Station Notes (Summer/ Autumn 2007)

Annual General Meeting 2007

This took place on Saturday the 10th of March 2007 at the premises of the Returned Services League (RSL for short) Belmont in the fair city of Perth. A total of 35 were present amongst who was 6592 Barry Dawson from Thailand who is in Perth obtaining medical assistance.
Our Chairman for the day was ably performed by 7049 Lew Whitmore who gave a resume of our activities during 2006.
The catering after the AGM was once again up to the highest standard was done by 7694 Steve Martin and his wife Linda.
All committee members were again re-elected namely 4649 John Seward (Secretary) 5316 Kerry Hoadley (Treasurer) 7682 Ian Calderwood 7045 Rob Gates 7694 Steve Martin and 18845W PR Charles Scott except for PR 19304N Alan McGrath who stood down as he and his wife Joyce are moving to Bunbury in a couple of months time.
Our sincere thanks to Alan for his excellent inputs and in particular once again on his outstanding efforts in extracting money from members at our raffles. In fact at the AGM he managed to do it again. In this regard we were donated prizes by 8318 David Cushworth in the USA who also has the web site "Memories of Rhodesia" and our sincere thanks to him for his generosity. (See page 5 for more details.)
Best wishes were received from John and Laurette Hardie in Durban, 5936 Roger Capper in the USA and Fred Punter in the UK whilst there were a number of apologies.
After the meeting 7340 Chris Morten gave an interesting talk about his recent book "The Benefactors Monkey". A review of the book appeared in our Winter and Spring Edition and Chris gave a round up as how he came to write it in which many of its aspects were as a result of his experiences in the BSAP.

New members

I am pleased to report that since the last edition we welcome two new members namely 9216 Bob Patterson who lives in UK but is immigrating to Perth.
Our newest member is 7784 Steve Acornley who recently was transferred to Singapore and who has as we use to say "Re-attested". Nice to have you back Steve.

Visitors

Since our last edition there have been several visitors to our fair shores and these include Fred and Margaret Punter from the UK who spent a few days with John and Margaret Seward and also toured the South West of Western Australia and Brian Pym and Jan from Zimbabwe who spent some time with relatives here in Perth
Brian being the Treasurer of Central was able to let us know of how things are in Zimbabwe and in particular the situation with Central.
Another passing visitor was ex WPO Pauline Clark who was on her way to Adelaide to celebrate her father Derek Clark 85th birthday. Derek being an ex member of the BSAP.

Travelling members

Our Committee member Ian Calderwood returned in December from his extended tour of duty in Kabul Afghanistan and no way is he returning there again. Maybe he will be able to contribute an article regarding his experiences there.
Despite that Ian seems to have the travel bug as no sooner was he back in Perth and elected onto the Committee that he left for the Scotland to visit his elderly mother. He is back again and is now a Committee member of the RSL Belmont.
Rob Gates has been to South Africa where he caught up with old mates particularly Alan Brent and is now in the UK visiting his mother who is suffering from ill health. I understand that he attended the monthly meeting at the Victory Club in London and again made contact with several old mates who use to play rugby with him in the Police.

Snippets and Welfare

6952 Barry Dawson is here in Perth from Thailand and receiving medical attention for various ailments and we wish him speedy recovery.
6922 Earl Cameron has retired from the RAAF and has moved to Mandurah.
3411 Bunty Ludlow aged 92 is now in a frail home but is still very mentally alive.
P/R Bob Osborne is recovering from a slight heart problem but it was nice to see him up and about again.
7682 Ian Calderwood laid a wreath on behalf of the Regimental Association at the Annual ANZAC Memorial Parade and Service held by the RSL Belmont at the War Memorial in the City of Belmont.
4649 John Seward and family represented the Regimental Association at the ANZAC Dawn Service held at the RSL Belmont.
Several members of the Branch took part in the ANZAC Day parade held through the City of Perth as part of the Rhodesian Contingent and later attended a BBQ at Kings Park

Committee Meetings
These are now held every second Wednesday of every even month i.e. February, April, June, August, October and December at the RSL Belmont on the corner of the Great Eastern Highway and Leake Street from 5.15pm till 7pm. You are more than welcome to attend. Please note that you can become a social member of the RSL Belmont at a cost of $15 a year
Help to make Station Notes interesting.
Please help me in this regard with any snippets of interest that you may have and look forward to your contributions whether they are news or articles.
Walk Tall
John Seward (4649)

