What The Dickens! Comments

In 1927, my father, Arthur Dickens, arrived in South Africa with a nice, fat gratuity from the Indian Army in hand. He chose to go to Barberton to try his hand at farming but, without any knowledge of the variable weather patterns of this country, he lost the lot. From there, he went to Springs where he met and married my mother, Roma Crumplin, whose mother Maggie Shanahan had been a Rose of Tralee. He bought a piece of land for the equivalent of R100 and built what was then the sixth house in Springs Extension for R1500 but before they could take up residence, he was transferred to Van Ryn Deep Gold Mine where he obtained his Surveyor’s Ticket. To supplement his income, he joined the Rescue Team where he received a bonus of R5 a month.

In 1932 he was called out to the big fire at Langlaagte where the Underground Manager and four senior officials had been gassed. It was his job to remove the body of the Underground Manager.(Noblese oblige, if you please!) He also became the official guide for taking people on underground tours of the mine and once took some representatives from Castle Brewery. Upon his return to the Change House, he found a crate of beer waiting for him.
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