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Monday 23 November 2015

50th Anniversary of the first meeting of the UN General Assembly


Former Ambassador DB Sole 

 Fifty years ago the first ever session of the United Nations General Assembly met in the Methodist Central Hall, Westminster, a venue which had been requisitioned by the U.K. Government as it was the only building in central London undamaged by wartime bombing and large enough to be adapted for the General Assembly purposes. (The church congregation were obliged to hold their services in the Coliseum Cinema and the Vaudeville Theatre for the period during which their
church premises were under requisition.)

Of the members of the South African delegation which attended that first session, there are today two survivors, Dr Brand Fourie and myself. As one of the surviving delegates I was invited to attend the 50th anniversary celebrations in London. Being a pensioner I asked the Department of Foreign Affairs whether it would assist me in finding the wherewithal to fly to London, e.g. by  making available some of the free mileage earned by Departmental officials under SAA's Voyager
programme. As the anniversary would commemorate a very historic event, which was part of the Department's history, I had no reservations in making the request.

In the event the Department rejected the request and I decided to abandon the projected visit to London.

By sheer chance, the Vice President International of a multi-national corporation headquartered in the United States and with important interests in South Africa, came to hear of the Department's rejection of my request, while he was on a visit to this country. On his return to the United States he arranged for me to receive a grant from corporation funds more than sufficient to meet the cost of my airfare.

Although there were certain programmes on other days, the main celebration was on the 10th January, 1996, 50 years after Prime Minister Attlee had opened the first meeting. The celebrations began with a candlelight vigil conducted outside Methodist Central Hall with prayers for peace led by the presiding Minister at Methodist Central Hall and concluding with short addresses by Earl Howe (better known as Sir Geoffrey Howe, formerly Foreign Secretary) in his capacity as President of the
United Nations Association of Great Britain, by the President of the Methodist Conference and by Mr
Boutros Boutros Ghali, who then unveiled a plaque commemorating the 50th anniversary. There was a crowd of about 500 assembled in the street and I talked to two ladies who said that as young girls they had attended the opening ceremony as members of the public seated in the public gallery. There followed a reception in an ante room to Central Hall where I had chats with the UN Secretary General, Earl Howe, the President of the Conference, the Mayor of Westminster and other
dignitaries. Mr Boutros Ghali told me that he had been a professor of international law at Columbia University in the 50s at the time that I was head of the SA Mission to the UN. The reception was followed by a magnificent concert in Methodist Central Hall which was completely  packed out. The concert programme featured the Milton Keynes Symphony Orchestra and the London Welsh
Choir, the highlight of which was the rendering of the Ode to Joy from Beethoven's 9th. The evening included a parade of the flags of the UN member states, the South African flag being carried by the son of a South Africa House official.

I subsequently discovered that I was the only delegate to the 1946 General Assembly to come to the 50th anniversary celebrations from overseas. An old friend dating from the first General Assembly, Sir Brian Urquhart, was to have flown in from New York but his flight was cancelled as the result of New York's second snow blizzard. One member of the original UK delegation (Mr Archie  Mackenzie) was also present - I remembered his name but did not have the opportunity of meeting him at the function - plus a few members of the locally recruited UN secretariat which had serviced the first General Assembly.

A few days after this function I addressed, at a reception given in SA House, a number of members of the UN Association of Great Britain, including a group of 50 who had visited South Africa last year. I spoke about the first session and the UN in its early days, with comments and anecdotes based on my UN experience. The talk was very well received.

It was for me a deeply appreciated opportunity to attend a unique occasion, filled with nostalgic memories.


Published in the Meintjeskop Courier, Volume 1, 1996 

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