Newsletter

E.D. Cameron (103 Sqdn VR) Rogues Gallery RHODESIAN NAVY Reg Catterall Writes:- Re: St.Josph\'s House for Boys: Hillside, Bulawayo. I beg to differ re the House being a reformatory. It was a house for boys from broken homes. The Supt. was Eric Curtis and the Matron his wife Ida Curtis. The Sea Cadets were commanded (?) by Lt. George Thomas. The Curtis\' returned to the U.K. where Eric died a few years ago and Ida passed away about 18 months ago. Want any more (I find it difficult to understand why it takes a error to get people to act . Such a shame. Eddy Norris) Refer. http://rhodesianheritage.blogspot.com/2011/03/rhodesian-navy-puts-to-sea.html ANGEL FLIGHT John Moore (RhArmy) sent in this wonderful tribute. The main reason this video is called Angel Flight is visual. When the plane releases its decoy missiles, as is shown in several of the pictures, it creates an Angel shape in the smoke. But it is much more than just visual. See for yourself. Listen to the words of the pilot and the tower, and make sure you sit quietly and listen to the very end. This is beautiful. God bless Veterans! Click here: \" AngelFlight\" (http://www.youtube.com/watch_popup?v=70Ikj1hZDnw&feature=related0 (Ladies have a hankie handy!) BEAVER SAFARI IN NORTHERN RHODESIA (1961) Dave Whitehead Writes:- Many thanks Chris – no, I am not a subscriber yet but will ask Eddie for details to become one. I hope you don’t mind - Correction for Eddie Norris or rather John Rogers – Mankoya is not on the banks of the Zambezi but way inland. The last port of call before Lusaka is usually Mumbwa. Between Mankoya and Mumbwa is the Kafue. There is now a bridge across the Kafue HOOK but in my day the crossing was by a pontoon. Grannia O\'Donell (Air Rhodesia) Writes:- Wow some names I know there John Rogers – I worked for him in PR when I left Air Rhodesia. Dave Harvey lovely guy great to fly with too. Peter Eggelston – I wonder if he was related to Eric Eggelston who was one of the managers in traffic when I worked there in 1969. Refer. http://rhodesianheritage.blogspot.com/2013/06/beaver-safari-in-northern-rhodesia-1961.html AWARDS: LAURENCE PAUL PEARSON Sandy Maclean (RhArmy) Writes:- I found the information in the article above to be very interesting. The Military Medal as far as I am aware, was normally awarded to non-commissioned ranks in the army and I know of no other case of this decoration being awarded to a member of the Air Force. I suppose it was because he was not in the air when he did this courageous deed. Can anyone tell me if this is so? Replies to orafs11@gmail.com MEMORIES OF NUMBER 1 INTERNMENT CAMP HARARE Vic MacKenzie Writes:- I found that post really interesting, mainly because at the end of the war when they released all the Germans and Italians, the Government moved \"poor\" Rhodesians into the internment camps and I happened to be one of those Rhodesians. (My father suddenly died leaving my mother with no support and four young children) The first seven years of my life were spent behind barbed wire fences, although the main gate was always opened. The camp was renamed Beatrice Road Cottages and was a wonderful place for a young child to grow up. We had our own little kindergarten school, a roller skating rink, a laundry and the little houses were brick built and very comfortable. All the roads were tarred. Plus the fact it was a very tight community. The only downside was it did attract a criminal element and as a youngster you could always tell when someone was released from jail because the prison authorities gave them a suit and a bus ticket. There were some larger than life characters who lived there such as Peter Platt who was a motorcycle racer and later a mercenary in the Congo, Billy Crauser and his brothers who were gangsters and the Parson family who ran the Cottages. The government started building African townships next to the Cottages and eventually the white people were moved out and it became part of the Harare township. I remember going back there in the late seventies and it was still the same. Fallbrook southern California. John Andrews (BSAP) My wife\'s late step-father, Egon Groeger, was a Sergeant at the Italian internment camp near Fort Victoria. Egon was Jewish and had escaped from Vienna by the skin of his teeth when the Nazis arrived. Being Austrian he was briefly interned at the outbreak of war before it was realised he was actually an ally. However, he was called up for guard duties at the Fort Victoria camp. We still have his ID card somewhere. He told a story about some of the Italian prisoners breaking out of the camp to spend the weekends with female company in the local kraals. They always returned voluntarily by Monday morning! Apparently at the end of the war many of them applied to stay on in Rhodesia but the government insisted that they be repatriated to Italy and apply from there. I remember that