Mailbox

"Concern for our Aged"
From John Redfern
Zimbabwe Pensioners Association, PO Box 95474, Waterkloof, 0145
E-mail: zimpensioners@iafrica.com
Tel & Fax:: 012 4602066
File Ref: Pensioners to UNHCHR 070504.wpd
4 May 2007
Dear Fellow Pensioner,
NON PAYMENT OF CONTRIBUTORY PENSIONS - A HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUE
The ZPA Mission Statement requires us to "Actively pursue and resolve the non-payment of pensions by all means at our disposal".
We received copy of a letter from the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR), based in Geneva, in reply to a letter of complaint by a Zimbabwe Pensioner about the non-payment of pensions by the Zimbabwe Government (see copy attached). This response intimates that, whilst not much can be done by the UNHCHR in respect of a solitary letter, the activities of the office depend largely upon the volume of communications on a particular subject. If we have read this correctly, then we believe that the delivery of a stream of letters from around the world may have impact and prove beneficial in the future. We intend, therefore, by means of this letter to encourage all Zimbabwe Pensioners to write personally to the United Nations about the non-payment of their pension.
We are aware that, despite constitutional safeguards for the continued payment of pensions, contributory pensions place a special moral obligation upon the Zimbabwe Government to make payment. They have instead used available foreign currency for a multitude of activities that would normally rank much lower on the priority scale, even if one disregards the moral issues involved.
Every pensioner is strongly requested to write a personalized letter to the UNHCHR informing them of the non-payment of your contributory pension. It may be useful to include some of the following detail:
* Years of contributions to your pension.
* Last payment of pension and the amount received.
* Quality of any response to your queries directed to the relevant pensions office in Harare
* Specific hardships caused by the loss of your pension.
It would also be useful to request a reply, asking for some indication of what action the UNHCR intends to take in this matter.
To save postage, letters can be addressed to the local office of the United Nations with a request to forward your letter to their office in Geneva. Address your letter to:
UN High Commissioner For Human Rights, Geneva
PO Box 6541
PRETORIA, 0001
or Fax it to: 012 3548681
or E-mail to: 1503@ohchr.org
Zimbabwe Pensioners not living in South Africa, may wish to write direct to the UNHCHR in Geneva at the following address:
UN High Commissioner For Human Rights
Palais des Nations
CH-1211 GENEVE 10
Switzerland
or Fax it to: +41 22 9179011
or E-mail to: 1503@ohchr.org
Please retain a copy of your letter and, if you get a response, post (or e-mail) a copy of the reply to the ZPA.
Yours sincerely
JOHN REDFERN
Hon. Secretary

Letter from British Dept for International Development
1 Palace Street
London SW1E 5HE
Date: 30th March 2007
Dear Mr MacNally,
Thank you for your letter of 8 December to Mr S Caine at 10 Downing Street, enclosing a coy of the Zimbabwe Pensions Petition. I am replying as the Minister at the Department for International Development which has the lead responsibility for the issue of Zimbabwe pensions.
The British Government has always acknowledged it has a special responsibility to protect the pensions of certain officers who were employed in the public services of our former dependencies. However, this responsibility extends only to those who were appointed by, or on behalf of, the Secretary of State for the Colonies to serve overseas on expatriate terms in the public services of our former colonies. Southern Rhodesia was a self-governing colony from 1923 and the local administration was responsible for recruiting its own public service personnel. Southern Rhodesia's civil and public servants were appointed on local terms, the British Government having no responsibility for matters connected with the public administration, including the recruitment of staff, the formulation of their terms and conditions of employment or their pension arrangements.
At Independence, the pensions rights of both retired and serving public servants were preserved under the Zimbabwe Constitution, determined during the Lancaster House negotiations. That constitution guarantees the continued payment of pensions to former Zimbabwe public servants, wherever they reside. However the responsibility for this guarantee rests with the Government of Zimbabwe. At no point during the Lancaster House negotiations did the British Government give any commitment to protect, safeguard or take over the responsibility for Zimbabwe pensions.
Although we have no responsibility for Zimbabwe pensions, we are aware of the problems caused by the decline in pensions over the years as a result of the effects of inflation and adverse exchange rate movements and, more recently, by the non payment of pensions to those resident outside of Zimbabwe. The British Consul in Harare continues to remind the Zimbabwe pension authorities of their duty to honour their obligations to pensioners and to make pension payments in full and on time.
I note the petitioners' request that the payment of pension entitlements to ex-residents of Zimbabwe be made a condition of any future aid procedures, and paid at the historic rate of Z$2 to £1 sterling. Aid to developing countries is intended to promote their economic and social development. At present, however, our aid programme to Zimbabwe is confined to humanitarian assistance through non-governmental channels. We are helping poor people cope with food shortages and the impact of HIV/AIDS. It would not be possible to impose the condition the petitioners have requested on the use of aid monies,
Yours Sincerely,
Gareth Thomas, Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State
Department for International Development

