This is the year the Second World War started, and also the year in which his mother died.
Solemn.
Their home address for part of this year was 35 Carsens Street, Tamboers Kloof, Cape Town.
They moved to "Stanmore" Wessels Rd, Greenpoint, then into a flat and finished the year in "Glencot" Grotto Road, Rondebosch. I remember on one family holiday driving past "Glencot" in Rondeboasch. With hindsight: I would have liked to be more sensitive to it's significance to my Dad...
There are lists of Table Tennis matches played, Money received and spent, Books read, Bioscopes - his best of which he detailed in another list:
Union Pacific
Mad About Music
Pygmalion
Midnight
That Certain Age
The Citadel
There is also, tucked into the front of this diary, an original Memorandum of Agreement dated September 1932 between H Polliack and Company Limited and his father KO Powrie for the lease with option to purchase of HMC Radio Model R7 and Transformer.
Also folded in the front of this diary: a Statement of Marks of his father Kenneth Oldham Powrie from the University of the Cape of Good Hope for the First Mining Examination, 1903.
Again rubber-stamped in each day entry: Weather, Visitors, Post, Ships In, Ships Out.
Every day has a record of what he did.
I am struck by how many times "changed my room around" occurs and "changed the furniture around" in other parts of the house - this was usually done by Pixie and Betty.
Some entries:
Sunday January 1st
Went to Church with Ma at 8am and took first communion.
Played cricket in pm.
The family, Paul and Ham went to Dorothy's (his cousin's, my mother's sister's) bungalow at Clifton in evening.
Saw mountain fire on way home.
Wednesday January 11th
Visitors: Dr Viljoen (Ma), Mrs Bletchley
Ma stayed in bed all day because the muscles of her heart were strained.
Went to cricket practice in pm.
Played chess in evening and beat Ham.
"Ma stayed in bed all day" in every day entry until January 21st when "Ma and Betty went to stay for a week or so at Fairmead. We all went there in evening" She was fetched back from Fairmead on Friday 3rd February. She was visited there every day in between.
They looked at a house "Stanmore" in Wessels Road Greenpoint and were successful in securing it for rent from 1st April for 11 pounds per month.
They went on a journey to Johannesburg in March:
Tuesday March 14th
Went shopping at lunch time and got flags, maps etc, went to P. Office.
Took wireless over to Mrs Aldrum's at 9pm.
Pixie and Paul took Kitty and Rex over to Capsticks. They also went to Steven's, Aunt Julia etc.Kriel moved out some furniture in pm.
Wednesday March 15th
Packed the car in am and left at 7.25 for Johannesburg.
Picked up Aunt Ethel (his mother's sister, my mother's mother).
Did 398 miles and arrived in Victoria West at 7.35pm and slept night 6/-
Pixie drove for about 50 miles.
Thursday March 16th
Started at 7.25am and had tea at Britstown.
Had puncture and changed whell just before Modder Rivier.
Arrived Bloemhof at 6.30pm and slept night 8/-
Friday March 17th
Started off at 7 am and sent off wires at Klerksdorp.
Called on Lucases and spent 1 hour there.
Dropped off Aunt Ethel at Dorian's at Norwood.
Arrived at Edwardes at 3pm and Mam, Pixie and Betty went on to Donovans.
Went to meet Roddy (life-long friend) in town but missed him.
They left again for Cape Town on Sunday 26th March.
He started work again on 29th March.
Friday April 7th - Good Friday
Started making number plate in pm.
Italy marched into Albania at dawn.
Tuesday April 18th
Came home to lunch.
Ma stayed in bed all day because she was not feeling too well.
Went down after work to see Uncle Walter in the Rotchester (ship).
Met Paul down there.
Thursday April 20th
Hitler's 50th birthday.
Thursday April 27th
Bough lunch and stayed in town.
Got paid today (in code 10 pounds 1/4)
Pixie took Ma to see Dr Marius in am and arranged for Mam to go to Groote Schuur on Saturday pm.
Presentation to Mr CR Burman in pm on the occasion of his wedding.
Friday April 28th
Came home to lunch and Paul took me back in Ian's car.
Got 33/- postal order and sent application form etc to H Laurance in pm.
Hitler's speech at 2pm.
His Ma was in hospital all the time until 18th May and visited every day.
Monday May 8th
Stayed and worked through lunch.
Went down to RNVR (Royal Naval Vonteer Reserve) Base in evening and met George Hogg and went for medical examinarion etc. Passed all right.
Mr EJ Green arrived from PE in Athlone Castle to be chief accountant here.
Wednesday May 10th
Bought lunch and stayed in town and booked seats for next Wednesday night.
Pixie, Betty and I went over to see Mam in evening.
Said she would be out next Wednesday.
Tuesday May 16th
Bought lunch and went and ate it at Pixie's office.
Went down to RNVR Base at 8pm and we had lecture etc to go again on 30th.
Betty worked until 10.30 in evening.
Thursday May 18th - Holiday - Ascension Day
Pixie and Betty went to communion at 7am
Pixie, Betty and I went and fetched Mam from hospital at 10am and she went to bed here.
He worked steadily on a model ship.
He mentioned periodic news items of the intensifying war.
Each Tuesday he went to the RNVR Base and learnt a little more.
The family drives and walks continue with those who were there.
Tuesday July 4th
Came home to lunch and had half day because of Mr Duff's death.
Went to the Alhambra in evening to see "Stand In".
Also 1st African Mirror in sound.
Pixie and I drove Aunt Joyce to the station and she left for Johannesburg at 7.15pm with Philippa (my mother, his cousin)
Brought Paul back here and he and I went to RNVR Base.
Had instruction about compass.
Saturday July 15th
(In code "Sat next to girl friend in bus coming home")
Started on the book about the System of the Accounts Department.
Monday July 24th - RODDY'S BIRTHDAY
Pixie, Betty and I took Mam to Volk's Hospital at 10am and then left car on Parade.
Pixie and I came home to lunch in it.
Servant girl Freada left us in evening.
Tuesday July 25th
Stayed and worked through lunch hour.
Pixie Betty and I went to see Mam in evening and then they dropped me at RNVR Base where I received Web equipment and Rifle No. C271.
Wednesday July 26th
Stayed and worked through lunch hour.
Took periodicals to Pixie for Mam in am.
Wen to jewellers after work about my watch.
Pixie, Betty and I went to see Mam in evening.
Thursday July 27th
Mam went in for operation and 8.30am and passed away peacefully under anaesthetic owing to the heart being too weak.
Pixie and Betty went up to Volks Hospital in am and sent for me.
Father Thompson and Mrs Hardwick (undertaker) came up too.
Pixie and Paul went to Standard Bank and we all had lunch here.
Took Rex and Kitty to Capsticks and then went to Fairmead to stay.
Got paid today (In code 10 pounds 6/3)
Friday July 28th
Took the car to Stanley Porter's Garage with Johnston in am and he put two new Goodyear tyres on and overhauled car.
Went to fetch it after work and had to wait late for it.
Stayed and worked through lunch hour.
Got a new Union Castle Sports Club badge in pm (13/6)
Saturday July 29th
Got up at 1am and Pixie, Betty, Paul and I left for Johannesburg by car at 1.27am.
Had breakfast near Prince Albert Road at 7am.
Had a sleep outside Bloemhof at 11pm because we were too early.
Sunday July 30th
Had a sleep on Potch/Jbg road from about 5 to 6am and then carried on arriving K'dorp at 7am where Paul and I had a bath at Varley's Hotel.
Arrived at Donovan's farm at about 8.15am.
Went into town by car and spent day with Edwardses.
Went for a drive around suburbs and Roddy and I went rowing on Zoo Lake.
Paul and I went over to Aunt Millie's and slept the night there.
Monday July 31st
Paul; and I went over to Donovan's in am and he and Pixie went to K'dorp and then J'bg to see Dudley Maynard etc.
We all went to Mam's funeral at 3pm from Mortons.
Pall bearers Uncle Tim, Uncle Bobbie, Raymond, Owen Dorian.
Uncle Tim and Auntie Millie came to tea at Donovans and then took Paul and I over for night.
Uncle Tim showed Paul and I over Reduction Works at West Rand and also Sports Club.
Tuesday August 1st
Left Ransoms at 9.20am for Cape Town.
Said goodbye to Owen at Rftn.
Took over at 6pm and drove through night.
Had our left hand front windscreen shattered by a stone thrown up by a passing car 15 miles this side of Wolmaransstad at 1.45pm.
Lost a hubcap near Britstown.
Wednesday August 2nd
Handed over at Matjiesfontein at 6am.
