News / National
The Mbare World War II tunnels spark interest
23 Apr 2016 at 12:53hrs | Views
The National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe (NMMZ) has since been alerted to the possibility of an archaeological find and has initiated a process to determine the historicity of the claims.
A small field flanking Beatrice Cottages in Mbare recently became the site of a shortlived treasure hunt.
Recent reports locating openings to a World War II camp in the field stirred interest and youths descended on the area to look for valuables.
The excitement has chilled out, giving in to a new, long-run treasure hunt not so much for material retrievables but for history.
Speculation abounds that the area, whose orifices are obscured in the small field, could harbour something of monumental significance.
The elders of the cottages maintain that tunnels running under the field, and stretching from Blue Bar to Houghton Park, held Italian prisoners during World War II.
Rhodesia, then a British colony, backed the Allies' war effort.
A room inside the tunnel, which possibly served as a holding cell for Italian prisoners
The National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe (NMMZ) has since been alerted to the possibility of an archaeological find and has initiated a process to determine the historicity of the claims.
Timothy Musemburi (59), who has been growing crops on the field for 17 years, took The Herald down the folk history surrounding the area.
Musemburi said his father was a soldier in the King's African Rifles during World War II but did not relay much first-hand history to his family save for occasional flashes retrieved from his diary.
"Beatrice Cottages is said to have been a war prison camp, fenced off from civilian life during the 1930s," Musemburi said.
Musemburi's father bought a house in the cottages in 1958 but, as far as he can remember, never remotely referenced the tunnels.
"While I have not personally been in the tunnels, adventurous youths who did suggested that there could be more to the place than tunnels. Other elders in the area seemed to confirm this narrative," Musemburi said.
"We started growing crops on this field in 1999. Not long after, my first born son, now resident in Botswana, and my nephews started telling us that they were seeing what looked like a bar under the field but could not go beyond it for fear of the darkness," he said.
To an ordinary eye watching from a safe remove, the supposed tunnels are darkness ad infinitum.
Musemburi's wife, Dorothy, decided that the underground exploits were too creepy for her liking and the couple decided to seal the openings to the tunnels.
"She could not imagine the young boys pushing their adventures beyond the known world into the dark stretch. We closed the openings with their concrete roofings, spread earth over, and started farming over the concealment," Musemburi said.
"Cottage elders say Italian prisoners were held somewhere underground in the area. We connected it with what the boys had said to us but never made much of it because we were primarily concerned with farming.
"However, there are leads to indicate that the place could have been more than a regular civilian residence. For example, there is a tarred road that runs through our small field but one has to scrap the earth in order to see it," Musemburi said.
His father's diary spoke of the elder Musemburi's role as a court interpreter after his retirement from the African Rifles than the tunnels and World War II.
"There is a trace of the tunnels really. What we could trace is he joined the police after retirement from military service and the Second Chimurenga cases he handled as acourt interpreter," Musemburi said.
He pointed out the narratives were finally catching up, 17 years after growing and harvesting a modest crop from the land every year.
"Interest in our small field seems to be growing since 2013. First, it was the man in charge of the houses nearby who came taking pictures of the field," Musemburi said.
"The National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe (NMMZ) and an independent researcher, Ray Mazorodze, told us that the field was a possible lead to the war prison camp.
"They asked what I expected to happen with the field and I said it would be fine with my family if the land is improved for purposes of tourism and national heritage," he said.
Dorothy said they had no problem seeing the field converted for national use but would be happy to have somewhere to grow food for their sustenance in return.
"This year, a section of the crop has already been destroyed by people who came to scrounge for valuables after the ZBC report indicating that there could be houses down there," she said.
"Some daring young men thought they may be able to retrieve some valuable objects down there although it seemed unlikely because of the lapse of time," she said.
NMMZ chief curator Kundishora Tungamirai Chipunza allayed fears that the family could lose the property.
"Our monuments co-exist with the community. People are allowed to keep their properties even if we are to renovate an area for heritage purposes," he told The Herald.
However, Chipunza said NMMZ had not gone as far as assumed.
"A report was made to us but we have not yet established anything in relation to the claims. What we have done is to locate the site.
"When any member of the public brings any monument to our attention, we make follow-up investigations.
"A team will investigate the authenticity of the claims and determine if it is worth of national significance," Chipunza said.
"The public is obliged to report monuments within their localities to NMMZ in terms of the National Museums and Monuments Act Chapter 25: 11," he said.
"We have 50 000 monuments recorded in our registry. What we do in some cases is just to confer such a status for reference purposes. We establish the location and give a brief description.
"Researchers come to us, sometimes from outside the country, and we direct them to monuments that may be of interest to them," he said.
With regard to the "Italian prison," though, Chipunza said that NMMZ had not gone so far as to confer the monument status.
"There will be a team of inspectors at the site and our archaeologists will assess the value of the monument in terms of historical and national significance," he said.
"If the site passes that test, then it will be a national monument. Usually, for that to happen, a site must be of national interest to us as Zimbabweans.
"It must aggrandise Zimbabwean nationhood and demonstrate important historical landmarks.
