GC1FDVQ Dulce Et Decorum Est Pro Patria Mori (Traditional Cache) in Gauteng, South Africa created by Carbon Hunter now adopted by Mooiman

This cache has been archived.

Knagur Green: Due to no response from the CO after the request to maintain or replace the cache, I am archiving it to, stop it showing on the listings and/or to create place for the geocaching community.

The Geocache Maintenance guideline explains a CO's responsibility towards checking and maintaining the cache when problems are reported.

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If the CO feels that this cache has been archived in error please feel free to contact me within 30 days, via email or message via my profile ,quoting the GC number concerned

Thank you for understanding

Knagur Green
Groundspeak Volunteer Reviewer

GC1FDVQ ▼

A cache by Carbon Hunter now adopted by Mooiman Message this owner

Hidden : 8/20/2008

Difficulty:

Terrain:

Size: Size: micro (micro)

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Geocache Description:

It is sweet and fitting to die for one's country.

This is the line taken from a Wilfred Owen poem, that he penned shortly before his death in active service during World War I in Europe.

The 28-line poem, which is written in loose iambic pentameter, is narrated by Owen himself. It tells of a group of soldiers in World War I, forced to trudge "through sludge," though "drunk with fatigue," marching slowly away from the falling explosive shells behind them, towards a place of rest. As gas shells begin to fall upon them, the soldiers scramble to put on their gas masks to protect themselves. In the rush, one man clumsily drops his mask, and the narrator sees the man "yelling out and stumbling / and flound'ring like a man in fire or lime." The image of the man, "guttering, choking, drowning" permeates Owen's thoughts and dreams, forcing him to relive the nightmare again and again. Owen then talks about how he has to throw the man into the back of a wagon and the man's "hanging face, like a devil's sick of sin."

Owen, in the final stanza, asserts that, should readers see what he has seen, they would no longer see fit to instill visions of glorious warfare in young men's heads. No longer would they tell their children the "Old Lie," so long ago told by the Roman poet Horace: "Dulce et decorum est / Pro patria mori" ("It is sweet and fitting to die for one's country")

The title and the Latin exhortation of the final two lines are drawn from a poem of Horace (Odes iii 2.13):

"Dulce et decorum est pro patria mori:
mors et fugacem persequitur virum
nec parcit inbellis iuventae
poplitibus timidove tergo."
"How sweet and fitting it is to die for one's country:
Death pursues the man who flees,
spares not the hamstrings or cowardly backs
Of battle-shy youths."

These words were well known and often quoted by supporters of the war near its inception and, as such, were of particular importance to soldiers of the era.

ABOUT THE MONUMENT
A newly built memorial at Linden SAPS was officially opened on 19 November 2004. The memorial was erected in honour of all policemen and -women who have sacrificed their lives to protect and serve the community. It consists of a wall of remembrance in honour of 86 police officers who have died in the line of duty since 1994.
During the ceremony white doves were released as a symbol of peace. This symbolism is also reflected in the sculpture comprising of assault rifles and a dove.

The Management of Johannesburg SAPS came up with the initiative to pay tribute to all our fallen heroes and their families annually and a fixed memorial venue had to be erected for this purpose. The memorial cost an estimated R200 000 to erect and was made possible through extensive contributions by business partners from the local community of Johannesburg.

The Deputy Area Commissioner of Operations, Director Jenny Naidoo, who coordinated the project and managed the event, said: “The newly built memorial will be utilized to host future annual services. At the same time, this memorial site provides family and friends access to a specific venue to remember late members or friends.”

Information supplied by Insp Amanda Roestoff, Johannesburg Area Communication Services

It is humbling to walk in this garden and see over 100 names of SAPS officers that have died in service in the Joburg area since 1994.

A really poignant monument with 3 R3 rifles in a tripod with a dove rising from them.

Please ask an officer in the Charge Office for permission to go to the monument. They are generally more than willing to let you look.

Cache is a camoflagued nano bison tube - too small for trade items - please bring a pen.

Keep an eye out for rabbits, guinea fowl and even a guinea pig! They roam wild here.

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Zvqqyr jnyy - yrsg unaq fvqr - ng onfr - va ubyr va oevpx.

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)