From John Seward
(Note: John received this letter from his cousin John Weyell in Canada. It is a transcript of a letter that John Seward wrote to him in 1950!)
18 December 1950 - Salisbury
Dear John (Weyell)
I'm afraid I have been extremely lazy (what else is new!) and somehow or other never got down to writing to you. But that's enough of excuses so have decided to get hold of my pen and get down to the job. I was sorry to hear that you failed your medical through your eyesight but as you say your papers are over here and maybe something will be done about it (there wasn't) Life out here is fine. I have finished my training course last week and am now waiting to go off to Umtali District which will probably be sometime next week.
The amount of work involved during training is terrific and after you've finished you sort of come to an anticlimax. Last week at this time we were out riding in full dress for three hours so you can imagine how one feels after that. Our training was extremely long due to the fact that we had various shows on in Salisbury and we were on duty. Also we went down to Bulawayo district to move some natives from the Matopos Reserve to a place called Prospect Ranch which is about 30 miles from the Transvaal border.
We had a most enjoyable time there seeing plenty of wild life, plenty of baboons and sable. We also took turns in escorting the natives down. A trip of 100 miles more or less and in a convoy of 6 trucks. It was damn nice. In depot right now I am hanging around and what I mostly do is ride a couple of horses for exercise purposes and round Salisbury you get some pretty good rides especially round a place called Avondale and Highlands which are about the two nicest suburbs.
I haven't had a letter from Tony yet so if you see him tell him to drop a line once in a while. I expect he has changed quite a lot from the last time I saw him.
I have been to see June a couple of times. She is in school over here and seems to be having a good time one way and another. She is leaving for Melsetter next Monday so probably be going over there today. Before I forget send my regards to Auntie Ethel and Uncle Fred and wishing all of you a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year.
I'm certainly an optimist with the situation in Korea.
Well all the best and here's hoping to see you someday in Rhodesia.
All the best, John.
From : Const. John Seward
C/o B S A Police Depot
PO Box 5
Causeway
Salisbury

The Benefactor's Monkey
By Chris Morten
This book is available directly from its Western Australian distributors at a cost of A$29.95 plus postage and handling costs. Full details are available on:
www.thebenefactorsmonkey.com/
Contact people are Phil and Michelle on 61-8-93099444.

The Sweaties £14.99
By James Scott
[Ex-Insp John Larn 7727]
A compelling story centred on the BSA Police Salisbury S.W.A.T. team in the final days of the war. Facing impossible odds, the 'thin blue line' was never thinner as they and the Special Branch faced the threat of armed insurrection in the city, the horrors of Communist-backed terrorism, and the ultimate atrocity.
It is also the story of a country in its death throes.
'...Gives an insight into the enormity of our situation at the time. Whoever you are, whatever you did, recapture it in this book. It deserves to be read.' [Insp. Peter Gibson, O.i.c. Sby S.W.A.T. 1978-1980]
Available from: www.amazon.com or www.pegasuspublishers.com [U.K] or Pegasus Elliot Mackenzie Publishers, Cambridge, UK Tel 01223 370 012 Fax 01223 370040, or order it from your nearest bookshop.
(note: if ordering through Amazon or Pegasus, simply search for the book title on the website and follow the prompts - Ed)

Blazer Badges
BSAP blazer badges are now available from the following for A$40:
Ken Palmer
Phone: (08) 9178 8912
Fax: (08) 9379 4353
Email: ken.palmer@westrac.com.au

Memories of Rhodesia
Memories of Rhodesia Inc has an extensive catalogue of documentary, historical and fictional films which are available on DVD and VHS. Check out their website for more information: www.memoriesofrhodesia.com  or email: info@memoriesofrhodesia.com
Their list of titles includes "Rhodesia at War", "The Winds of Change", "The Zambezi Series" (Operation Noah) and many others. They have three volumes on the BSAP including Rhodesian Patrol which stars one of our own Association members Sam Williams. This was filmed in the early '50's and is wonderful bit of history.
I have seen volumes 1 & 2 which contain such titles as "Mapolisa", "Traffic Duties" (Sgt Ron Trangmar), "Homicide", "1950 Display" and "QM's Inspection 1960".
Kerry Hoadley

