|
Royal Visits to Rhodesia
Subscribers will recall that ORAFs distributed two
photographs of a Royal Visit to Rhodesia in either 1947 or
1953?
Several replies and comments were received and they are
included below with the original two photographs. Please note that a
further two photographs have also been received which has a bearing on a
Royal visit.
Comments Received
Graham Andrews
Writes:-
She must have been Queen Mum otherwise the King would have
been with her!! He died in Feb 1952 and she visited Rhodesia with Princess
Margaret in 1953 to open the Rhodes Centenary Exhibition in Bulawayo.
She visited again in 1960 to open Kariba. Prior to that she visited
with the whole Royal family in 1947.
Conclusion...she must have
been Queen Mum in those photos!!
Roy Hopkinson Writes:-
I’m pretty sure that’s the
Queen Mum inspecting the troops, and not the Queen.
Bob Jones
Writes:-
Wonderful photo but I don't think it was the pre runner to
the RLI as it was too early. I think that the guard of honour is made up
of TF and the guy and the right in is the Staff Corps instructor. It is
the Queen doing the inspection as I don't think she was the Queen Mum at
that time.
My comments and they stand to be
corrected
David Scott-Donelan Writes:-
Man behind Man 3
looks like Bruce Campling.
Pretty sure man 2 is General
Griggs.
Vic Walker Writes:-
Reading the article it would
appear that this was the tour done by the Queen Mother in 1957, during
which she also visited Kariba. At that time I was still soldiering in then
West Germany, but the comment made by George Archibald that the Honour
Guard may well have been men that later formed 1 RLI cannot be correct as
the formation of the unit only commenced in 1960 (by October of that year
I was stationed at DRRR), the Guard Commander, Man 3, accompanying the
Queen Mother looks very much like Dudley Rowell who was a major (A Coy Cdr
at DRRR) in 1960. The senior officer, Man 2, would probably have been the
Commander of the old Bulawayo District and looks like he could have been
Col (later Major General) Grigg. It is highly likely that the Guard of
Honour was found by a DRRR Company undergoing National Service training.
David Heppenstall may be able to confirm this.
Jann Knoble
Writes to her daughter Shay:-
Re the article, I think this is when
Dad flew the Queen around when she was Queen Mum, on this date. It is when
he had the engine failures when flying the press around for this visit.
Can you please look in his log book and see if the dates correspond, I
think there is also a newspaper cutting of him flying the press and doing
so well when the engine failed [think it was more than
once]
Shay Geach (nee) Knobel Writes:-
Peter Knobel did
indeed fly the press - in his log books it is dated the 14th May 1960 when
he flew 23 press passengers during the Queen and Queen mother's visit.
Attached is a scan of the page in his log book - I hope the file is not
too big it will not be possible to read if it is too small.
Also some
research from the internet and the links below of their visit:
http://www.britishpathe.com/video/queen-mother-in-rhodesia-1
http://www.newafricanfrontiers.com/countries/zimbabwe/zimbabwe-npc-lake-kariba.htm
"The Kariba South Bank Power Station of the Kariba Dam
hydroelectric scheme was officially opened by her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth
the Queen Mother on 17th May, 1960."
Hope this info helps
Lewis Walter Writes:-
The second photo (
and almost certainly the first) was taken during the visit of the Queen
Mother to Rhodesia in 1957. (Her husband King George VI died in 1952, so
she was then Queen Mother.)
The first photo is very well known -
but I cannot help with any info ! I am sure you will get several replies
identifying it.
The second photo was taken at the Royal Indaba arranged
by the Native Department (later Intaf) in Matobo in 1957. The Guard of
Honour on that occasion was provided by the KAR - the troops in the first
photo were not in attendance.
The man just beside the Queen Mother
is "Ben" Fletcher, the Minister of Native Affairs.
The man in Naval
uniform is vice-Admiral Sir Peveril William-Powlett. He was Governor of
Southern Rhodesia, not Governor-General as suggested in your letter.
If you will look up the Intaf Website -
www.freewebs.com/dudleywall/ - under Early Days - Royal Indaba - Matobo -
1957 you will find a short article on the Indaba I provided, with photos.
I was an Assistant Native Commissioner in Mashonaland at the time, and
with others was invited to attend - provided we paid our own expenses ! It
was an occasion of true Colonial pageantry - the last in a fading
Empire.
Nick Baalbergen Writes:-
Lewis Walter may be able
to shed some light, he supplied the material on the following link and
some your photos look like they may be at the same location
:
Visit: http://www.freewebs.com/dudleywall/royalindaba1957.htm
Syd Polwarth Writes:-
Powlett was appointed Governor
upon retiring from the Royal Navy in 1954 so it is definitely the Queen
Mother. That's my lot
Richard (Dutch) Van Rooyen
Writes:-
Regarding the Royal visit and assistance with identifying
some of the people in photo's.
In the photo of the "Queen and Another",
I am pretty certain that the gent standing with her is a chap by the name
of Shaw Dyson.
Why I'm so sure is because I have known Shaw for many
years and he was a colleague of mine in that he ran our Hytec Salisbury /
Harare operation for many years.
The possible reason as to how he got
to rub shoulders with the Queen was because he was a member of Parliament
during that time and continued to be for many years thereafter - up and
until +/- 1984??
Shaw is now 84 years old and still lives in
Harare.
Hope this helps.
Jen Hamilton Writes:-
I was looking at the photo
you have just sent & am sure this was taken about the same time. My
dad was in the territorial's & is the 5th guy on the left standing
slightly forward. It was with a book on The Golden Jubilee of Parliament
1924 - 1974.
Not sure if you have seen it or if you want me to scan
some things to send. There is a picture of the Members of the First
Rhodesian Council 1899, the first Governor, administering the oath to Sir
Charles Coghlan, the first Prime Minister, in October 1923, there is also
a lot of photos of eg the dining room, the lounge, the gallery plus old
building photos.
Mark Midgley Writes:-
Herewith a
photograph (above) of the Queen at Cyrene Mission South of Bulawayo which
was taken when my parents worked there which was prior to 1950.
It
was for certain that that visit was in 1950 or before so there may have
been 2 visits by the Queen/Mother? Would u like me to scan it and send it
to you with details
Nyanga Zimbabwe
End
ORAFs never obtained the relevant date to
photographs 1 and 2 but overall a benefit was the additional
information and photographs received. Thanks to all those sent in
their comments and photographs.
Also please remember that
comments are always very welcome. Send them to orafs11@gmail,com
Refer:
http://rhodesianheritage.blogspot.com/2012/06/royal-visits-to-rhodesia.html#comment-form
Kind Regards
Eddy Norris
Irene, RSA
ora...@gmail.com
|