Arrived Cape Town 11.20am and went to Fairmead where we dropped Paul and brought bedding over.
Thursday August 3rd
Stayed and worked through lunch hour.
Went to see Aunie Winnie after work about flat.
Pixie Betty, Paul and I went to RNVR Base in evening and I got all my uniform except 1 pr boots.
Pixie, Betty and I then went to "Fairmead" in evening and picked Paul up on way back.
Friday August 4th
Stayed and worked through lunch hour.
Went to see Stanley Porter about window on way home.
Saturday August 5th
Hamilton and I tried on RNVR uniforms in pm and had photo taken.
Lent him a suit.
We all took Aunt Julia home by car at 8pm.
Sunday August 6th
We all went to Communion at 8am.
We all went over to "Fairmead" for pm dinner and evening.
Pixie and Paul went up and fetched Kitty and Rex 17/6.
Tuesday August 8th
Stayed and worked through lunch hour.
Went to RNVR Base for 1st Parade in uniform,
Changed cap and also got pair of heavy boots.
Sunday August 20th
Pixie and Betty dropped me at RNVR Base and I did some .22 shooting 89%.
Finished at 3.30 and went to Forum too see James Cagney and Margaret Lindsay in "Frisco Kid"
We all went to Auntie Winnie's for evening.
Pixie went to Church in am.Cleaned car in am.
We all went down and visited the Saby's at "Craae", Fish Hoek in pm.
Went and had dinner and spent evening at "Fairmead".
Saw decorations in town on way home.
Tuesday 29th August
Bought lunch and walked around town at lunch time.
Went down by car in am and gave Phil and Joyce a lift.
Took car to Plate Glass and Bevelling Co and had left windscreen put in (30/-)
Went to RNVR in eveing and learnt how to sling a hammock.
Wednesday August 30th
Came home to lunch.
Went and paid Stanley Porter 6 pounds after work.
Played table tennis after work. Beat Marshall.
We all went and dropped Miss Sicker by car in town in evening.
Picked up Paul. Fetched packing cases from his office.
Betty and I went to see "Love Affair" at Colosseum (Irene Dunne and Charles Boyer)
Friday September 1st
Bought lunch and walked around town at lunch hour.
Kriel moved rest of furniture in to flat in am.
Pixie got day off.
Came home to new flat.
Germany invaded Poland in am.
Sunday September 3rd
BRITAIN DECLARED WAR AGAINST GERMANY AT 1PM (SA TIME)
Went to Communion service at 8am.
Fixed up my room in am.
Marked my uniform in pm.
Pixie Betty and I went for a drive round Sea Point, Kloof Nek, top to Signal Hill in pm.
Tuesday September 5th
Went down to RNVR Base at 9am with Hogg and thence to docks, where we boarded Minesweeping gear on "Africana" and "Disa".
Hogg had to go on sentry duty.
Finished at about 6pm.
Went to parade in evening and staerted learning semaphore.
Hertzog resigns. Smuts new Prime Minister.
Monday October 2nd
PAUL AND PIXIE'S WEDDING DAY
Went to Newland etc and fetched Miss Malard, Aunt Theresa, Aunt Joyce, Peggy and Mrs Grant (Cake)
Went to Church with Pixie in Miss Carnegie's La Salle.
Was the one to give Pixie away at wedding.
Everyone came here for tea afterwards.
Pixie and Paul left for honeymoon by car about 12.30pm.
Hamilton and I went to Plaza in pm to see "Andy Hardy Gets Spring Fever" (Mickey Rooney, Lewis Stone, Cecilia Parker, Fay Holden, Ann Rutherford)
Miss Duffet, Betty, John and I went to Colliseum in evening to see "The Sun Never Sets" (Basil Rathbone,Doug Fairbanks Jnr)
People who came to tea after wedding: Aunt Theresa, Aunt Joyce, Aunt Ethel, Peggy, John, Philippa, Marjorie, William, Ulick, Don, Dorothy, Aunt Julia, Miss Malard, Mrs Grant, Leslie, Hamilton, Auntie Winnie, Uncle Arthur,, Mr and Mrs Wiegel.
Thursday October 5th
Pixie and Paul arrived back in pm from Mossel Bay etc.
Went To RNVR Parade in evening and did flashing.
Friday October 6th
Came home to lunch.
Pixie and Paul went down to see about buying a car in pm.
Paul cleaned car in am.
Fixed up electric clocks in evening.
96% for general signalling test.
Friday October 13th
Came home to lunch and Paul and I went down to Docks to see Shropshire.
Paul got 1936 Austin 10 from Stanley Porter for (in code 90 pounds). 15,000 miles.
Pixie, Betty, Paul and I went to Colosseum to see "Dodge Sity" in evening (Errol Flynn, Olivia de Havilland, Ann Sheridan)
General signalling test 96 1/5%
Sunday November 5th
MY BIRTHDAY
Pixie took me up to Kloof Nek by car and I walked along to PWSS at 8am.
Regualr watches all day.
Thursday November 30th
Laid up in port all day for repairs.
Fixed up dodger.
Came into town at about 3pm with L/S Horn (1/-) who dropped me at Woodstock.
Betty and I went in Paul's car to Colosseum to see "Batchelor Mother" in evening (Ginger Rogers, David Niven)
Pixie wrote first aid exam.
Paul took some things over to "Fairmead" in evening.
Russian troops invaded Finland.
Thursday December 14th
Went out for DEMS ... test. (Can't read - maybe gunlaying? guhlaying?)
Zwartberg towing ship.
We fired 91 rounds in 70 minutes.
Pixie Paul and I went to see a house in Grotto Road at 7pm and then went to Parow to see landlord after supper.
Betty went to Canteen in evening.
Naval action off S America between Graf Spee (German Ship) and Achilles, Ajax and Exeter.
Damaged and went to Montevideo.
Thursday December 21st
Cooke and I came up by car at noon.
Went into town by car with Pixie, Peggy and Phoebe in pm.
Dropped me and I called in office and got 2 pound advance.
Went to Colosseum afterwards to see "The Four Just Men" (Hugh Sinclair, Griffith Jones, Francis L Sullivan, Frank Lawton, Anna Lee.)
Changed wheel and took Barrie's car to his house in evening.
Commander of Graf Spee shot himself.
Monday December 25th
CHRISTMAS DAY
Pixie and Betty went to Church in am sand also picked up Aunt Julia.
Went and had tea at Barrie's and then we went down to Simonstown at 11am.
Spent afternoon on board.
Mace was drunk.
Went over to Canteen in evening.
Friday December 29th
Went down with Walter at 6am.
Went out sweeping with Bluff at 8am and came back about 3.30pm.
Paul came out with us.
Moored to buoy in bay for night.
Moved into new house "Glencot" Grotto Road, Rondebosch.
Our car's differential went wrong.
When I think of my seventeen year old father losing his mother I feel shocked.
When I see no record whatever of how he felt I feel very sad.
When I think of him preparing for war I feel appalled.
When I see how he and his sisters stuck together I am grateful.
When I am reminded over and over of the extended family network I am touched.
When I realise Dad never talked about his challenges and hardships I am respectful.
When I read of the solidness of his young life I feel indebted to him and those who went before him - I have a steadfast foundation on which to build my life.
I feel strengthened in my determination to bless my family by "going and doing likewise."
Showing posts with label Kenneth Oldham Powrie. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Kenneth Oldham Powrie. Show all posts
Sunday, November 22, 2009
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Diary 1938 - He aged 16/17
This is the year he started work full time - First at Commercial Union Assce Co., and then Union Castle Mail SS Co.
The family moved to another home in Tamboers Kloof during this year.
In the beginning of the diary there is a list of dates and how far he drove with a running total of miles driven to date.
This diary has rubber stamped on each date WEATHER, VISITORS, POST (sent and received), SHIPS IN, SHIPS OUT.
Details for every day. All entries neatly written with a fined nibbed, blue inked fountain pen.
In each diary there is a selection of his signatures - I remember "trying out" my signature 'till I found the one that felt right and then it stayed fairly constant. His handwriting also is sometimes straight up and sometimes slanted. I only ever knew his handwriting to be slanted - this earlier handwriting is interesting to see.
On some of the days next to the date, with no pattern that makes sense to me, is a little circle with a dot in the middle of it. eg: January - Sat 1st, Monday 3rd, Friday 7th, Sunday 9th, Wednesday 12th, Friday 14th, Sunday 16th, Tuesday 18th, Thursday 20th, Sunday 23rd, Tuesday 25th, Thursday 27th, Sunday 30th. If anyone has any idea... please let me know?
