worked in the Banking, ArchitecturalDraughting and Security Industry in the United Kingdom and is since 2009 employed as a Site Inspector for an Industrial Property Group in Cape Town.

He is also a member of WW2 A/C, Cape SAAACA, founding member of the AWSG and also has a keen interest in video games of historical and simulator nature (including realistic flight simulators), reading and collecting non-fiction books and military models.

Carl Burger (Chairman)
082 333 2706
cburger@bissets.com


South African Military History Society / scribe@samilitaryhistory.org