Chapter 9 - Rhodesia, Africa

16 Townsend Crescent, Redcliff, Rhodesia

The steel business was going downhill again and my personal view of the uncertainty of it after the war was because of the fact that under labour government, Steel as well as other businesses such as Railways and Coalmines became nationalized and then under the conservative government it was de-nationalized. This caused the owners to stop investing their money into the companies because when an election was held the company was taken over again by government. Therefore no planning was done for the future and no money spent on upgrading or building new plants. This caused the British steel facilities to fall behind foreign competition. That coupled with the fact that iron ore deposits in the Cleveland area were becoming depleted also making it necessary to import the ore from Sweden, which of course added to the cost of the product.

The name Riscom meant Rhodesian Iron and Steel Commission and was government owned and operated. As the country was landlocked and all the imported goods had to pass through several other countries the costs became prohibitive the government decided to buy up some obsolete steel producing equipment from places like Sheffield England and then recruit tradesmen from all over the globe to operate it. The reason Redcliff was the place to build was that as the name suggests it was literally a huge mountain of iron ore, which they just had to scrape off the top, then it was like an iceberg because there was two thirds more underground. At the time we were there it was estimated at the going rate of production it would be over a hundred years before the ore would be depleted. Also within 150 miles by rail was an immense supply of coal necessary for steelmaking and also limestone was available in abundance much closer than the coal deposits. Water was made available by a dam on the Sebakwe river about 8 miles away and in a country where it only rained for four months in the year there was always a plentiful supply of water for the industry and the township.

Accommodations were at a newly built Parkview Hotel managed by Ernie Martin and his wife Daisy plus a housekeeper named Mattie. Some of you who know Diane Muir now living in Oshawa and married to Jim Muir who is South African born in Durban, well Diane is the daughter of Ernie and Daisy who also escaped from England and spent many years living in both Rhodesia and Johannesburg in the catering/ hotel managing business. The rest of the staff; cooks and kitchen boys were all native Rhodesians although many of them were actually from Nyasaland now called Malawi who came south looking for work. The hotel belonged to the company, Riscom, as did the club complete with tennis courts and a large swimming pool. There was also a golf course without greens instead they were made out of sand because of the climate and lack of rainfall year round would have been very expensive to maintain and a soccer pitch also lacking in grass. The clubhouse had a men’s bar and a huge concert hall and upstairs there was a billiard hall, four tables, plus darts.

On Sundays it was common for young families like us to take the kids along to the club for pre-Sunday dinner drinks and it became a social event to meet everyone. The kids had lemonade although Derek would run up to the table and by mistake down his mother’s drink of Ginger Square that was Ginger brandy with ginger ale mixed. 

The township of homes, also owned by the company, were provided on a rental basis to the employees. Each house was on a full acre lot with garage, (no doors), in the back next to the servants quarters. Next to the club was a liquor store, and inside the works were gas pumps (they called it petrol) were you could fill up the car at work sign the chit and it came off the paycheck, as did whatever you bought from the liquor store. Same thing with the house rent so what was left was direct deposited into your bank account was spending or saving money.

When Doreen arrived with Janet we were temporarily in an apartment on the ground floor, the single guys were on the upper second level and the dining room which served all the residents was at the end of the building also ground floor. Meals were included with the rent at Parkview. After six weeks or so we were allocated a house at 16 Townsend Crescent and moved in happily. The previous tenant had been the president of the gardening club in Redcliff and had means of getting loads of good topsoil and thus had a nice veggie garden. We had a cauliflower farm something like a hundred planted in rows which had deep ridges to enable the hosepipe to be put in at one end and the whole ridge flooded as in irrigation, The trench also provided shade from the sun in the heat of day for the cauliflower crop. We also went into the chicken business and kept laying hens plus cockbirds for the dinner table. Doreen had not been very long in Rhodesia when she said to me that if we were going to stay there to live it would be nice for Janet to have a brother or sister and not be alone in the country if anything happened to us. I thought that was great idea and happily obliged to make that come true. That is how Derek came to be and even though it did not become the place we would have been happy to live in forever because of the political situation we planned to stay for a certain period which turned out to be four and one half years before we returned to England in the summer of 1960. One of our friends from across the street in Ormesby quipped that when I was demobbed from the Navy I should have brought home an anchor to help me settle down. 