At the end of the diary is a dated list of Books read, Bioscopes seen and Ping-Pong played, including scores. A more detailed list of income and expenditures in this diary than before.
Here are some of the entries (apart from the Weather, Visitors, Post Ships in and Ships out:
Tuesday 4th January
Wrote application to Commercial Union Assurance Company in evening.
Thursday 6th January
Went down to Commercial Union Assce Co in pm and saw Mr Boddy and Mr Arnold and was told to start on Monday 10th.
Friday 7th January
Paid rent and got my learners licence in am.
Fred, Mam and I went for a drive round Fish Hoek and Chapman's Peak in pm. Drove 42 miles. Called in at "Fairmead" on way.
Sunday 9th January
First Cape Argus comic coloured section.
Heard about comet on October 30th 1937 that nearly hit us.
Made shelf for car in am and put it in.
The Aldunes went for picnic to Stellenbosch with German sailors and v. Rynevelds.
We all went to the dock in pm and had dinner at Moullie Point.
Monday 10th January
STARTED WORK AT THE COMMERCIAL UNION ASSCE CO LTD.
Monday 17th January
Senior Certificate results in Cape Times. Saw that I passed 1st class.
Eric was supposed to come in Winchester.
Helped Mr Woodhead all day at work.
Tuesday 18th January
Mr Boddy away looking at wrecked houseboat on Palmiet River all day. Helped Mr Woodhead.
Wednesday 19th January
Helped Mr Woodhead all afternoon.
Mr Evans came and congratulated me in am.
Made board for ships etc. in evening.
Monday 24th January
Ma and I met Eric in Dunnotar Castle from Coast at 8am and brought him up.
Got this diary at Galvin and Sales in pm for 3/-
Eric went down town in pm and came home with me 5:30.
Mickey went to first Tech class in evening.
The family, Eric and Paul went to Muizenberg beach in evening and came back via de Waal drive.
Took night photo of town.
Drove 24 miles.
Tuesday 8th February
Got a new spool. 1/9
Made desk light in evening.
Probation officer phoned in am.
Constantia fire burnt down to Hout Bay and Dr Schaiff's house burnt.
Thursday 24th February
Union Castle Company phoned about job in am and I went in pm and am to start on April 1st. Talked to Mr Boddy about it.
Changed my room around in pm.
Pixie took Aunt Joyce down to post a letter in evening.
Got paid today. (His pay is in code - I can't work out the amount.)
Wednesday March 2nd
Mr Woodhead was away for his holiday.
Helped Mr Griffiths all day.
Pixie got me soap (in code 1/6d)
Fixed up my ships timing apparatus very accurately.
Ma and Aunt Joyce went to see "No Limit" at Alhambra in evening.
Pawnbroker was shot in town at noon - Long St.
Saturday March 5th
MY SATURDAY OFF
Went down town in am and Ma got wool and I met Pixie and went to be tested for my driving licence (Passed) went back to Paul's office brought electric train home. Played with it in evening.
Thursday March 10th
Started learning shorthand in evening.
Caught the 5:5pm bus in pm.
Row in the house (Quiet) (in code AJ)
Pawnbroker murderer caught.
Sunday March 13th
Took photos of train in am and played with it most of the day.
Paul and I walked down to cafe for cigs. and then Ma, Betty, Aunt Joyce and I went for walk along Ocean View Drive.
Row with His Lordship.
Monday March 21st
New driver and conductor on Springbok bus.
Apples arrived for Mickey.
First whalers from Antartica in.
Saturday March 26th
Paul came back from Port Elizabeth in pm.
Rigged up the train in my room in pm.
Sunday March 27th
Played with the train quite a lot.
Cleaned the car in am.
The family and Paul went to the docks in pm and then to "Fairmead" and dropped him.
Drove 19 miles.
Ma and I walked down to cafe in evening.
Thursday March 31st
Aunt Joyce moved out of our room in am to Aunt Ethel's.
Finished up at the Commercial Union and got testimonial from Mr Evans.
Friday April 1st
SE Gale all day.
STARTED WORK AT THE UNION CASTLE MAIL SS Co.
Paul came to supper and then he and Pixie went to see "The Perfect Specimen" in evening. Paul slept night.
Monday April 4th
Betty hired "royal" typewriter from work and Ma and I drove down in pm and fetched it.
She also got ink and inked my pad.
Practiced typing in evening.
Tuesday April 26th
Got paid today (in code 9 pounds 7/-)
Thursday April 28th
Did a lot of typing.
Pixie and Ma went to see Colin off for Pietermaritzburg at 9pm.
Tuesday 17th May
(in code - Bad luck all afternoon)
Friday May 27th
Got paid today and cashed my cheque (in code 9 pounds 7/-)
Tried to get Nautical magazine ticket books.
Saturday May 28th
Carved bows of model ship in pm.
Betty worked all pm.
Friday June 24th
Polliack's man came in am.
Pilot man came in pm and left wireless for us to try.
Pixie got me some new soap.
Got a book out of library at work.
Monday June 27th
They took away the HMV away in pm.
Worked late on commissions in evening and had dinner at work.
Got paid (in code 9 pounds 3/6)
Tuesday July 12th
Hamilton went up the mountain in am.
Ma went to see Hamilton off on Dunnotar (ship) in pm.
Listened to 26th and last episode of The Three Musketeers on wireless in evening.
Thursday July 14th
Stayed to lunch at work and played table tennis. Beat Campbell. Earp beat me.
Ma went to Mrs Bells in pm.
Listened to broadcast from America of round-the-world flyers 2.37pm = 8.37pm NY.
Hughes 3 3/4 days around world.
Wednesday July 27th
"Dominican Monarch" launched in pm
Got paid today (in code 8 pounds 19/6)
Thursday July 28th
Stayed to lunch at work and played table tennis. Beat Leslie 2. Lost to C Smith 2.
Played Mr Bailey after work and won 21 - 18 (8)
Lost to Hunter and Haupt (1) Beat Haupt, Rowan and Stock.
Ma finished my grey pair of socks.
Saturday July 30th
Bought a bottle of Watermans Royal Blue Ink 6d.
Pixie and Paul went to see "The Three Comerades" at the Plaza in evening.
Ma and Betty went house hunting down Green Point way.
Betty and I fetched coal etc at Fish's in pm.
Monday August 8th
Stayed to lunch at work and weighed out tea.
Saw Voortrekker business.
Played a set of table tennis after work and lost to Rowan.
Heard that I have to go to Confirmation on Tuesdays at 8pm.
Tuesday August 9th
Went to first confirmation class at St Albans in evening. Ma and Betty walked down with me.
(Every Tuesday after that for a long while he went to confirmation)
Drove the car down to Stevens before work and fetched it in pm. He drove me there and back.
Monday August 29th
Stayed and had lunch at work.
Ma went and fetched Aunt Julia after the Aunt's had moved out.
Listened to Murdo MacDonald in evening and he mentioned Uncle Walter as being the first South African to command a Mail liner.
Thursday September 1st
Stayed and played Table Tennis with Impey at lunch time. Beat him 9 out of 10.
Had a hair cut after work.
Ma and Betty and I went and looked at house on Main Rd after supper.
Pixie and I went to see Errol Flynn and Olivia de Haviland in "The Adventures of Robin Hood" at the Colosseum in evening by car.
Heard that we are starting at 8:30 and finishing at 4:30 as from Oct 1st.
Friday September 9th
Stayed and had lunch at work.
JH Hofmeyer resifned from Parliament (Fourie)
Saturday August 10th
Britian issued ultimatum to Germany.
Paul got new coat etc.
Britian 21 South Africa 16. Rugby.Friday September 16th
Friday September 16th
Came home to lunch.
Auntie went out in pm.
Blew the fuse with the toaster.
Pixie and Paul went to see "Lord Jeff" at Plaza in evening.
Shorthand 11wpm
Typing 16 wpm
Friday September 23rd
DADDY'S BIRTHDAY
Stayed and had lunch at work.
Stayed and played ping-pong after work. Beat Rowan 2. Lost to Rowan 2, Haupt 2.
Don came in evening and we played ping-pong.
Ma and Pixie went to see house in Tamboers Kloof in evening.
Saturday September 24th
Ma and Pixie went to Lily's in pm
Pixie and Betty went with Paul by car to Philippa's (my mother) 21st birthday pary at Dorothy's Studio.
Monday September 26th
AUNT ETHEL'S BIRTHDAY (his aunt, my mother's mother)
Stayed and had lunch at work.
Pixie had holiday.
Ma went to Aunt Ethel's (her sister) birthday and saw house into which we are moving on Saturday.
Ma Pixie and Paul went to Kowolsky's party in evening.
Hitler spoke in evening.