Colonel HG Seward's Story (final)
Salisbury Depot (continued)

In April 1928, I received advice from the High Commissioners office in London, that arrangements had been made for my attachment to the 1st Battalion, the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders (presently stationed at Shorncliffe), to receive instruction on machine guns. I duly reported to the Adjutant there, only to learn that the Machine Gun Company was at that time doing firing practice at Lydd, which was not any great distance from my home in Tenerton. Apart from the time spent on the range at Lydd, I found peacetime soldiering a little dull. Back in barracks at Shorncliffe, one had to be in uniform until lunch, after which, members of the mess went their various ways. It was an expensive recipient every officer had to provide livery for his servant and contribute towards full dress uniform for both pipe and regimental bands. I recall with some amusement being introduced to the Brigadier who, on hearing the words "British South Africa Police" said "Quite remarkable, I thought you were all Dutchmen". The Brigadier Major, who lived in the Argyll's mess, was Archibald Nye, who became Vice-Chief of the I.G.S. during World War II and afterwards held high office in both India and Canada. He was very interested in Africa and we often talked about the future of Africa in general and Southern Africa in particular. Alas, how many of our pigeons have come home to roost.

Returning to Rhodesia. I found the Mess in Depot undergoing a face-lift, with everyone living in tents in the grounds. Not before time and now, for the first time in history, the Mess was being provided with bathrooms and. believe it or not, hot and cold running water. Gone, or in the process of going, were the old hip baths in one's rooms that had more than served their purpose up to now.

Posted back to Salisbury as Assistant District Superintendent Police (A.D.S.P.), under Capt. "Auntie" Phillips, my first inspection tour gave me the opportunity of testing out my new Morris All-Steel-Dominion model in Rhodesian conditions. It certainly didn't take long, for on the road to Goromonzi I went over a couple of bumps and the brakes went on and stopped the car. The rear springs had flexible shackles fore and aft and when hitting a bump the whole spring "flattened" and automatically put the brakes on. There was nothing for it but to cut a couple of small logs and jam them between the spring and the chassis. So much for the "Dominion model made specially for colonial conditions". Needless to say, the rest of the journey between Goromonzi, Marandellas, Wedza, Mrewa and Mtoko was bone-shakingly uncomfortable.

Corporal "Fatty" Harmer and Howman, the Native Commissioner at Goromonzi, were a good team, while at Marandellas. Posselt, a first class linguist was the Native Commissioner and Sgt. Major Breeden the N.C.O. i/c Police. Marandellas at this time boasted a Village Management Board of which Breeden was the part-time secretary at £7.10/- a month. The Marandellas Hotel, run by Plint, was pretty primitive, even by the standards of those days. It always amused me to find that most of the cutlery and crockery had belonged either to the Rhodesia Railways, the South African Railways, Meikle's Hotel, the Union Castle Line and even the Savoy Hotel in Beira. Spending the night at the old Macheke Hotel, then run by Messrs Webster and Kilpin, I met up with Major Lewis Hastings, who had tobacco interests in the district. A very voluble character, with decided views on almost every subject under the sun and a gifted pen. He is probably best remembered for his colourful contributions to debate in the Rhodesia Legislative Assembly and his book of poems - "The Painted Snipe". During World War II, he made something of a reputation as a military commentator for the B.B.C., when his pithy analysis made interesting listening. But at Macheke that night, the talk was more mundane - mostly on the shortcomings of African labour.

At Mrewa, "Werei" Edwards was the Native Commissioner and monarch of all he surveyed and from what I remember, he had spent practically all his service in that district. Thus, he knew everything that went on there and the history of most of the inhabitants. This, in striking contrast to the present state of affairs when young District Commissioners and District Officers are constantly being transferred before they really have time to get to know their districts, quite apart from the inordinate amount of paper work which keeps them "chairbound". Many a young policeman learned a lot about the Shona language and customs from "Werei".
At Mtoko, Latham the Native Commissioner was away and Corporal Howard was i/c Police and had with him Trooper Pendered, a young recruit who was making great progress in Shona and African customs generally. I remember Pendered only too well for, when I was lecturing in Depot, he asked more questions than any other recruit I recall. He advanced rapidly on joining the Native Department after leaving the Police.