"Such sites are important because they are 'physical textbooks' which allow a direct experience rather than a laboured reconstruction of history," he said.
Feedback: stanelymushava@outlook.com
A small field flanking Beatrice Cottages in Mbare recently became the site of a shortlived treasure hunt.
Recent reports locating openings to a World War II camp in the field stirred interest and youths descended on the area to look for valuables.
The excitement has chilled out, giving in to a new, long-run treasure hunt not so much for material retrievables but for history.
Speculation abounds that the area, whose orifices are obscured in the small field, could harbour something of monumental significance.
The elders of the cottages maintain that tunnels running under the field, and stretching from Blue Bar to Houghton Park, held Italian prisoners during World War II.
Rhodesia, then a British colony, backed the Allies' war effort.
A room inside the tunnel, which possibly served as a holding cell for Italian prisoners
The National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe (NMMZ) has since been alerted to the possibility of an archaeological find and has initiated a process to determine the historicity of the claims.
Timothy Musemburi (59), who has been growing crops on the field for 17 years, took The Herald down the folk history surrounding the area.
Musemburi said his father was a soldier in the King's African Rifles during World War II but did not relay much first-hand history to his family save for occasional flashes retrieved from his diary.
"Beatrice Cottages is said to have been a war prison camp, fenced off from civilian life during the 1930s," Musemburi said.
Musemburi's father bought a house in the cottages in 1958 but, as far as he can remember, never remotely referenced the tunnels.
"While I have not personally been in the tunnels, adventurous youths who did suggested that there could be more to the place than tunnels. Other elders in the area seemed to confirm this narrative," Musemburi said.
"We started growing crops on this field in 1999. Not long after, my first born son, now resident in Botswana, and my nephews started telling us that they were seeing what looked like a bar under the field but could not go beyond it for fear of the darkness," he said.
To an ordinary eye watching from a safe remove, the supposed tunnels are darkness ad infinitum.
Musemburi's wife, Dorothy, decided that the underground exploits were too creepy for her liking and the couple decided to seal the openings to the tunnels.
"She could not imagine the young boys pushing their adventures beyond the known world into the dark stretch. We closed the openings with their concrete roofings, spread earth over, and started farming over the concealment," Musemburi said.
"Cottage elders say Italian prisoners were held somewhere underground in the area. We connected it with what the boys had said to us but never made much of it because we were primarily concerned with farming.
"However, there are leads to indicate that the place could have been more than a regular civilian residence. For example, there is a tarred road that runs through our small field but one has to scrap the earth in order to see it," Musemburi said.
His father's diary spoke of the elder Musemburi's role as a court interpreter after his retirement from the African Rifles than the tunnels and World War II.
"There is a trace of the tunnels really. What we could trace is he joined the police after retirement from military service and the Second Chimurenga cases he handled as acourt interpreter," Musemburi said.
He pointed out the narratives were finally catching up, 17 years after growing and harvesting a modest crop from the land every year.
"Interest in our small field seems to be growing since 2013. First, it was the man in charge of the houses nearby who came taking pictures of the field," Musemburi said.
"The National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe (NMMZ) and an independent researcher, Ray Mazorodze, told us that the field was a possible lead to the war prison camp.
"They asked what I expected to happen with the field and I said it would be fine with my family if the land is improved for purposes of tourism and national heritage," he said.
Dorothy said they had no problem seeing the field converted for national use but would be happy to have somewhere to grow food for their sustenance in return.
"This year, a section of the crop has already been destroyed by people who came to scrounge for valuables after the ZBC report indicating that there could be houses down there," she said.
"Some daring young men thought they may be able to retrieve some valuable objects down there although it seemed unlikely because of the lapse of time," she said.
NMMZ chief curator Kundishora Tungamirai Chipunza allayed fears that the family could lose the property.
"Our monuments co-exist with the community. People are allowed to keep their properties even if we are to renovate an area for heritage purposes," he told The Herald.
However, Chipunza said NMMZ had not gone as far as assumed.
"A report was made to us but we have not yet established anything in relation to the claims. What we have done is to locate the site.
"When any member of the public brings any monument to our attention, we make follow-up investigations.
"A team will investigate the authenticity of the claims and determine if it is worth of national significance," Chipunza said.
"The public is obliged to report monuments within their localities to NMMZ in terms of the National Museums and Monuments Act Chapter 25: 11," he said.
"We have 50 000 monuments recorded in our registry. What we do in some cases is just to confer such a status for reference purposes. We establish the location and give a brief description.
"Researchers come to us, sometimes from outside the country, and we direct them to monuments that may be of interest to them," he said.
With regard to the "Italian prison," though, Chipunza said that NMMZ had not gone so far as to confer the monument status.
"There will be a team of inspectors at the site and our archaeologists will assess the value of the monument in terms of historical and national significance," he said.
"If the site passes that test, then it will be a national monument. Usually, for that to happen, a site must be of national interest to us as Zimbabweans.
"It must aggrandise Zimbabwean nationhood and demonstrate important historical landmarks.
"Such sites are important because they are 'physical textbooks' which allow a direct experience rather than a laboured reconstruction of history," he said.
Feedback: stanelymushava@outlook.com
Source - the herald