A Rhodesian passenger train

Another reason for leaving Rhodesia was that the government put a restriction on the amount of money one could take with them upon deciding to leave the country and any in excess of that amount could be transferred on an annual basis. So that even though it did not affect us at the time could have become a problem for the future, and who knows how those rules could have further changed over the years so we decided not to stick around to find out.

We enjoyed living in Rhodesia and the almost perfect weather and do not regret the wonderful experience. It was situated on a plateau 4,000 ft above sea level and described as sub tropical, and it was often said that it had the climate California advertised. On my second day at the plant one of the machinists in the shop sidled up to me and said, “ I think that I am the only friend you have in this department. All the others said you were not fit to associate with pigs but I took your side and told them I thought that you were.” I guess he was just trying to help me settle in. He had a huge Fu Manchu type of moustache that made him look pretty fierce and went by the nickname of Shag. He turned out to be a good friend in disguise. There were only two other Roll Turners beside myself both Scots. One who had been there for many years and was about 40 years old. The other was a retired guy from Glengarnock steelworks near Glasgow and was some relative of the shop foreman and signed on for the three years and intended to go back there when the three year contract was up then go back to the town of Largs on the West coast of Scotland where he lived. It was just south of the city of Ayr and a pleasant fishing village which I remember passing through on one of our Scout camps visits to the land of the heather. He was one for giving advice especially when adapting to life in a new country far from home. One of his wisdoms that I recall was, “When living in a place like this you should keep your bowels open and your purse tightly closed.” Another one was, “If anything bothers you cut it off.”

The company had a scheme, which applied to apprentices employed in the various trade groups, and it was that on completion of the apprenticeship the apprentice was fired not to be re-hired until after a one-year period. This was designed to be able to weed out the poor craftsmen and not re-employ them. This did not apply to Roll Turners as there were no apprentices because if they followed that rule it would mean that they would have to go to another country as Riscom was the only steel company in Rhodesia therefore they imported all Roll Turners on a contract basis to get around that problem.

Ray Bland, Allan Forrest, Wullie Pirrit, John Ferguson    

During our time there some four other men whom I knew and worked with in England that came over on the three year contract deal and all returned home within three to four years. Life was enjoyable, and one of the highlights was the trip to Livingstone to see Victoria Falls, when Derek was only two months old. I took the front seat out of the Austin 16 (1948 vintage) and put the pram into the car so that Doreen could sit in the back seat with Janet and keep a close watch on the baby in his pram. We stayed overnight in Bulawayo and went on the next morning to Victoria Falls. 

A Rhodesian strip road

It was rainy season and the journey was quite an adventure. Main roads between the major cities were fully paved with a lane in each direction. On the other minor routes the road consisted of two strips of pavement about two feet wide and spaced apart what was decided to be the average distance of wheel centres on most cars.  Between the strips and the area outside the strips was simply gravel and soil mixed. This was okay except for when the rain came down in torrents and washed out the material between and outside the strips leaving some dangerous potholes many inches below the height of the strips. The problem arose when another vehicle was coming from the opposite direction you had to vacate one strip of road and ride with two wheels in the dirt leaving the other car to do the same as you passed each other and then you could occupy both strips again. This was very hazardous often causing stones to fly up into the air for you to run into and break your windshield or puncture a hole in the gas tank.

Neither of these conditions was desirable especially the gas tank hole. In those days the windshield would simply craze (that was state of the art safety glass) and the only cause of action would be to wrap your fist in a towel and punch through an area to enable you to see to drive. Fortunately for us we never had to suffer those misfortunes although many of the folks we knew had to deal with it. The hole in the gas tank problem you probably would be unaware of until the car stopped. It was always wise to check for leaks underneath after passing another vehicle as soon as it was safe to do so.

A tourist brochure for Victoria Falls circa 1950

To get back to the story, we did however once during some foul weather of pouring rain; spin off the strips about an hour after leaving Bulawayo ending up facing the wrong direction. There was no other car in sight and no people to be seen, anyway within what only seemed to be a few seconds some group of natives appeared from out of the bush and proceeded to break branches off nearby trees to place under the back wheels and push the car back onto the road facing the right way. I did not want to open any doors so I reached into my pocket and threw all the loose change out of my window and proceeded slowly away as the group grabbed up the offering gladly. After that we went at a more moderate speed because the rain was coming down in buckets. The ramshackle bridges over the rivers swooped downwards close to water level and one had to be especially careful when crossing the rivers. We learned that during the four days we were in Livingstone, yes it was named after him, that most of the bridges were closed to traffic as they became under water and impassable.