Later in the year, I was transferred to Bulawayo to relieve the A.D.S.P. "Bute" Edwards. Major Pitt-Schenkel was the D.S.P., and was the one Police Officer I know who sported a monocle. Not one of the world's workers - he had a habit of passing any paper from Headquarters which required any thought on to his Assistant, for, as he put it, "your views". These being duly forthcoming, he would send it back to Headquarters as representing his own views in the matter - without adding or changing a word. There was an amusing story about "Pitt" and his monocle. When he was O.C. Hartley District, he had one Trooper Dauncy brought before him for being absent without leave. Screwing his monocle into his eye, he gazed sternly at Dauncy saying, "You know Dauncy, if this was on active service, I could have you shot". Dauncy, who was a bit of a wit, murmured, "I hope you won't be as hard as all that on me Sir!"
Pitt loved parades and one Saturday morning whilst I was with him, he mustered all dozen men in Camp in Bulawayo and proceeded to put them through what he called "their paces", finally calling on them to "double" and then turning to me saying, "Fine body of men, Seward." Snitch Hutchings the farrier, now getting on in years, thought the proceedings had gone too far and dropped his ride. In a stage whisper, which Pitt must have heard but made no comment, Snitch remarked "Now the old hugger will want to charge me for casting away me arms." It was all rather ridiculous and I couldn't help thinking the sooner the old so-and-so was pensioned off the better.

Returning to Salisbury. I found myself taking over Salisbury town, with the intriguing prospect of earning some £8 a month extra duty pay. There were at this time, special allowances for Town Branch and a further allowance for supervising Railway Police who at that time, formed part of the Force. In addition I became censor of films with a free seat at all cinemas I cared to attend. This job was a complete sinecure, as all one had to do was go through the list of films sent to us by the South African Police, who acted as censors in the Union. At that time, there was no Board of Censors, either here or in South Africa.

Soon after taking over, the first and only strike of European railway men occurred and the Rhodesia Railways came to a complete standstill. To deal with the situation, a large number of European Special Constables were enrolled and Col. Frank Johnson of Pioneer Column fame was appointed as O.C. Special Constabulary. I well remember sitting with him in my office at night, whilst he recounted some of the adventures of the Pioneer Column. A first class raconteur, his stories lost nothing in the telling.

It was about this time that a most amusing incident occurred. Frank Johnson had a certain gentleman staying with him, rejoicing in the name of Col. Bertie Drew-Fisher. The Johnsons had met him whilst staying at the Victoria Falls and invited him to join them at bridge on a couple of occasions, during which time they extended an invitation for him to stay with them at Orange Grove (part of Highlands) when they returned to Salisbury. One day, Drew Fisher explained to Johnsons that he was temporarily hard-up, owing to the non arrival of funds from Kenya, whereupon Col. Johnson took him along to the bank and stood as guarantor for an overdraft of some £100. A couple of days later, Johnson took Fisher to the Salisbury Club for lunch and introduced him to Col. Hugo Watson. Here, disaster was about to overtake the plausible Drew-Fisher, for Col. Watson was a well known officer of the 60th Rifles who had just arrived from England on secondment to take over the training of the newly formed Rhodesian Territorial Force. On being introduced, Watson immediately said to him, "You're not the Bertie Drew-Fisher of the 60th Rifles. I know him well." Nonplussed, the so-called Bertie replied, "No. I'm his elder brother." The gaffe was soon blown however, as suspicions led to an exchange of cables between Watson and the real Drew-Fisher in England who revealed he had no brother. On being confronted and realising the game was up, the "pseudo" Colonel promptly decamped in a car which he had obtained on credit from a firm who had parted with it on the assumption that anyone staying with Col. Frank Johnson was credit worthy and had handed over the car without even a down payment.

Enquiries showed that the so-called Bertie Drew-Fisher had indulged in several other shady transactions and the Police all over the country were alerted and he was eventually arrested outside Bulawayo. I've forgotten what actual charges were brought against him, but his defence in Court was that he had been badly wounded in World War I and had a silver plate in his head, often resulting in amnesia and he was, therefore, promptly X-rayed, where no silver plate was discovered. Sentenced to a term of imprisonment in the old Salisbury goal, he found himself in the company of another of the same ilk, who was serving a sentence for forgery. It subsequently transpired that the two, with the connivance and co-operation of an African warder, had been obtaining liquor, cigarettes and other luxuries on forged orders from local stores. It was also said, though never proved, that the two had occasionally been let out on some evenings to enjoy the favours of certain "ladies of the night", in Pioneer Street - presumably using their gifts of the gab to obtain their favours on credit. Those were the days!

