Rod Randall's 1962 Photographs!

[Michael Alexander]

It was an absolute pleasure to make contact with ex Oranjemunder and Affenruckener , Rod Randall. Rod was working up in the Affies area around 1961/1962 and has sent me a few snaps of Affenrucken and his mates.

Please feel free to comment and to the rest of you out there in the real world who are still holding onto to "old" Oranjemund snaps..... get scanning or post them to me...

Thanks to Rod.....

[Michael Alexander]

Must have been an awesome era to be working up in such a remote area....

[Michael Alexander]

Liked the way the plant appears to be on the water....

Rod also notes " I did'nt know it then, but Fred Riley would become my brother in law"

The below scan of a postcard is of the Bogenfels Arch by Mark Van Aardt. I remember seeing his cards in display in a lot of stores back in the day....

[Bob Molloy]

The "Froggy" mentioned in one of Rod's pics was Froggy Booysens, a very powerful swimmer and water polo player. God help anyone who challenged him in a water polo match. His tactic was to increase speed, head straight for the challenger and swim right over the top, still guiding the ball. Unerringly, as he passed, his feet always connected with the challenger's head, knocking him briefly gaga and forcing him
to swallow most of the pool while heading for the bottom. . 

I speak from personal experience, having tried too often to dispossess Froggy of the ball. Worse still was to get in the way of his slam dunk shots at goal. If you were the defender and got it wrong you'd waken up with half your team around you hoping they didn't have a corpse on their hands.  I saw it happen to Louie Fouche once when he collected the ball with his chest. He was lucky to still have all his ribs but the bruising was spectacular. It went through about nine shades of colour as it healed over the following weeks.

Of course Froggy was not alone in the use of those tactics. He was simply stronger, bigger and faster than most. The strategies included growing the large toenail on each foot and then shaping it so that in overswimming it could take enough skin off the challenger to make him think again. The coaches happily taught us many other lurks. In the end none of us were blameless. Those polo matches in the Oranjemund pool were little more than liquid mayhem.

Fred Riley was one of the survivors of the diamond barge wrecked in a storm in the early Sixties. As far as I can recall there was at least one death and many injuries. The wreck should still be visible on the beach near Chameis.

Bob Sinclair eventually went into banking, at a Luderitz branch I heard but can't confirm that. If anyone knows where he is I'd be pleased to get a contact address.

[Alfred Boehme]

Chameis reck

[Gordon Brown]

Mining bods (self included) were still using 38 RBD Excavators (Ruston Bucyrus Diesel) in the 65G screening plant area in 1968 to break out and load the very hard boulder-laden diamondiferous ore in the upper terraces and 'N' blocks. Powerful machines but always having trouble with cables which frequently broke.
Louis Fouchie was mine foreman in 'G' Area for a time. Super guy. Anybody know where he is now?