Saturday October 1st
Packed everything up and Betty, Pixie and I came over to new house and Pixie went back.
L Kriel moved us over to 35 Carstens Street and finished about 9pm.
Tuesday October 4th
Had a hair cut at lunch time.
Saw Bezarius.
Got out at 4:30 and went to cricket meeting at 4:45
Did not have to go to Confirmation and listened to "The Saint"
Rex was lost and Pixie and I went to look for him and found him at "Landford Lawn" with Robbs.
Saturday October 8th
Mr Coke left on Arundel for his holiday.
Philippa, Betty and I went to see "The Mercury" (flying boat) in the new basin at 5pm.
Betty did jig-saw puzzle in evening.
Monday October 17th
WILLIAM'S WEDDING DAY (my mother's sister Marjorie, my father's cousin, was William's bride)
Ma Pixie and Betty went to Bronta for Marjorie's wedding reception at 11am.
Stayed at work and had lunch at work.
Wrote for missing vouchers.
Tuesday October 18th
Bought lunch and wwalked around town.
Hogg came and helped all day.
Went to confirmation class in evening.
Saw first new trolley bus.
Tuesday November 1st
Came home to lunch
Aunt Ethel and family moved out of Bronta to Blamey by Kriel.
Went to confirmation class in evening.
Saturday November 5th
MY BIRTHDAY (17th)
Wore my new suit for first time.
Hamilton and I went by car to cricket and he went and had a swim.
Scored 0. Took 2 for 5. UC 2nd 129 Jaggers 34 won by 134 runs.
Played table tennis in evening.
Hamilton gave me mouth organ. Aunt Julia gave me 5/-
Friday November 25th
Stayed and had lunch at work.
Went and got my cricket boots at Jaggers in pm and took them to Oaksoles for hob nails to be put in.
Hamilton went out in evening.
Sunday December 11th
Ham, Paul and I played cricket in am.
Had shooting competition.
We all went for swim at Strandfontein and dropped Paul on way home.
The Thorlunds arrived at 6pm from Johannesburg.
Went to Church in evening and was confirmed by Bishop Lavis. The family, Thorlunds, and Ham came to service. We all went for drive to Camps Bay, Kloof Nek etc afterwards.
Sunday December 25th
Presents: Shaving set (family) Scarf (Ham) Wallet (Eric) Handkerchiefs (Aunt Julia and Joan) Pitman's Journal (Mrs Thorlund.)
Joan and I went in their car to play at Jewish wedding at Alphen in pm.
Mrs Thorlund, Joan and I went for drive in their car to Constantia Nek, Hout Bay, Marine Drive and picked up Hamilton at Sea Point at 6pm. Drove 30 miles.
Played cricket in pm and Paul nearly broke window.
Pixie felt sick in pm and evening.
Ma Betty, Mrs T and I went for drive to Sea Point in evening.
At the end of the entry of Saturday December 31st...
THE END. underlined.
Best Shows 1938
Test Pilot
A Slight Case of Murder
A Yank at Oxford
One Hundred Men and a Girl
Three Loves his Nancy
Too Hot to Handle
The Adventures of Robin Hood
26 movies seen in 1938
Best Books Read in 1938
The Freak of St Freda's
The Man in the Stone House
The Double
28 books read in 1938
The end of the first year of his working life of many years.
The family moved to another home in Tamboers Kloof during this year.
In the beginning of the diary there is a list of dates and how far he drove with a running total of miles driven to date.
This diary has rubber stamped on each date WEATHER, VISITORS, POST (sent and received), SHIPS IN, SHIPS OUT.
Details for every day. All entries neatly written with a fined nibbed, blue inked fountain pen.
In each diary there is a selection of his signatures - I remember "trying out" my signature 'till I found the one that felt right and then it stayed fairly constant. His handwriting also is sometimes straight up and sometimes slanted. I only ever knew his handwriting to be slanted - this earlier handwriting is interesting to see.
On some of the days next to the date, with no pattern that makes sense to me, is a little circle with a dot in the middle of it. eg: January - Sat 1st, Monday 3rd, Friday 7th, Sunday 9th, Wednesday 12th, Friday 14th, Sunday 16th, Tuesday 18th, Thursday 20th, Sunday 23rd, Tuesday 25th, Thursday 27th, Sunday 30th. If anyone has any idea... please let me know?
At the end of the diary is a dated list of Books read, Bioscopes seen and Ping-Pong played, including scores. A more detailed list of income and expenditures in this diary than before.
Here are some of the entries (apart from the Weather, Visitors, Post Ships in and Ships out:
Tuesday 4th January
Wrote application to Commercial Union Assurance Company in evening.
Thursday 6th January
Went down to Commercial Union Assce Co in pm and saw Mr Boddy and Mr Arnold and was told to start on Monday 10th.
Friday 7th January
Paid rent and got my learners licence in am.
Fred, Mam and I went for a drive round Fish Hoek and Chapman's Peak in pm. Drove 42 miles. Called in at "Fairmead" on way.
Sunday 9th January
First Cape Argus comic coloured section.
Heard about comet on October 30th 1937 that nearly hit us.
Made shelf for car in am and put it in.
The Aldunes went for picnic to Stellenbosch with German sailors and v. Rynevelds.
We all went to the dock in pm and had dinner at Moullie Point.
Monday 10th January
STARTED WORK AT THE COMMERCIAL UNION ASSCE CO LTD.
Monday 17th January
Senior Certificate results in Cape Times. Saw that I passed 1st class.
Eric was supposed to come in Winchester.
Helped Mr Woodhead all day at work.
Tuesday 18th January
Mr Boddy away looking at wrecked houseboat on Palmiet River all day. Helped Mr Woodhead.
Wednesday 19th January
Helped Mr Woodhead all afternoon.
Mr Evans came and congratulated me in am.
Made board for ships etc. in evening.
Monday 24th January
Ma and I met Eric in Dunnotar Castle from Coast at 8am and brought him up.
Got this diary at Galvin and Sales in pm for 3/-
Eric went down town in pm and came home with me 5:30.
Mickey went to first Tech class in evening.
The family, Eric and Paul went to Muizenberg beach in evening and came back via de Waal drive.
Took night photo of town.
Drove 24 miles.
Tuesday 8th February
Got a new spool. 1/9
Made desk light in evening.
Probation officer phoned in am.
Constantia fire burnt down to Hout Bay and Dr Schaiff's house burnt.
Thursday 24th February
Union Castle Company phoned about job in am and I went in pm and am to start on April 1st. Talked to Mr Boddy about it.
Changed my room around in pm.
Pixie took Aunt Joyce down to post a letter in evening.
Got paid today. (His pay is in code - I can't work out the amount.)
Wednesday March 2nd
Mr Woodhead was away for his holiday.
Helped Mr Griffiths all day.
Pixie got me soap (in code 1/6d)
Fixed up my ships timing apparatus very accurately.
Ma and Aunt Joyce went to see "No Limit" at Alhambra in evening.
Pawnbroker was shot in town at noon - Long St.
Saturday March 5th
MY SATURDAY OFF
Went down town in am and Ma got wool and I met Pixie and went to be tested for my driving licence (Passed) went back to Paul's office brought electric train home. Played with it in evening.
Thursday March 10th
Started learning shorthand in evening.
Caught the 5:5pm bus in pm.
Row in the house (Quiet) (in code AJ)
Pawnbroker murderer caught.
Sunday March 13th
Took photos of train in am and played with it most of the day.
Paul and I walked down to cafe for cigs. and then Ma, Betty, Aunt Joyce and I went for walk along Ocean View Drive.
Row with His Lordship.
Monday March 21st
New driver and conductor on Springbok bus.
Apples arrived for Mickey.
First whalers from Antartica in.
Saturday March 26th
Paul came back from Port Elizabeth in pm.
Rigged up the train in my room in pm.
Sunday March 27th
Played with the train quite a lot.
Cleaned the car in am.
The family and Paul went to the docks in pm and then to "Fairmead" and dropped him.
Drove 19 miles.
Ma and I walked down to cafe in evening.
Thursday March 31st
Aunt Joyce moved out of our room in am to Aunt Ethel's.
Finished up at the Commercial Union and got testimonial from Mr Evans.
Friday April 1st
SE Gale all day.
STARTED WORK AT THE UNION CASTLE MAIL SS Co.
Paul came to supper and then he and Pixie went to see "The Perfect Specimen" in evening. Paul slept night.
Monday April 4th
Betty hired "royal" typewriter from work and Ma and I drove down in pm and fetched it.
She also got ink and inked my pad.
Practiced typing in evening.