in Bulawayo in the 60s and 70s there were a number of prominent citizens who had gone this route. I hope this snippet will be of interest. THE SPOOK HOUSE Doug Smith (RhAF) Writes:- It is still there. Rhodes did own it. He has passed away. Brian Rhodes was from Karoi area and his nick name was TSOTSE. He was a problem child. He owned the outdoor living centre and many acres in that area. One of our famous rally drivers stayed there, Hanas Kruger. I went there when he lived there. Very narrow doors and very airy. To have spooks there, it would not surprise me. It then became a restaurant after Hanas moved out. I am unsure if it is still running but the house is still there. It reminds me of the big house behind the seven miles hotel out on the Harare south road. It burnt down and not even the locals would go near it. Also meant to be haunted. Ian McKenzie (RhAF) Writes:- I lived across the road from the Spook House in the late seventy in Greengrove. Funny, the house always intrigued me and one day I when across to look around. Surprised to see a swimming pool which was someway away from the house amongst the large granite rocks. Never went near the house, thank goodness. Glad that I went in daylight. If I had known this was the Spook House I would never have ventured here in the first place. David Bruce Writes:- This house sounds like Lorelei which was right next door to the Drive In on the Umtali Road and was owned by NAF Williams. It was rented by members of C.I.D. Salisbury and I was one of its occupants in 1964-5. There were huge boulders alongside the house with a swimming pool under them. It is news to me that it was haunted. Bob Manser (RhAF) Writes:- If Doctor Williams who owned the house says it was haunted and told a large gathering of us History Society members at an organized talk, then I believe Doctor Williams. I think he was not a Medical Doc but agriculture or something technical ? Mind is rusty. It’s reputation as Spook House goes back donkeys years, amazed Dave did not know or even hear the rumours as I was in Salisbury from 1954 and it was always called the Spook House then It was Doc Williams himself who told us of the incident with the BSAP guys and the old mystery car also. Eddy Norris (ORAFs) Writes:- Bob, I think it is brilliant that your article has received so much attention, like I say. our method of recording memories is better than research, we have a wonderful cross section of memories. Refer. http://rhodesianheritage.blogspot.com/2013/06/memories-of-number-1-internament-camp.html GERMAN WWII BOMBER RAISED FROM THE CHANNEL Visit http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/german-wwii-bomber-raised-from-english-channel-decades-after-it-was-shot-down/2013/06/10/99e71d8c-d200-11e2-9577-df9f1c3348f5_story.html AIR RHODESIA BOEINGS 720s...CONTINUED At 16 June 2013 09:00 , Roy Rosser said... Thank you for the excellent account of how the Boeings were flown to Rhodesia. It brought back many fond memories of my Dad, “Shorty” Rosser, and his flying buddies, especially “Chum” Keyter, who was also our next door neighbor in Salisbury. I played a very small part in the events. At the time I was a student at Imperial College in London, and my Dad had told me in a very general way what was planned in case I might be of any help. It was the final day of term when, returning to a bed-sit in Earls Court, I found a note informing me that he was in the local pub. Dad and Bob Hill had come to London to get maps to fly the planes to Salisbury. They were pretty tight lipped. I never even found out what type of planes were involved – though I had figured out that the flight training had been in the US. They sent postcards home by first couriering them to a contact in Germany, where they were stamped and posted. Nothing substantive was said on the cards – just “Love you, missing you” type moral boosters - but a letter from Mother mentioned Dad complaining of a terrible snowstorm. Being in London, I realized there hadn’t been any snow in Europe for a while - so the flight school must be in the US. A lesson in how seemingly unimportant trivia can sometimes be very informative. Anyway, after a weekend of theater and meals beyond a student’s budget, on the Monday, I helped Dad and Bob navigate the underground to a bookshop near Heathrow. Posing as pilots with a South West African mining company, they bought maps covering the route from Germany to Windhoek – figuring that once close to Rhodesia, they knew the airways well enough to fly by memory. As I had 3 weeks holiday ahead of me, there was talk of me joining them on the flight back, but dad vetoed it as too dangerous for all. So I said good bye in London and went on a walking tour of the Scottish Highlands with college friends. The first I knew of the success of the operation was seeing a headline in the Glencoe Herald at a youth hostel. Of course, none of the other