Aerial View of Victoria Falls

On the return journey we had no problems so the timing was good. The rainfall swelled the Zambezi River leading to Victoria Falls and we had a more spectacular view of the falls than usual. We stayed in a government controlled camping area, which was high roofed straw and mud huts, had two or three beds, running water, a table and chairs, and cupboards for clothing and food storage. It was all within walking distance from the falls area where the railway bridge crossed the river. Within the compound there was a general store where you could buy any necessary things for everyday living so trips to town were not on a daily necessity. It must have been out of season, as I don’t remember many other huts being occupied and very few people around to talk to. The return trip to Bulawayo was without incident. I recall seeing many signs at the roadside reading, “Beware of Elephants”, but none came into sight. Maybe they had signs on their side reading, “Beware of cars and humans”, however we didn’t get out to look.

British army personnel laid out the major two cities many years previously to our being there. Street width was determined by how much space was needed to make a “U” turn with a team of eight oxen pulling a wagon. So therefore in the days of the automobile the streets were wide enough to accommodate angle parking at each side, two lanes of traffic in both directions and double angle parking in between the traffic lanes in the centre of the roadway. At intersections when one was crossing the street as a pedestrian you had to be pretty nimble to get across at only one light change otherwise you had to wait in the centre for the next green light and then continue to the other side.

The buildings were mostly stores, restaurants and offices and built with huge cut stone blocks and most certainly built to last. There were also park areas for picnics and every weekend after dark they had horse drawn food wagons on wheels where you could buy German sausage on a bun, Sauerkraut, hot dishes of soups, beans and other good authentic foods. The park areas were lit with coloured fairy lights and of course the weather was always perfect. All the department stores were lovely inside with beautiful wooden doors staircases and countertop fittings. 

The poor old Austin 16 was riding low and I discovered that one of the rear leaf springs was broken so after getting that fixed and some weeks later the other one went also. It really needed new shock absorbers to help the springs do their job but they would have to be ordered from England and cost as much as the car was worth so I had the blacksmith put thicker leaves in the repaired springs and tried never to drive on the strip roads and only at very slow MPH. The car lasted out our time in Rhodesia and the young apprentice mechanic at the one and only garage in Redcliff wanted to buy it. The garage owner would not give him cash in lieu of future wages to pay for it but he allowed us to choose merchandise from his attached store to the full value so we ended up with some ornaments and cutlery sets and other useless stuff when it was sold at the end of our term. The kid cut the top off the car with an acetylene torch and welded up the doors and made a hot rod out of it. He and his buddies had to take a running leap to get into the thing.

Brenda Forrest, Doreen, Joan Clark, Sheena Kerr

There were not many places to go to for recreation, but on days which were a public holiday we used to go off in numbers out into the bush for picnics sometimes as many as six car loads of parents with kids. Some sailing enthusiasts made a Marina in Que Que on the Sebakwe River and had small sailboats to indulge their pastime. Slides or transparencies were popular around that time and I have some pictures of it that look pretty pathetic looking back at them now. The rivers and lakes really were not fit to swim in unless it was fast running water as they harboured a little snail creature which entered the body, (I won’t describe how), and caused a serious disease called Bilharzia. It was not worth risking for the sake of a swim when we had a full sized pool back at the clubhouse and available all year round.

One of the risks of driving in the country was breaking down miles from anywhere and having to abandon the vehicle and thumb a ride either to the nearest town or back home returning later to retrieve it. Too often you heard stories of the owners returning to pick up their cars only to find that it had no wheels or battery. The natives were adept at removing these items, which could be sold on the black market, (sorry about the pun). I also remember being told by one guy that he had stopped to change a flat tire when somebody pulled up ahead of him and with a jack and wheel wrench in his hands was starting to jack up the other end of his car. He said I shouted to the guy and said, “What do you think you are doing?” His reply was, “If you can have a wheel so can I.” That describes the situation as it was in South Rhodesia in the 1950’s. Of course there were no gas stations/garages except in the towns, no tow trucks and certainly no roadside telephone booths. There was a fortune to be made by inventing the cell phone and there was no TV service until many years after we had left the country and then there was only one channel to watch, take it or leave it.

There was a cinema in Que Que, which they called the Bioscope and not a cinema, so we could get to see recent releases from Hollywood and of course the radio was state of the art. Other features of entertainment were a travelling first division soccer team would tour cities throughout South Africa and Rhodesia during the off season in England playing exhibition matches with the best players they could muster up from the local leagues.

