Muriel Horrell — chronicler of the banal evil of apartheid, queen of a million footnotes

Muriel Horrell in her WAAF uniform, Cairo 1941.(Photo: Supplied)

20 Nov 2024

After she was demobilised from the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force after World War 2, Muriel Horrell travelled widely across South Africa in her little Ford, documenting the impact of apartheid on ordinary people.

Unless we make an effort to remember, many unsung heroes of the struggle against apartheid will be forgotten. One such is Muriel Horrell, author of the South African Institute of Race Relations’ annual Survey of Race Relations.

In the pre-internet age, they were an indispensable resource for hundreds of researchers and writers. They still are. When she died in May 1994, an obituary dubbed her “Queen of a Million Footnotes”. She provided a unique and irreplaceable record of apartheid between the early 1950s and the 1970s.

In each survey, Horrell provided a wealth of carefully researched and thematically organised tables, statistics and summaries of legislation. Starkly presented, they spoke volumes about the inhumane and vicious nature of apartheid.

Her accompanying commentaries marshalled the voices of a range of critics of apartheid, black and white.

In her small Ford, she travelled widely across South Africa, documenting the impact of apartheid on ordinary people.

‘Dancing the sky’

In many ways, her experiences during World War 2 and its aftermath prepared her for her life’s work.

Few people know that she qualified as a pilot in early 1939. Courageous and daring in equal proportion, she delighted in the thrill of flying. Quoting poet John Gillespie, she described flying as “dancing the sky on laughter silvered wings”.

Through the Women’s Aviation Association (WAA), she met its head, feminist Doreen Dunning, a veteran of trans-Africa flying competitions, and the youngest flying instructor in the Empire. Dunning was to become her mentor during World War 2.

In June 1939, as war clouds gathered, Horrell’s flying days were cut short as all civilian flying was cancelled.

After the war was declared, and after months of struggling for recognition as a military resource, the WAA was reconstituted as the Women’s Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) with Dunning as head.

At this stage, Horrell did not stand out as someone with leadership potential.

Muriel Horrell’s portrait in the offices of the Institute of Race Relations. (Photo: Supplied)

However, during training courses, she caught Dunning’s eye. She was awarded the rank of captain and put in charge of the first group of WAAFs to leave the borders of the Union of South Africa. Their destination was Nairobi, Kenya.

Here the WAAFs provided clerical services, such as typing and the keeping of files and registries to the commanders of South African troops in the campaign against the Italians in East Africa.

Skilled technical work on aircraft was carried out by WAAFs in South Africa itself. At its height, the WAAF had more than 10,000 members.

It was on the sea journey to Nairobi in December 1940 that Horrell began to keep a journal. By the time the war ended, she had produced 10 of them. The format of the journals changed little over time.

Her meticulous entries, closely written in blue ink, and without any mistakes, were accompanied by hand-drawn maps, diagrams, tables, cards, photographs and souvenirs.

Her wicked sense of humour and her unflagging enthusiasm pervade the journals. Her curiosity and thirst for knowledge are evident in her extensive reading.

Horrell travelled widely, moving from Kenya to Egypt and later to Italy, making the most of these opportunities. As a senior officer, she was a firm but sympathetic leader who won the respect and admiration of the women who served under her.

In August 1941, Horrell was sent from Nairobi to Cairo as deputy director of the WAAF in the Middle East. In typically modest fashion she remarked that “as I don’t know much about this deputy director business, I’m going to work up at Air Force House for a bit, learning the ropes”.

Horrell thoroughly enjoyed working in Cairo. The stream of soldiers on leave from the Western Desert made for a vibrant social life.

She was a much sought-after dinner guest with senior officers of both the Union Defence Force and Royal Air Force. She held her own in terms of both conversation and alcohol consumption.

One of her happiest times was spent learning about ancient Egypt in the Buddha Antique shop of her close friend, Maguid Sameeda. As her informal tour guide, Sameeda also took her to many historic sites.

In June 1942 she organised the evacuation of 800 South African servicewomen from Cairo to Aswan on the Nile. The German General Rommell was poised to take the port of Alexandria, prior to capturing Cairo.