students believed that my father was involved – but once more details were released, I did get to stop many dinner party conversations with the line “well my father helped steal three Boeing 720s”. I tried several times to persuade Dad to write up a full account of events. He always claimed Chum was going to do it - but as far as I know, he never did put anything together. A pity, because Chum was good at storytelling. He did publish one book \"From Wings to Jackboots\" Barry Keyter, 1995 ISBN 1 85756 144 9. A very readable account of his wartime experiences, including being in a prisoner of war camp. Thanks again for the memories. Roy J Rosser roy.rosser@gmail.com (609) 474-0053 56 Maidenhead Road, Princeton, NJ 08540 Refer. At 16 June 2013 09:00 , Roy Rosser said... Thank you for the excellent account of how the Boeings were flown to Rhodesia. It brought back many fond memories of my Dad,“Shorty” Rosser, and his flying buddies, especially “Chum” Keyter, who was also our next door neighbor in Salisbury. I played a very small part in the events. At the time I was a student at Imperial College in London, and my Dad had told me in a very general way what was planned in case I might be of any help. It was the final day of term when, returning to a bed-sit in Earls Court, I found a note informing me that he was in the local pub. Dad and Bob Hill had come to London to get maps to fly the planes to Salisbury. They were pretty tight lipped. I never even found out what type of planes were involved – though I had figured out that the flight training had been in the US. They sent postcards home by first couriering them to a contact in Germany, where they were stamped and posted. Nothing substantive was said on the cards – just “Love you, missing you” type moral boosters - but a letter from Mother mentioned Dad complaining of a terrible snowstorm. Being in London, I realized there hadn’t been any snow in Europe for a while - so the flight school must be in the US. A lesson in how seemingly unimportant trivia can sometimes be very informative. Anyway, after a weekend of theater and meals beyond a student’s budget, on the Monday, I helped Dad and Bob navigate the underground to a bookshop near Heathrow. Posing as pilots with a South West African mining company, they bought maps covering the route from Germany to Windhoek – figuring that once close to Rhodesia, they knew the airways well enough to fly by memory. As I had 3 weeks holiday ahead of me, there was talk of me joining them on the flight back, but dad vetoed it as too dangerous for all. So I said good bye in London and went on a walking tour of the Scottish Highlands with college friends. The first I knew of the success of the operation was seeing a headline in the Glencoe Herald at a youth hostel. Of course, none of the other students believed that my father was involved – but once more details were released, I did get to stop many dinner party conversations with the line “well my father helped steal three Boeing 720s”. I tried several times to persuade Dad to write up a full account of events. He always claimed Chum was going to do it - but as far as I know, he never did put anything together. A pity, because Chum was good at storytelling. He did publish one book \"From Wings to Jackboots\" Barry Keyter, 1995 ISBN 1 85756 144 9. A very readable account of his wartime experiences, including being in a prisoner of war camp. Thanks again for the memories. Roy J Rosser roy.rosser@gmail.com (609) 474-0053 56 Maidenhead Road, Princeton, NJ 08540 FAMBA ? Mike Hamence (RhAF) Writes:- Just read that item \'Hamba Gahle\'. Many years ago we - ex-Rhaf - met up in a lovely pub on the edge of The Fens near Cambridge. P-B, Bob Garrett, \'Emmo\', Cliff Potter, Vic Wightman, Ladies... P-B & I said \"farewell\"... It was to be the last time. P-B said to me something in Chishona: \"Famba...?\": \"Go carefully\". Could you ask via Orafs what it was he said. (Mike - Famba is walk so I think he told you to take care Gahle is easy, take care.) Comments direct to Mike on michael_hamence@hotmail.com SMILE A WHILE Psychology Class The professor showed a large cage with a male rat in it. The rat was in the middle of the cage. Then, the professor placed a piece of cake on one side and kept a female rat on the other side. The male rat ran towards the cake and ate it. The professor then changed the cake and replaced it with some bread. The male rat towards the bread. This experiment went on with the professor changing the food every time. And, every time, the male rat ran towards the food item and never towards the female rat. Professor said: “This experiment shows that food is the greatest strength and attraction.” Then, one of the students from the back rows said: “Sir, why don\'t you change the female rat? She may be his wife.\" \"Those who stand for nothing fall for anything.\" End of Newsletter Ref. Rhodesia