Page 10 - Bulletin 11 2007

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 Construction of the All Round the Cape Peninsula Road was approved in 1913.
Although it had always been advocated as a means of opening up the attractions of

the Peninsula to tourists, once war started it may well have had some military
significance in the south Peninsula. By December 1913, the road had been pushed

rapidly south of Simon’s Town and had reached the high ground above Smitswinkel

Bay, from which point relatively easy access was afforded to prominent observation
points on the Atlantic coastline from which enemy warships closing on the coast

might be observed.

As the security of Simon’s Town was of paramount importance, the Imperial forces at the

Cape routinely carried out “war games” to test the readiness of the defences. An account of
one of these is given below.

Cape Times Weekly Edition: 30 October, 1912.

PENINSULA MANOEUVRES
______________
A NIGHT ATTACK
_______

Simon’s Town, Wednesday.

Unknown apparently to the majority of the inhabitants of Simon’s Town, two
nd
companies of the 2 East Lancashire Regiment have been encamped upon Red Hill for the
last fifteen or sixteen days, for the purpose of carrying out Company Training and Field
Training.
The training terminated this morning, and the men returned to Wynberg looking
fit and well. The whole of yesterday, last night and part of this morning were occupied in a
practical scheme for testing some of Simon’s Town’s land defences, when Brig.-Gen.
Hickman and the General Staff were present to watch operations.
The scheme was as follows:
It was assumed that Simon’s Town and district were temporarily without the
protection of any of His Majesty’s warships, and that a hostile cruiser had been sighted in
the vicinity of Chapman’s Bay. Information was received that a force of about four
companies of Infantry had landed at Kommetje. The two companies from Red Hill were
immediately mobilised and also the Garrison Artillery in Scala, and Upper and Lower