Tuesday April 26th
Got paid today (in code 9 pounds 7/-)
Thursday April 28th
Did a lot of typing.
Pixie and Ma went to see Colin off for Pietermaritzburg at 9pm.
Tuesday 17th May
(in code - Bad luck all afternoon)
Friday May 27th
Got paid today and cashed my cheque (in code 9 pounds 7/-)
Tried to get Nautical magazine ticket books.
Saturday May 28th
Carved bows of model ship in pm.
Betty worked all pm.
Friday June 24th
Polliack's man came in am.
Pilot man came in pm and left wireless for us to try.
Pixie got me some new soap.
Got a book out of library at work.
Monday June 27th
They took away the HMV away in pm.
Worked late on commissions in evening and had dinner at work.
Got paid (in code 9 pounds 3/6)
Tuesday July 12th
Hamilton went up the mountain in am.
Ma went to see Hamilton off on Dunnotar (ship) in pm.
Listened to 26th and last episode of The Three Musketeers on wireless in evening.
Thursday July 14th
Stayed to lunch at work and played table tennis. Beat Campbell. Earp beat me.
Ma went to Mrs Bells in pm.
Listened to broadcast from America of round-the-world flyers 2.37pm = 8.37pm NY.
Hughes 3 3/4 days around world.
Wednesday July 27th
"Dominican Monarch" launched in pm
Got paid today (in code 8 pounds 19/6)
Thursday July 28th
Stayed to lunch at work and played table tennis. Beat Leslie 2. Lost to C Smith 2.
Played Mr Bailey after work and won 21 - 18 (8)
Lost to Hunter and Haupt (1) Beat Haupt, Rowan and Stock.
Ma finished my grey pair of socks.
Saturday July 30th
Bought a bottle of Watermans Royal Blue Ink 6d.
Pixie and Paul went to see "The Three Comerades" at the Plaza in evening.
Ma and Betty went house hunting down Green Point way.
Betty and I fetched coal etc at Fish's in pm.
Monday August 8th
Stayed to lunch at work and weighed out tea.
Saw Voortrekker business.
Played a set of table tennis after work and lost to Rowan.
Heard that I have to go to Confirmation on Tuesdays at 8pm.
Tuesday August 9th
Went to first confirmation class at St Albans in evening. Ma and Betty walked down with me.
(Every Tuesday after that for a long while he went to confirmation)
Drove the car down to Stevens before work and fetched it in pm. He drove me there and back.
Monday August 29th
Stayed and had lunch at work.
Ma went and fetched Aunt Julia after the Aunt's had moved out.
Listened to Murdo MacDonald in evening and he mentioned Uncle Walter as being the first South African to command a Mail liner.
Thursday September 1st
Stayed and played Table Tennis with Impey at lunch time. Beat him 9 out of 10.
Had a hair cut after work.
Ma and Betty and I went and looked at house on Main Rd after supper.
Pixie and I went to see Errol Flynn and Olivia de Haviland in "The Adventures of Robin Hood" at the Colosseum in evening by car.
Heard that we are starting at 8:30 and finishing at 4:30 as from Oct 1st.
Friday September 9th
Stayed and had lunch at work.
JH Hofmeyer resifned from Parliament (Fourie)
Saturday August 10th
Britian issued ultimatum to Germany.
Paul got new coat etc.
Britian 21 South Africa 16. Rugby.Friday September 16th
Friday September 16th
Came home to lunch.
Auntie went out in pm.
Blew the fuse with the toaster.
Pixie and Paul went to see "Lord Jeff" at Plaza in evening.
Shorthand 11wpm
Typing 16 wpm
Friday September 23rd
DADDY'S BIRTHDAY
Stayed and had lunch at work.
Stayed and played ping-pong after work. Beat Rowan 2. Lost to Rowan 2, Haupt 2.
Don came in evening and we played ping-pong.
Ma and Pixie went to see house in Tamboers Kloof in evening.
Saturday September 24th
Ma and Pixie went to Lily's in pm
Pixie and Betty went with Paul by car to Philippa's (my mother) 21st birthday pary at Dorothy's Studio.
Monday September 26th
AUNT ETHEL'S BIRTHDAY (his aunt, my mother's mother)
Stayed and had lunch at work.
Pixie had holiday.
Ma went to Aunt Ethel's (her sister) birthday and saw house into which we are moving on Saturday.
Ma Pixie and Paul went to Kowolsky's party in evening.
Hitler spoke in evening.
Saturday October 1st
Packed everything up and Betty, Pixie and I came over to new house and Pixie went back.
L Kriel moved us over to 35 Carstens Street and finished about 9pm.
Tuesday October 4th
Had a hair cut at lunch time.
Saw Bezarius.
Got out at 4:30 and went to cricket meeting at 4:45
Did not have to go to Confirmation and listened to "The Saint"
Rex was lost and Pixie and I went to look for him and found him at "Landford Lawn" with Robbs.
Saturday October 8th
Mr Coke left on Arundel for his holiday.
Philippa, Betty and I went to see "The Mercury" (flying boat) in the new basin at 5pm.
Betty did jig-saw puzzle in evening.
Monday October 17th
WILLIAM'S WEDDING DAY (my mother's sister Marjorie, my father's cousin, was William's bride)
Ma Pixie and Betty went to Bronta for Marjorie's wedding reception at 11am.
Stayed at work and had lunch at work.
Wrote for missing vouchers.
Tuesday October 18th
Bought lunch and wwalked around town.
Hogg came and helped all day.
Went to confirmation class in evening.
Saw first new trolley bus.
Tuesday November 1st
Came home to lunch
Aunt Ethel and family moved out of Bronta to Blamey by Kriel.
Went to confirmation class in evening.
Saturday November 5th
MY BIRTHDAY (17th)
Wore my new suit for first time.
Hamilton and I went by car to cricket and he went and had a swim.
Scored 0. Took 2 for 5. UC 2nd 129 Jaggers 34 won by 134 runs.
Played table tennis in evening.
Hamilton gave me mouth organ. Aunt Julia gave me 5/-
Friday November 25th
Stayed and had lunch at work.
Went and got my cricket boots at Jaggers in pm and took them to Oaksoles for hob nails to be put in.
Hamilton went out in evening.
Sunday December 11th
Ham, Paul and I played cricket in am.
Had shooting competition.
We all went for swim at Strandfontein and dropped Paul on way home.
The Thorlunds arrived at 6pm from Johannesburg.
Went to Church in evening and was confirmed by Bishop Lavis. The family, Thorlunds, and Ham came to service. We all went for drive to Camps Bay, Kloof Nek etc afterwards.
Sunday December 25th
Presents: Shaving set (family) Scarf (Ham) Wallet (Eric) Handkerchiefs (Aunt Julia and Joan) Pitman's Journal (Mrs Thorlund.)
Joan and I went in their car to play at Jewish wedding at Alphen in pm.
Mrs Thorlund, Joan and I went for drive in their car to Constantia Nek, Hout Bay, Marine Drive and picked up Hamilton at Sea Point at 6pm. Drove 30 miles.
Played cricket in pm and Paul nearly broke window.
Pixie felt sick in pm and evening.
Ma Betty, Mrs T and I went for drive to Sea Point in evening.
At the end of the entry of Saturday December 31st...
THE END. underlined.
Best Shows 1938
Test Pilot
A Slight Case of Murder
A Yank at Oxford
One Hundred Men and a Girl
Three Loves his Nancy
Too Hot to Handle
The Adventures of Robin Hood
26 movies seen in 1938
Best Books Read in 1938
The Freak of St Freda's
The Man in the Stone House
The Double
28 books read in 1938
The end of the first year of his working life of many years.
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Kenneth Oldham Powrie
I found an old leather bound photo album.
Perhaps the pictures will be of use to a mining house?
Not one of the people in the pictures did I recognise. There were names of places and mines, but not of the people in the pictures. Now why might Dad have kept this photo album?
I looked at the old, damaged album more carefully. As I opened the first page more carefully I discovered my grandfather's signature - my Dad's father. I was thrilled!
Now I know why my Dad kept the album. I still do not know who any of the people in the photographs are...
Perhaps the pictures will be of use to a mining house?
Or to Kimberley Historical society?
Any ideas?
Friday, December 26, 2008
Ken's Autobiographical Sketch in 1969
C. KENNETH POWRIE
Krugersdorp Branch:
Born 5 November 1921 in Lydenburg, Transvaal.