Also, on an annual basis they would take down one of the snooker tables from upstairs and erect it in the main hall (which was also used for concerts, dances and weddings) and a group of professionals from Europe, mainly England, would put on a show of their mastery on the green baize. They played some strange games in the bar. Mostly between some of the single guys who had more money than sense they played dice with Ace, King, Queen, etc. on the six sides of the dice, which were thrown to determine the winner. The loser had to choose a drink like Rum which was put into a glass on the bar top. This went on and on, the loser choosing a different drink, which was added to the glass until it was full of the cocktail concoction whereupon the loser of the last throw had to drink the glass empty and another game was started. I can only imagine that the loser of two consecutive games would be feeling pretty groggy and unable to play in the third round. Such was the result of boredom and having too much money and nothing to do with it, a sad state of existence.  

The only way of communicating with family back in U.K. was by letter that of course took some time even by airmail using the flimsy blue paper things designed for the job. None of the families were particularly thrilled about writing letters and they would often not write on the back page which of course you could do so as it folded inside, but it must have taken some of the sting out of the chore to leave that page blank.

There was a saying in Rhodesia which reads “if you have not lost a snake, don’t go looking for one.” It was fairly common that walking about the township you could encounter one of these creatures so it was much safer to drive and people would run over a snake and then to make sure back up the car over it again. I do not recall hearing about anyone being bitten by a snake during our time there, but the natives were terrified of them and upon sighting one they would run like the wind in the other direction. I recall one such incident at work when we had to go outside to the storage area to bring in one of the rolls to be worked on in the lathe. There was a trolley arrangement, which ran on rails all by manpower, and we would have to take three or four 3 or 4 labourers to handle the job. A large snake came creeping through the grass and one of the natives turned ashen grey in colour and ran off into the distance eventually out of sight. He did not come back to work until the next day. It took a lot of convincing to get the others to stay on the job and bring in the piece of equipment to be worked on into the shop. All in a days work as the saying goes. 

Ray at work in Riscom

The average African was not very reliable to show up for work on regular basis so the timekeeper devised a simple but effective system of keeping track of each one’s attendance record. Consisting of a book of 30 tickets and each day he presented himself for work the foreman of his department would tear out one of the tickets, sign it and send it to the pay office. When the paymaster had 30 tickets the labourer was eligible to be paid even though it might have taken 45 or more days for him to show up for 30 days of work. Before he received a pay packet he had to present himself to the first aid station on site for a medical examination. This was to determine if the man had VD and then he would be treated for the disease. Even if he tested positive he would receive his pay but now he was on record and it became a good method to control the spread of the disease, which apparently was widespread among the native population. It was also a law that anyone employing an African that part of his wages would be paid in food and clothing because they had learned that by paying it all in cash a lot of it ended up in the beer hall and on gambling. Even at the steel plant every day there was a communal meal served at which all the workers attended and at a given interval each worker would receive a new pair of boots and a coverall boiler suit which in most cases was all that they wore. They normally had no socks, underwear or tee shirt. I don’t think they were called T Shirts in those days, I recall them being called a singlet or vest. The natives were very pleased to receive used clothing of any kind given to them, which could clothe one of their kids or wife or even himself. In fact when they called door-to-door selling wooden carvings or anything else they would only take used clothing as payment for the goods.

Sun-kissed children, Derek and Janet

One of their real needs was a bike and they would form a group of four or five of them and proceed as follows. The scheme was that they would each give to one of them their whole monthly pay and the receiver would now have enough cash to buy a new bike, this was determined by drawing lots to see who got to be first, second, third, etc. to receive the whole bunch of money, a very trusting arrangement indeed. The fact that they received food daily and clothing as part of the paycheck allowed this arrangement to work as they could get by with little or no cash from month to month until they all ended up with a new bike hopefully? Obviously the white storeowners would not grant credit to them so they came up with their own ingenious credit union plan. The method of paying wages also applied to ourselves who could employ a houseboy, for cleaning, a cook or Nanny and a garden boy. Some of the families had all of these. Doreen decided that she did not need a cook and would prefer to look after our children herself.  I helped with the housework and the garden boy was used for any heavy-duty housework in my absence at the steel plant. We had to provide meat, and mealy meal which was ground up corn which they mixed with water to make a kind of bread paste which could be toasted or eaten as is on a weekly basis much the same as the company did for all their employed people.