A little later in the year I accompanied the Governor, Sir Cecil Hunter Rodwell, as an extra A.D.C. on a trip to he made around the Eastern Districts. The party consisted of the Governor, his wife and daughter, together with his uncle Sir Evelyn Ruggles-Brice and Major Blackburn, the A.D.C. We travelled down to Umtali by rail in the Governor's private coach; this was my first visit to the Eastern Districts and I remember being very impressed with Umtali nestling in the tree-clad hills.

Umtali itself seemed to consist of one long untarred street, seemingly with bars and hotels at every corner. Staying overnight at the old Cecil Hotel, we set off next morning for Chipinga, on what was then known as the Sabi road. The road, or rather a dusty corrugated track, was appalling and it took us most of the day to get there via the somewhat fearsome Three Span Berg - so called because in those days it took three spans of oxen to get the wagons up the sleep gradient. In open cars tempers began to get a little frayed until we came on a sign, which read, "Cheer up, only another five miles to the Chipinga Pub".

A tented camp had been prepared for us a couple of miles outside the village and after dinner that night, the Governor's uncle asked his man-servant to bring on the Napoleon brandy. Nothing happened. After some delay I went to find out what was holding up the proceedings and in some trepidation, I went back to the mess tent to report the failure of my mission. The mystery of the missing brandy, especially brought out from England, was never satisfactorily solved, but strong suspicion centred around the coloured drivers who had probably helped themselves to what they must have thought was first class "dop". They probably had a better night's sleep than the rest of us!

John Nielson, a splendid linguist, was the Native commissioner at Chipinga and, following the "indaba" with the local chiefs the next morning, he had organised a group of Shangaan dancers to put on a wonderful display of their talents. During our stay at Chipinga, visits were paid to the Middle Sabi Estates, at that time presided over by Tawse-Jollie, husband of Mrs Tawse-Jollie, the only woman member of the Legislative Council. The Estate then was mostly planted with sisal, not a very profitable crop at that time and was later stumped out in favour of cotton.

The Tanganda Tea Estate at New Year's Gift had just been started and we had lunch there with Grafton Phillips and his wife. Grafton explained to us that here, at New Year's Gift, tea was being grown for the first time in the world under irrigation. Before they came to Rhodesia from India, the rainfall figures for this area had been carefully studied, but the figures probably pertained to the whole district and the rainfall at Tanganda itself was nothing like sufficient to grow tea, hence the need to resort to irrigation from the Tanganda river. Since that time, experience has shown that tea can be grown very successfully under irrigation and the industry has really expanded in the Chipinga area.

Before we set off for Melsetter, we had been advised that a mounted "posse" of local farmers would meet us some five miles from the village with spare horses for the Governor and party. Would we be suitably dressed? The Governor donned a new pair of white breeches for the occasion and, having arrived at the Nyahodi River where the mounted posse was assembled, mounted his rather shaggy looking horse and off we went. All went well until we reached the old Melsetter Hotel, where the Magistrate and local dignitaries (all three of them) were waiting to greet us. As the Governor dismounted, there was a rather ominous sound of tearing material and the next thing we saw was his Excellency grasping a large tear in his new breeches and the gubernatorial posterior exposed to public view!

Protocol makes little provision for such contingencies, but on this occasion it was met by a hasty retreat into one of the hotel bedrooms, where running repairs were carried out by means of safety pins - "safety" being the operative word! The public reception was adjourned and we retired to the camp prepared for us. Not unnaturally, conversation was a little strained at lunch, as it took some time to restore H. E.'s dignity.
Melsetter - who can forget the first view of the Chimanimani Mountains, bathed in the light and shade of the late afternoon and setting sun. My first and immediate thought was that when I ever decide to settle in Rhodesia permanently, it will be here. The village, a very, very sleepy hollow, for some reason best known to the powers that be, boasted a Civil Commissioner and magistrate, together with a Native Commissioner. How they ever kept themselves occupied was quite beyond me. Visiting Melsetter on an inspection trip. a Police officer once wrote in his inspection report that he had looked at the Police cells which bad not been occupied for months. Nevertheless, with a touch of wit, added that he had instructed the Member i/c to keep the building aired and dusted in case they should ever have occasion to use it.
Among others we entertained was John Martin, the member of the Legislative Council for the district As a member of the Moodie Trek in the 1890s, he was one of the oldest residents. On his farm Rocklands now Martin Forest Reserve, he grew an amazing variety of crops tea, coffee, sugar, maize and many varieties of fruit. Indeed, most people living in the area had, perforce, to be as self supporting as possible, for the nearest shopping centre, Umtali, was a good day's journey away weather permitting. Only recently, Zeederbergs's mule drawn coach had been replaced by the Railway's Road Motor Service, before which the coach took two days to reach Melsetter from Umtali with a night stop being made at Cashel, then known as Melsetter North.