Married to Philippa Dymond on 4 September, 1943 in Green Point, Cape Town
Children: Judy, Timothy, Jane, Leslie and Ronald
Father: Kenneth Oldham Powrie
Mother: Winifred Enid Dryden
I was interested to note that I was born at the very time when President David O. McKay and Elder Hugh J. Cannon were at Haifa, Palestine during the course of a world tour of Latter Day Saint outposts of the restored Kingdom. The scene of my birth was somewhat different, however, being Jock of the Bushveld country, namely Lydenburg.
My father was a pioneering mining engineer of Scottish/Irish stock who had grown up in the Cape area and qualified at the University of Cape Town or, as it was known in those days, the South African College School. My mother was a daughter of a seafaring family of English origin. She was born in Mossel Bay. Later she moved to the Reef area where she was a nurse in the Krugersdorp Hospital. My father was a second generation South African and my mother of the first generation to be born in this land of adoption - 1820 settler pioneering stock teaming up with seafarers who had made their home in the coastal area of the Eastern Cape frontier. Two elder sisters, Kathleen Enid (Pixie) and Jessie Elizabeth (Betty) and I comprised the posterity of these good people. My recollections of early family life were happy and stable - my parents loved one another and whilst not given to demonstrativeness (in fact regarding this as something reserved for moments of privacy) exhibited a deep affection. This left me with an impression of respect and esteem for the marriage covenant.
I never knew my father very well for he died at the relatively young age of forty-nine years when I was but eleven years of age, but his kindliness and paternal concern contributed to my feeling of having had a happy and contented childhood. He was something of a rugby enthusiast and the father and son activities which I remember best were those as spectators at rugby matches. I remember one particularly well, that was when the Australian Wallaby team played in Johannesburg during the course of a tour which I imagine was about 1932 or 1933 (the latter was the year my father died).
My mother's influence upon my life was marked indeed and I feel that I owe much to her for having bequeathed to me a simple faith and belief in a Father in Heaven, thus laying a firm foundation upon which I was able to build in later years, a firm and steadfast testimony of the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. In short, she, without realizing it, followed an admonition of latter day scripture in having “taught me to pray and walk uprightly before the Lord.” She prayed with me before retiring each night and instilled into my mind the basic virtues of honesty, truthfulness, chastity and benevolence which have lived with me as a blessing throughout the years. I shall always remember her stressing the importance of gentlemanly behaviour and I had the privilege of learning from her the invaluable lessons of courtesy and etiquette which in turn had been so much a part of her life. My mother was a sea captain's daughter of determined and forthright character, typified by grandfather's having run away to sea at the age of fourteen in defiance of his father's wish that his son should be an engineer. The young boy's attitude was “I wanted to go sea and to sea I went. “
I was further blessed in that although my family was basically religious they followed no set dogmas, consequently I had not been indoctrinated with any false religious doctrines so that, when the truth was presented to me, there was no necessity to remove “old wine”, only to add to the small but sweet supply of good wine already there.
My earliest memory of this life centred around a childhood spent on the Village Deep Gold Mine in Johannesburg, where my father was employed as a Surveyor. We lived in a house about a mile as the crow flies south of the centre of Johannesburg, on a spot where the O.K. Bazaars Warehouse now stands, just east of Eloff Street Extension. Early memories involved a visit to the mine by the then Prince of Wales, the removal of eleven baby teeth on one occasion, visits to the early movies, one poignant memory of which comes to mind in relation to the futility of war in a scene from “All quiet on the Western Front”. I shall never forget the picture of the hand of a soldier in Flanders reaching out to touch a beautiful butterfly, then suddenly stiffening in death from a hidden sniper's bullet. I must have been seven or eight at the time and have often now as a parent considered the interesting insight into my own parents' outlook in their having taken me to see such a film at that tender age.
1929 is a year I well remember in that my father was granted long leave of about three months during which time the family squeezed into an old Whippet touring car, together with a tent, numerous kit bags, suitcases, pans, stoves and our pet dog, to embark on a tour of three thousand miles around the Union of South Africa. Travelling in those days was rugged indeed and numerous punctures, broken springs, attempts at digging the car out of the mud and sand, almost dying of thirst in the Karroo and so forth, will always be fixed in my memory. We lost our way on several occasions but I shall always remember the glorious impact of touring this great country of ours and learning of its heart and soul. At that speed in those circumstances we were able to see and do far more than in the Jet age when speed blinds us to the simple wonders of the earth. My mother spent many an hour searching for ferns and odd plants which found their way into the car and ultimately back to our home in the Transvaal.
In that same year our home was moved to Krugersdorp as my father was appointed Chief Surveyor of the Luipaardsvlei Estates Gold Mining Company. Four years later he died after but nineteen years of marriage. My eldest sister, Pixie, then Head Prefect of the Krugersdorp High School, immediately terminated her school career and thanks to her my other sister, Betty, and I were to enjoy the blessing of completing our school studies.
In 1937 we moved to Cape Town as a result of my sister, Pixie, having developed a serious sentimental attachment to her cousin, Paul Dymond. (They subsequently married in 1939.) I finished schooling there in 1937 at the South African College High School and then of necessity embarked on a clerical career to help sustain the family.
My mother died at a relatively young age in June, 1939 and thereafter we were left as three independent children, but this was not to last for long because upon the outbreak of war in September I enlisted in the Navy as a volunteer having served in a part time capacity in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve.
My war service extended from September, 1939 for a period of six years and 17 days until October, 1945. These were impressionable years from the age of eighteen to twenty-four and again the futility of war and its terrible wastefulness was impressed upon me in my service in the South Atlantic, Mediterranean and North Atlantic spheres with the British Navy, and the S.A. Navy.
In 1941 I was pitchforked into the fury and frustration of the Battles of Crete and Greece where the might of the German Armies was being manifested in the destruction and conquest of Greece. The invasion of Crete followed. It was at this time that I felt the hand of the Lord upon me and I leant with simple faith upon this arm. For example, during the invasion of Crete, I was serving in a small anti-submarine vessel which was mercilessly attacked by a large German Fighter which machine-gunned it to the extent that it become utterly unusable for its original purpose. During this encounter the aircraft finally destroyed itself by over-enthusiasm on the part of the pilot, when he flew so low that he carried away our most and at the same time crashed into the sea. This episode resulted in my receiving a slight shrapnel wound in the arm. I was placed in the hospitalization camp in Suda Bay, Crete, from where we were later evacuated by British destroyers to Alexandria, Egypt. Those of my shipmates who were not wounded were left on the island to fend for themselves. Later they were captured and spent the rest of the war in prisoner of war camp.
Later I served in the Eastern Mediterranean and spent considerable time in the siege of Tobruk and then in the Malta convoys. After two and a half years I returned home to enjoy the blessing of peace and safety in the land of my birth. I have often felt in the years gone by how wonderful it is after the turmoil of war to enjoy the stark contrast of peace and the warmth of a winter's hearth or the wonder of a sleeping child. These emphasize the beauty and sweetness of life in contrast to the destruction which man brings upon himself in the contentions which rage between nations and peoples.
Prior to my departure in 1941 my heart became strangely entwined with that of my cousin, Philippa Dymond, my mother's eldest sister's daughter. We carried on a cherished correspondence during my years in the Mediterranean and we were married in the Church of England, Green Point, Cape Town in 1943. The humble and unsettled home which we set up during those war years consisted mostly of one room here and there. However, this provided a foundation of sweetness which we savoured together, again sharply in contrast with the upset of war time service. This unsettled state continued to the time I was called upon in the latter part of 1944 to go to England as part of a commissioning crew for the first major South African War vessel, the frigate “Good Hope”. This vessel was commissioned in November, 1944 and we served in the North Atlantic and Western approaches of the United Kingdom until mid 1945 when victory in Europe was achieved. During this period, in April 1945, our first child, Judy, was born and I shall always remember the day of her birth when our vessel was anchored off the White Cliffs of Dover on a glorious spring day when the waters of the English Channel were glassy, calm and peaceful.
Following the end of the war in Europe I returned in July, 1945 and while our ship was being refitted in Cape Town preparatory to leaving for the Far East, we were able to enjoy family contact again. However there was the prospect of further upset in the near future. This changed very suddenly when the wonderful relief of peace came, paradoxically, through the terror of the atom bomb dropped on the two Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, in August, 1945. A few more months of service represented something of an anticlimax, and then finally, I was discharged in October, 1945, to attempt a readjustment to a strange domestic life, frighteningly secure, but with a new type of responsibility towards a young wife and infant daughter.
New horizons were there to conquer a year later in the form of an offer of a job by a former shipmate who asked me to move to Johannesburg to join the firm of Stanley Motors, Limited. This I accepted and in 1946 we moved to Krugersdorp and here we found happiness and joy in building a home and in rearing our two children. Timothy was born here in 1947.
