Perla Siedle Gibson was a South African soprano and artist who became internationally celebrated during the Second World War as the Lady in White, when she sang troopships in and out of Durban harbour.
[1] Gibson was born in Durban in 1888, the daughter of Otto Siedle, a prominent local shipping agent, businessman and musician of German extraction.
A British army newspaper called Parade, dated 3 March 1945, described Gibson as a highlight of troops' visits to Durban: As the crowded ships passed into the harbour, men lining the landward rails saw a woman, dressed in white, singing powerfully through a megaphone such songs as "There'll Always be an England!"
The exact wording on the plinth reads: “Prior to its unveiling on August 15th 1995, this monument was placed alongside HMS “Britannia” in Durban Harbour, to be viewed by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II and H.R.H.
On 15 August 1995, VJ day, the statue was officially unveiled by Perla’s two surviving children Joy Liddiard and Barrie Gibson on T jetty next to the Portnet offices.