After three nights at Melsetter, we started off on the long, winding road between Melsetter Village and Melsetter North, a distance of some forty miles with more than five hundred bends over some spectacular mountain scenery. When one considers this road was constructed by hand, where picks, shovels and wheelbarrows were the only items of equipment to move vast quantities of rock and soil, one realises just what an achievement it represents. It took, from what I can remember, almost four hours to reach Tabanchu Farm in Melsetter North. This farm was owned by Major Rowan Cashel, a retired Police officer and some years later, was purchased by Hallam Elton, on which he built the Black Mountain Inn. A camp bad been prepared for us and in the afternoon, along came the usual deputation of local residents to pay their respects to His Excellency. While the residents were still paying their respects, a Police motorcyclist arrived with an urgent telegram for the Governor. It was in Government Code and I was instructed to get out the Government Code Book and decipher the message. It turned out to be world shattering news from Whitehall, to the effect that Sidney Webb, His Majesty's Minister of State at the Colonial Office, was in future to be known as Lord Passfield, but his wife would continue to be known as Mrs Sidney Webb!

Major Blackburn, the A.D.C. came along and told me that a couple of local residents had been invited to dinner and bridge with His Excellency. They duly arrived at the appointed hour - in a Rolls Royce car. "Well, well" I thought, "This is quite something" the first Rolls Royce I'd seen in the country, albeit a rather ancient model, but nevertheless a Rolls. Talk turned to bridge in London Clubs and the Governor came out with quite an amusing story. This concerned a certain woman playing at Almacs, who somehow got involved in a heated argument over a particular hand and ended up with one of the other women calling her a whore. Off went the woman in high dudgeon to complain to the Secretary of the Club about how she'd been insulted. The Secretary, evidently a man of many parts, contained the situation by telling her "Well you know Mrs So-and so, I left the Army twenty years ago, but I'm still called Colonel." As an interesting aftermath, I heard some time later that the owner of the Rolls Royce had left the country in rather a hurry. Apparently everything he bought was on credit which eventually caught up with him and the Rolls was seized by a departmental store in Umtali against a hefty unpaid account.

I mentioned earlier that the area around Tabanchu was at that time known as Melsetter North and some years later when I was sitting at Police Headquarters in Salisbury, the question arose as to what we were to call the new Police Camp, which was being built there. The Post Office didn't like Melsetter North, as they thought most of the mail would end up in Melsetter. Tabanchu was turned down on the grounds that letters would find their way to a place of the same name in Lesoto; if named Umvumvumvu after the name of the river running through the area, post would undoubtedly end up in Umvuma. Thinking about a suitable name, I thought of old Rowan Cashel and suggested to the then Commissioner, Col. G. Stops, that we should call the place Cashel, after him. He thought it was a good idea. "Write to Mrs Cashel at once and ask her if she has any objection" he said. Mrs Cashel not only had no objection, but was delighted with the idea and so Cashel came into being.

Continuing on our way the following morning, our next stop was hack in Umtali, where H. E. was to open the Umtali Agricultural Show. The Show ground in those days was on the site now occupied by the Umtali Sports Club. It was there for the first time that I met two members of the Pioneer Column, Johnnie Crawford and Jim Palmer, two wonderful characters who I got to know welt much later, both with a wealth of anecdotes of the early days. There was the Show Ball in the evening, followed the next day with a visit to St Augustine's Mission and Rezende Mine, where we had lunch with the Manager. Rome. And so back to Salisbury.

Roll of Honour

 

Queensland Newsletter

Chairman's Chat
The Association began the year with the Annual General Meeting held at 12pm on Saturday 25 February 2007 at the residence of Mike and Ginny King in Manly West, Brisbane.
Present were 6278 Gerry and Wendy Dyer, 7012 Mike and Ginny King, 6303 Peter and Carol Nortje, 6604 John Gold, 72490 Fred and Carol Carr-Thompson, 205169J Margaret and Les Underhay, 4727 Mike and Rosemary Edden and 5757 Ian and Rachel Milton.
Apologies were received from 5885 Mike Fitton, 5147 Wally Wilton, 25548T Simon Lucas, 6833 Peter Greef, 23451 Chris Wheeler, 5165 Don Sillis, 6994 Colin John, 7861 Mike Woods and 7694 Steve Martin.