This was a strange, quiet life which seemed to be the calm before the storm. Finally in May, 1950 the change came, quietly and determinedly, when two young Americans knocked on our door with the offer of a message of great importance. My wife, Philippa, as though moved by some unforeseen force, invited these young Elders from Utah and Idaho to come inside whilst the week's wash for a growing family became of secondary importance.
Mother led the way in this new intellectual exercise, whilst father tagged along in somewhat polite boredom, bred of past experiences which had resulted in such religious excursions. They had provided nothing more than a temporary distraction ending in on obscure wilderness. This time, however, it seemed different, as mother's arguments (given to her so strongly by her mother) appeared to be losing ground in the face of truth which was irrefutable. This resulted in talk of baptism and then why not both of us taking the step? On the 10th of September, 1950 we entered the waters of baptism at old Ramah to join what we now know to be the only true Church and Kingdom of God here upon the earth. We shall always remember with affection the four missionaries who spent time and effort in our conversion, Elders E. Mauary Payne, Parry D. Harrison, Farrell J. Roberts and Dean D. Baxter. Thus started the new life in a Church which, in its temporal appointments, showed very little sign of being the one and only Church of Jesus Christ, for we met in dingy halls and other humble surroundings in limited numbers and with very inadequate facilities. However, the true sweet spirit was there to guide us as we, like infants, crawled, then toddled, then stood upright and walked with our heads high yet humbled by the testimonies which we felt growing within our hearts.
The wisdom of the Lord in prompting growth and testimony through activity soon became manifest in my being called to one assignment after another - branch clerk, branch teacher, counsellor in the Krugersdorp Branch Presidency and then, after having been a member of the Church for just over seven years, the staggering and humbling call to serve as the Transvaal District President. This call in itself was one of the highlights of my life. The day was Transvaal District Conference, 13th April, 1958. We had returned home between sessions and, during that time, received a call from the District President, Brother I.C. Louw, requesting that we come in early. We duly arrived and were ushered into the presence of the Mission President Glen G. Fisher and President Louw, who dropped what I described in my diary as “the bombshell”. I had anticipated some call or another but certainly did not think of a position as the District President! Philippa and I looked at one another in astonishment, but the spirit whispered to us that we could do nothing but accept this high and wonderful calling. We appreciated the sobering honour and I well remember when I was set apart by President Fisher that he admonished me to recall the promise given to Nephi of old that the Lord would not call His servants to do anything save he would open the way for them to accomplish that which they had been commanded to do. This had the effect of helping me to recognize the promptings of the spirit in this calling and has been a blessing and a testimony. I have felt my inadequacy fall away in the face of the strength and guidance of the spirit which has helped me to do many things beyond myself and has indeed brought the treasures of Heaven into my life in this great servIce to the Lord.
The years have rolled by and our family has been increased in that three other precious souls have been brought to us namely, Jane in 1950, Leslie in 1954 and Ronald in 1959. These three children, sent to us during the course of membership in the Church, have all by strange coincidence been born on the 23rd of their respective months - an honour we felt indeed to be thus matched in some small way with our prophet Joseph Smith, born 23rd December.
The Church is our life. We have found the answers to every problem in this service and in this association with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Recently we celebrated our twenty-fifth anniversary of our wedding day, and Philippa and I are able to bear witness to the fact that the sweeter years are here with us now because of the fact that we have attempted to mould our rebellious, stubborn lives, and the lives of our children, to the restored Gospel. We know without any doubt whatsoever, that these Gospel principles hold the key to that happiness and joy which is the heritage of children of men here upon the earth.
We hope and pray that we may continue to serve in this Kingdom and that we shall be able to enjoy such precious experiences as we have in the more years, in having our eldest daughter, Judy, serve an honourable mission in South Africa. Currently our son, Timothy, is serving a mission in the British South Mission, thus bringing the Gospel to others as we had it brought to us.
Our next goal in life is to visit the House of the Lord as a family, to be sealed thus for time and all eternity. With the blessing of the Lord and with our ability to work in this direction also, we hope to achieve this in July, 1969. We pray that this will lead us to be able to serve better in the future and thus repay our Father in Heaven in some small measure for the great and glorious blessings which he has showered upon us over the years.
Krugersdorp Branch:
Born 5 November 1921 in Lydenburg, Transvaal.
Married to Philippa Dymond on 4 September, 1943 in Green Point, Cape Town
Children: Judy, Timothy, Jane, Leslie and Ronald
Father: Kenneth Oldham Powrie
Mother: Winifred Enid Dryden
I was interested to note that I was born at the very time when President David O. McKay and Elder Hugh J. Cannon were at Haifa, Palestine during the course of a world tour of Latter Day Saint outposts of the restored Kingdom. The scene of my birth was somewhat different, however, being Jock of the Bushveld country, namely Lydenburg.
My father was a pioneering mining engineer of Scottish/Irish stock who had grown up in the Cape area and qualified at the University of Cape Town or, as it was known in those days, the South African College School. My mother was a daughter of a seafaring family of English origin. She was born in Mossel Bay. Later she moved to the Reef area where she was a nurse in the Krugersdorp Hospital. My father was a second generation South African and my mother of the first generation to be born in this land of adoption - 1820 settler pioneering stock teaming up with seafarers who had made their home in the coastal area of the Eastern Cape frontier. Two elder sisters, Kathleen Enid (Pixie) and Jessie Elizabeth (Betty) and I comprised the posterity of these good people. My recollections of early family life were happy and stable - my parents loved one another and whilst not given to demonstrativeness (in fact regarding this as something reserved for moments of privacy) exhibited a deep affection. This left me with an impression of respect and esteem for the marriage covenant.
I never knew my father very well for he died at the relatively young age of forty-nine years when I was but eleven years of age, but his kindliness and paternal concern contributed to my feeling of having had a happy and contented childhood. He was something of a rugby enthusiast and the father and son activities which I remember best were those as spectators at rugby matches. I remember one particularly well, that was when the Australian Wallaby team played in Johannesburg during the course of a tour which I imagine was about 1932 or 1933 (the latter was the year my father died).
My mother's influence upon my life was marked indeed and I feel that I owe much to her for having bequeathed to me a simple faith and belief in a Father in Heaven, thus laying a firm foundation upon which I was able to build in later years, a firm and steadfast testimony of the true Gospel of Jesus Christ. In short, she, without realizing it, followed an admonition of latter day scripture in having “taught me to pray and walk uprightly before the Lord.” She prayed with me before retiring each night and instilled into my mind the basic virtues of honesty, truthfulness, chastity and benevolence which have lived with me as a blessing throughout the years. I shall always remember her stressing the importance of gentlemanly behaviour and I had the privilege of learning from her the invaluable lessons of courtesy and etiquette which in turn had been so much a part of her life. My mother was a sea captain's daughter of determined and forthright character, typified by grandfather's having run away to sea at the age of fourteen in defiance of his father's wish that his son should be an engineer. The young boy's attitude was “I wanted to go sea and to sea I went. “
I was further blessed in that although my family was basically religious they followed no set dogmas, consequently I had not been indoctrinated with any false religious doctrines so that, when the truth was presented to me, there was no necessity to remove “old wine”, only to add to the small but sweet supply of good wine already there.
My earliest memory of this life centred around a childhood spent on the Village Deep Gold Mine in Johannesburg, where my father was employed as a Surveyor. We lived in a house about a mile as the crow flies south of the centre of Johannesburg, on a spot where the O.K. Bazaars Warehouse now stands, just east of Eloff Street Extension. Early memories involved a visit to the mine by the then Prince of Wales, the removal of eleven baby teeth on one occasion, visits to the early movies, one poignant memory of which comes to mind in relation to the futility of war in a scene from “All quiet on the Western Front”. I shall never forget the picture of the hand of a soldier in Flanders reaching out to touch a beautiful butterfly, then suddenly stiffening in death from a hidden sniper's bullet. I must have been seven or eight at the time and have often now as a parent considered the interesting insight into my own parents' outlook in their having taken me to see such a film at that tender age.
1929 is a year I well remember in that my father was granted long leave of about three months during which time the family squeezed into an old Whippet touring car, together with a tent, numerous kit bags, suitcases, pans, stoves and our pet dog, to embark on a tour of three thousand miles around the Union of South Africa. Travelling in those days was rugged indeed and numerous punctures, broken springs, attempts at digging the car out of the mud and sand, almost dying of thirst in the Karroo and so forth, will always be fixed in my memory. We lost our way on several occasions but I shall always remember the glorious impact of touring this great country of ours and learning of its heart and soul. At that speed in those circumstances we were able to see and do far more than in the Jet age when speed blinds us to the simple wonders of the earth. My mother spent many an hour searching for ferns and odd plants which found their way into the car and ultimately back to our home in the Transvaal.
