Roy Fields!

[Michael Alexander]

A lot of you old timers will recall the old Oranjemund character , Roy Fields.

I received a nice email from Andy Turner in the UK. His late father Ernest Turner was a good friend of Roy Fields back in  England.

Whilst digging through his father's photo's, he found these attached photographs which he sent onto me with the following quote.

"From memory, I think Roy and Mavis came out to live and work in S.A. twice and these photos were taken on the eve of one of the departures. One was taken at my mom and dads house (I remember the wallpaper...lol) and the other two were taken that evening. They had a 'get together' at the club where my dad was one of the resident musicians. I recall that Roy got up on stage and sang the song, "This is my lovely day"  which carries the line "...this is the day I shall remember the day I'm dying..." which almost reduced my dad to tears. They were big buddies.

I mentioned Roy in a short biography I did on a website dedicated to my dad, following his death in 2006. You can see it here.."

Link: http://andyturner1.wixsite.com/ernest-turner/biography

Thanks for sharing Andy! much appreciated!

[john wilson]

Thats correct he left Omund the first time to help his Dad with his company in Sheffield they did some kind of precision grinding. I visited them there when I went over for my sisters wedding, he took me up flying but thats another story. Im hazy on which year but I know I was still living in Omund. He told me they had made a mistake returning to England.  He went to Hawker Siddly and asked if they needed anyone to go to Oranjemund to Overhaul there engines in the Power Station. So they hired him and sent him back to Omund. He was on a 2 year contract but approached CDM for a job and they gave him a 3 year contract after his other contract expired. I know he was at that time 65 years old. He was one of my best friends, I lost touch with him when he left CDM to live I think in the Cape

[Michael Alexander]

John, when Roy and Mavis retired from here, they moved to Melkbostrand , down in the Cape!

[john wilson]

I was Roy's sponsor into Optima Lodge, I remember his First Degree  I did the Tracing Board for him I studied a month for that. He was so talented he could do anything, sing ,dance play the trombone like a pro and do his clown routine with some buddies at Xmas events. Too bad I live 6000 miles away we could talk for hours. I remember you as a wee boy and visited your house often.

[Michael Alexander]

It was Roy that took my mom and myself down to Cape TOwn to attend boarding school for the first time, It was in that beige Combi.

As a kid I cans till recall all the singsongs at the braai over at the Fields house in first avenue.

The braai was around the corner by the window to the Twin's bedroom.

I think Roy was also the pilot of the little plane that parachuted the beers into the Canyon for Jim Reid and Eric Cameron.

As stated earlier, I also remember being enthralled at how Roy could a tune out with those spoons.

There were three Roy's in Omund back in the 70's

Roy Turnball
Roy Fields

and Roy ....... (1st ave) emigrated to NZ!

Memories are fading with age I guess....

[john wilson]

Roy Tyler I still have contact with him in NZ he lives in Twizel in the South Island he lost his wife carol a few years back and visited me when I lived in USA . We went to Vegas and had a great time, he is in his mid 80s now. We talk on Skype now and then and talk Omund. He also lived on 1st Ave.

[Michael Alexander]

Thats him, wife Carol?

Had a son and daughter? Mark, I think?

We set fire to the 1st abenue bushes once...... Bloody kids....

I recall they had a nice braai area, almost in a jungle setting....

Lomgtime ago...

[Mike Voden]

Ah, so now the truth comes out, my son in law is an arsonist....................

[john wilson]

Carol was Roy's second marriage , he met her in Windsor Ontario Canada when he was sick in hospital and she was one of the nurses attending to him. He worked for Ford Motor Co at that time but after marrying Carol decided to return to South Africa in the early sixty's  Then to CDM in late 1960s thats when I met him he was also an electrician. His first wife died in an accident and he had two children by her. His daughter from that time still lives in Cape Town, his son unfortunately passed away a fairly young man. So over the years he always talked about Canada and was quite instrumental in helping us move there, He even set up a contact for us when we arrived in Windsor in late 1973. Its amazing how the world turns and the people you meet along the way.