I presented the CHAIRMAN'S REPORT:
General
I begin by thanking Mike and Ginny King for allowing us the use of their house for this year's AGM. It is the efforts of the Kings and 6604 John and Mary Gold that have kept the flame of the Queensland Branch alive throughout the year; without their unstinting efforts to keep everyone informed about Association matters in general and arrange the various functions there would be little to report.

Functions
The association held four get-togethers besides the AGM during the past year; of which "Xmas in July" held at the King's home attended by 18 members and guests and the Annual Dinner at the Coorparoo RSL at which 29 members and guests attended were the most successful.
The July luncheon is really just an excuse for an excellent meal and the exchange of presents in a climate more suitable for holding a festive Christmas lunch than the December temperatures. In addition we have been indebted for the past two years to our attending members for donating raffle prizes to increase the benevolent fund and I especially wish to thank 7638 Gordon Hodnett for his annual donation of a food hamper as well as congratulating him on being accepted as a permanent Australian resident.
The dinner enticed three of our far-flung members in 6969 Billy Budd from North Rockhampton and 5848 Dave and Jean Clinker from Wooroolin to attend and John Gold persuaded three guests, the two Godwins, Walter and Barry and Walter's nephew Mark Eales, all with police and army connections to attend also. At the same time we welcomed 6940 Jack and Joan Taylor and hope that their application to be accepted as Australian residents has been successful. I was asked by Jack to write a "letter of support" to Senator Vanstone on their behalf and received an acknowledgement of my correspondence from the "then" Minister. Gordon Hodnett offered a working visa opportunity to any ex-members aspiring to become Australians, but to date no one appears to have taken advantage of the offer. The speaker at the dinner was 4770 Hugh Phillips, visiting from the UK, who gave an entertaining speech about his attendance at various dinners throughout the world since his retirement
The other two functions were not well supported and I personally see no value in continuing the April or December meetings.
John and Mary Gold, Rosemary and I entertained 5055 Ken Miners, visiting from the UK, during January and, as Ken had expressed a wish to meet an old cricketing acquaintance of his from his time in Salisbury, John arranged for Goofy Lawrence (Rhodesian fast bowler from the early '60s) to attend the coffee morning and lunch as well.

Membership
I erred in not ensuring that 5885 Mike Fitton was informed of his change of status to honorary membership and, when he only sent a part payment of his subscription due to financial pressures, the Secretary sent him a small donation from the benevolent fund. A letter setting out his status will now be sent.
The Committee has also received an application for membership from Chris Wheeler, which has been approved and we look forward to meeting him at one of our functions.

Committee
There were no committee meetings held during the year.
I am pleased to report that Mike King, John Gold, Gerry Dyer and I are available for re-election.
Treasurer's Report
The Treasurer's report produced no surprises or fireworks showing a healthy credit of $2,543.46 but Margaret Underhay made a practical suggestion to Mike King regarding showing the Benevolent Fund total as a separate heading under Assets rather than Cash at Bank.

Election of Officers
The Committee was returned en bloc with the exception that Mike Hayes, who had asked to stand down, was replaced by Margaret Underhay.

Other Business
Honorary Membership. A full and frank discussion on the status of Honorary Membership was held and it was agreed that there should be a distinction between Honorary Life Membership (only applicable at this time to Helen Hollis widow of Roy) and Honorary Annual Membership to those in financial hardships. This applied to 5885 Mike Fitton and 6864 Peter Bentley.
Membership. The meeting was pleased to record that 9874 Ray Woolnough rejoined the Association and 23451 Chris Wheeler was the latest new member.
It was agreed to waive the April function as there wasn't enough "excuse" to hold it, so that the first function for 2007 will be "Xmas in July", but it was decided to keep the options open for the end of the year.
The meeting closed around 1.15pm.

Luncheon
An excellent repast of Roast Chicken and salads was provided by Mike and Ginny King and dessert was provided by Mike's sister visiting from RSA. The party broke up around 4pm.

General News
Rosemary Edden has recovered well from her two hip operations and has discarded her crutches for the first time in 8 years and only uses a stick to help keep her balance when walking outside the house.
Dave Clinker is well on the road to recovery after his November knee operation and we look forward to seeing him and Jean at the Dinner.
Mike Edden


Note: Views expressed in this Outpost are not necessarily those of the two Australian-based Regimental Associations