In that same year our home was moved to Krugersdorp as my father was appointed Chief Surveyor of the Luipaardsvlei Estates Gold Mining Company. Four years later he died after but nineteen years of marriage. My eldest sister, Pixie, then Head Prefect of the Krugersdorp High School, immediately terminated her school career and thanks to her my other sister, Betty, and I were to enjoy the blessing of completing our school studies.
In 1937 we moved to Cape Town as a result of my sister, Pixie, having developed a serious sentimental attachment to her cousin, Paul Dymond. (They subsequently married in 1939.) I finished schooling there in 1937 at the South African College High School and then of necessity embarked on a clerical career to help sustain the family.
My mother died at a relatively young age in June, 1939 and thereafter we were left as three independent children, but this was not to last for long because upon the outbreak of war in September I enlisted in the Navy as a volunteer having served in a part time capacity in the Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve.
My war service extended from September, 1939 for a period of six years and 17 days until October, 1945. These were impressionable years from the age of eighteen to twenty-four and again the futility of war and its terrible wastefulness was impressed upon me in my service in the South Atlantic, Mediterranean and North Atlantic spheres with the British Navy, and the S.A. Navy.
In 1941 I was pitchforked into the fury and frustration of the Battles of Crete and Greece where the might of the German Armies was being manifested in the destruction and conquest of Greece. The invasion of Crete followed. It was at this time that I felt the hand of the Lord upon me and I leant with simple faith upon this arm. For example, during the invasion of Crete, I was serving in a small anti-submarine vessel which was mercilessly attacked by a large German Fighter which machine-gunned it to the extent that it become utterly unusable for its original purpose. During this encounter the aircraft finally destroyed itself by over-enthusiasm on the part of the pilot, when he flew so low that he carried away our most and at the same time crashed into the sea. This episode resulted in my receiving a slight shrapnel wound in the arm. I was placed in the hospitalization camp in Suda Bay, Crete, from where we were later evacuated by British destroyers to Alexandria, Egypt. Those of my shipmates who were not wounded were left on the island to fend for themselves. Later they were captured and spent the rest of the war in prisoner of war camp.
Later I served in the Eastern Mediterranean and spent considerable time in the siege of Tobruk and then in the Malta convoys. After two and a half years I returned home to enjoy the blessing of peace and safety in the land of my birth. I have often felt in the years gone by how wonderful it is after the turmoil of war to enjoy the stark contrast of peace and the warmth of a winter's hearth or the wonder of a sleeping child. These emphasize the beauty and sweetness of life in contrast to the destruction which man brings upon himself in the contentions which rage between nations and peoples.
Prior to my departure in 1941 my heart became strangely entwined with that of my cousin, Philippa Dymond, my mother's eldest sister's daughter. We carried on a cherished correspondence during my years in the Mediterranean and we were married in the Church of England, Green Point, Cape Town in 1943. The humble and unsettled home which we set up during those war years consisted mostly of one room here and there. However, this provided a foundation of sweetness which we savoured together, again sharply in contrast with the upset of war time service. This unsettled state continued to the time I was called upon in the latter part of 1944 to go to England as part of a commissioning crew for the first major South African War vessel, the frigate “Good Hope”. This vessel was commissioned in November, 1944 and we served in the North Atlantic and Western approaches of the United Kingdom until mid 1945 when victory in Europe was achieved. During this period, in April 1945, our first child, Judy, was born and I shall always remember the day of her birth when our vessel was anchored off the White Cliffs of Dover on a glorious spring day when the waters of the English Channel were glassy, calm and peaceful.
Following the end of the war in Europe I returned in July, 1945 and while our ship was being refitted in Cape Town preparatory to leaving for the Far East, we were able to enjoy family contact again. However there was the prospect of further upset in the near future. This changed very suddenly when the wonderful relief of peace came, paradoxically, through the terror of the atom bomb dropped on the two Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, in August, 1945. A few more months of service represented something of an anticlimax, and then finally, I was discharged in October, 1945, to attempt a readjustment to a strange domestic life, frighteningly secure, but with a new type of responsibility towards a young wife and infant daughter.
New horizons were there to conquer a year later in the form of an offer of a job by a former shipmate who asked me to move to Johannesburg to join the firm of Stanley Motors, Limited. This I accepted and in 1946 we moved to Krugersdorp and here we found happiness and joy in building a home and in rearing our two children. Timothy was born here in 1947.
This was a strange, quiet life which seemed to be the calm before the storm. Finally in May, 1950 the change came, quietly and determinedly, when two young Americans knocked on our door with the offer of a message of great importance. My wife, Philippa, as though moved by some unforeseen force, invited these young Elders from Utah and Idaho to come inside whilst the week's wash for a growing family became of secondary importance.
Mother led the way in this new intellectual exercise, whilst father tagged along in somewhat polite boredom, bred of past experiences which had resulted in such religious excursions. They had provided nothing more than a temporary distraction ending in on obscure wilderness. This time, however, it seemed different, as mother's arguments (given to her so strongly by her mother) appeared to be losing ground in the face of truth which was irrefutable. This resulted in talk of baptism and then why not both of us taking the step? On the 10th of September, 1950 we entered the waters of baptism at old Ramah to join what we now know to be the only true Church and Kingdom of God here upon the earth. We shall always remember with affection the four missionaries who spent time and effort in our conversion, Elders E. Mauary Payne, Parry D. Harrison, Farrell J. Roberts and Dean D. Baxter. Thus started the new life in a Church which, in its temporal appointments, showed very little sign of being the one and only Church of Jesus Christ, for we met in dingy halls and other humble surroundings in limited numbers and with very inadequate facilities. However, the true sweet spirit was there to guide us as we, like infants, crawled, then toddled, then stood upright and walked with our heads high yet humbled by the testimonies which we felt growing within our hearts.
The wisdom of the Lord in prompting growth and testimony through activity soon became manifest in my being called to one assignment after another - branch clerk, branch teacher, counsellor in the Krugersdorp Branch Presidency and then, after having been a member of the Church for just over seven years, the staggering and humbling call to serve as the Transvaal District President. This call in itself was one of the highlights of my life. The day was Transvaal District Conference, 13th April, 1958. We had returned home between sessions and, during that time, received a call from the District President, Brother I.C. Louw, requesting that we come in early. We duly arrived and were ushered into the presence of the Mission President Glen G. Fisher and President Louw, who dropped what I described in my diary as “the bombshell”. I had anticipated some call or another but certainly did not think of a position as the District President! Philippa and I looked at one another in astonishment, but the spirit whispered to us that we could do nothing but accept this high and wonderful calling. We appreciated the sobering honour and I well remember when I was set apart by President Fisher that he admonished me to recall the promise given to Nephi of old that the Lord would not call His servants to do anything save he would open the way for them to accomplish that which they had been commanded to do. This had the effect of helping me to recognize the promptings of the spirit in this calling and has been a blessing and a testimony. I have felt my inadequacy fall away in the face of the strength and guidance of the spirit which has helped me to do many things beyond myself and has indeed brought the treasures of Heaven into my life in this great servIce to the Lord.
The years have rolled by and our family has been increased in that three other precious souls have been brought to us namely, Jane in 1950, Leslie in 1954 and Ronald in 1959. These three children, sent to us during the course of membership in the Church, have all by strange coincidence been born on the 23rd of their respective months - an honour we felt indeed to be thus matched in some small way with our prophet Joseph Smith, born 23rd December.
The Church is our life. We have found the answers to every problem in this service and in this association with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Recently we celebrated our twenty-fifth anniversary of our wedding day, and Philippa and I are able to bear witness to the fact that the sweeter years are here with us now because of the fact that we have attempted to mould our rebellious, stubborn lives, and the lives of our children, to the restored Gospel. We know without any doubt whatsoever, that these Gospel principles hold the key to that happiness and joy which is the heritage of children of men here upon the earth.
We hope and pray that we may continue to serve in this Kingdom and that we shall be able to enjoy such precious experiences as we have in the more years, in having our eldest daughter, Judy, serve an honourable mission in South Africa. Currently our son, Timothy, is serving a mission in the British South Mission, thus bringing the Gospel to others as we had it brought to us.
Our next goal in life is to visit the House of the Lord as a family, to be sealed thus for time and all eternity. With the blessing of the Lord and with our ability to work in this direction also, we hope to achieve this in July, 1969. We pray that this will lead us to be able to serve better in the future and thus repay our Father in Heaven in some small measure for the great and glorious blessings which he has showered upon us over the years.
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