She maintained her sense of humour, comparing the evacuation to “an exodus similar to that of the Israelites”.

Horrell was awarded an MBE for her role in the evacuation. Ironically, she was furious at having to leave Cairo.

An admirer of Russian women who fought alongside men, she wondered, “Will the day ever come when South African women are treated like the Russians and less as pieces of precious porcelain?”

Notices in Cairo saying “Women and non-Europeans not allowed” made a lasting impression on her. She later wrote that these notices sparked her interest in “race relations” and in discrimination in general.

Horrell was initially disappointed when she was ordered to return to the Union in August 1943. Even the promotion to the rank of major did not compensate for her loss. But she recovered quickly and tackled the problems faced by the WAAF with characteristic enthusiasm.

Back in the Union, she rubbed shoulders with feminists Bertha Solomon (lawyer and member of Parliament) and Margaret Ballinger (historian, “Native” Representative and member of Parliament), both of whom had taken an interest in the WAAF from the time of its inception.

Dunning was a close friend of Solomon, who had helped raise funds for the WAAF to buy an aircraft of their own. Dunning relied heavily on Horrell’s research when she prepared documents such as those about the unequal pay of men and women in the Air Force.

Muriel Horrell in her WAAF uniform, Cairo 1941. (Photo: Supplied)

Ahead of her time

As the tide of war turned in favour of the Allies, Horrell and her compatriots began to think about demobilisation and the role of women in a post-war South Africa.

Horrell was particularly concerned about the interests of single women. She challenged the assumption that women would give up their jobs and return to their menfolk and domesticity.

The Directorate of Demobilisation, which initially had no female members, ignored Horrell’s proposals regarding single women. For example, many army barracks that could have been converted to single accommodation were summarily demolished.

It was Horrell who developed comprehensive proposals for part-time training that would prepare women for employment during peacetime and contribute to the economy. These detailed proposals are models of curriculum design, and are ahead of their time. She remained interested in education for the rest of her working life.

Horrell was demobilised in early 1946, and, like thousands of others, found the transition to “civvy street” difficult. She was lucky enough to find employment with “very pleasant ex-service types” in the National War Memorial Health Foundation, an NGO devoted to promoting good health for all races.

The organisation was conceived as a “living memorial” to those who had lost their lives in the war, an alternative to a memorial of stone.

While at the foundation, she carried out her first piece of formal research. She investigated the reasons for the shortage of nurses, both black and white, in the context of debates about a possible (segregated) National Health Service.

In her report to the foundation’s Technical Advice Committee, Horrell noted that one of the reasons for the shortage of black nurses was the inadequate provision of education for black girls. She seized the initiative and proposed that she carry out research into the problem.

Her second report is a masterpiece. Packed with information and ideas about a future curriculum, it prefigures the shape of the surveys. It remains an extraordinary source on the state of black education before the advent of Bantu Education.

However, the unexpected victory of the National Party in May 1948 meant that there was no room for the foundation’s vision, and the organisation virtually collapsed. Horrell was advised to seek employment elsewhere.

In November 1948, she applied for the post of technical assistant at the Institute of Race Relations. She was uncharacteristically nervous about the interview process. In her 11th journal, she wrote:

“Dec. 9th

“Today they had a selection board & asked me to present myself. I was terrified & burnt a large hole in the front of my dress before going in. Everyone was pleasant but frightening – Professors of Psychology & things! Large numbers of impressive looking applicants outside! Shouldn’t think there is much ground for my optimism in applying.

“Dec. 20th

“Went to the office in my oldest frock & was summoned to see Mr Whyte at the Institute of Race Relations. I’ve GOT THE JOB! – & am really surprised and delighted…”

Her nervousness did not last. At the institute, she made an immediate impression. In 1951, a mere two years later, she took over the Survey from the director of the institute. She never looked back. DM

Sue Krige is a historian and heritage consultant. She is currently writing a book about Muriel Horrell, chief researcher at the South African Institute of Race Relations.

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‘Dancing the sky’

Ahead of her time