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Weeping cross still a mystery
09/07/2004 08:49 - (SA)
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Old Bill Roy Hendry, left, and Sergeant Major Eddie Hoffman consider patches of resin "tears" on the Weeping Cross of Delville Wood in Pietermaritzburg. (Ian Carbutt, Natal Witness)
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Hannah Keal
Pietermaritzburg - The wooden cross in the Garden of Remembrance in Pietermaritzburg is tacky with resin just a few days before the anniversary of the massacre of thousands of South African soldiers at the Battle of Delville Wood during the Somme offensive of 1916.
The cross has wept resin "tears" almost every year, coinciding with the anniversary of the bloody battle that started on July 15, 1916. Out of the over 4 000 troops who defended Delville Wood, only 750 were left standing.
The South African brigade was ordered to occupy the French wood and hold it at all costs to protect British troops who had just taken the adjacent village of Langueval. Shells razed the woods, slamming into trees at a rate of 400 per minute and leaving only a few tree stumps intact. By July 18 the South Africans had been driven from their trenches, the wounded could not be evacuated and reinforcements could not get through.
After the battle, three wooden crosses were cut from the few remaining stumps and presented to Durban, Cape Town and Pietermaritzburg as memorials. The Pietermaritzburg cross, which is made from Scots Pine, is the only one that weeps.
The phenomenon baffles experts.
Sticky resin was visible on Thursday from a crack near the inscription and knots in the wood on both sides of the crossbar. Eighty-eight years after the battle, scientists still find it difficult to come up with explanations for the leaking resin.
Chemists who analysed samples of the substance in the past years found traces of lower linseed oil fragments and pine resin. This was expected as the carpenter, William Olive, soaked the cross in linseed oil before he worked on it. However, the phenomenon baffles forestry experts as it is unusual for wood to continue producing resin for such a long time.
Other suggestions include the dry, cold weather experienced around this time of the year, which would cause the wood to shrink and hence force the resin out. "It is an intriguing phenomenon," said Dr Ashley Nicholas from the school of Biology at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, Westville campus. "Many theories have been put forward but until someone scientifically tests it, we are just guessing."
Sergeant Major Eddie Hoffman has been keeping tabs on the state of the cross. "On June 17 it was as hard as a rock, but on June 29 it had already started getting tacky," he said, adding that if the weeping cross follows its usual pattern, it will have dried out again by the end of July.
"It is an unexplained mystery," said Old Bill Roy Hendry. "Authorities from all over the world have given their reasons but none can explain it."
The cross originally stood at the intersection of Durban and Alexandra Roads in Pietermaritzburg but was seen to be a traffic hazard and was moved to the Natal Carbineers Garden. In July 1956 it was moved to the Moth Remembrance Garden, where it has been ever since.
What's your theory?
- The Witness
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