After a shamefully long time (emigration pushed a lot of things onto the back burner), I have finally gotten around to posting the balance of the pictures and news clippings sent in by my informant Pat Sligo. Pat was among those Durban schoolboys lucky enough to go on a camp with the South African Air Force at Lake Msingazi in Zululand in 1947 and have a couple of flips in the squadron’s Sunderland flying boats. Pat’s page is here and the other stuff I have on flying boats in Durban is here.
Josephine Wallstrom
I got my husband Derrick Wallstrom to read all about the air cadets. He went to Tech from 1955 to 1959.He joined as an air cadet in 1955 together with his friend Tim Dargin . His Headmaster at the time was Mr Alridge Älfie”. The person in charge then was Mr Dixon who was the English Master at Tech then. His nickname was “Pawpaw”and the cadets were known as the “Pawpaws Foreign Legion”. He used to do a number of flights up and down the coast in the Sunderlands. It was known as the Coastal Patrol Bomber Command. He used to go to the underground bunker for briefings before flights where he were issued with Mae Wests etc. Every Friday he went for marching drills. Did a bit of plane maintenance in Stamford Hill on Harvards. He did one landing at Umgazi to take lock and tackle to the plane that had crashed there, piloted by Captain Naude, He did a camp at Congella. Used to go with the pilot boat making sure that there was no drift wood. Had been out to sea with the rescue craft off South Beach. His student officer was “Clegg”who later joined the SA Airforce. When we became a Republic he joined the RAF. He came 2nd in the RAF exams. Last he heard he was a Lt Glegg in the RAF. Regards Jo. PS I wrote down my husband’s memories as he was talking.
Allan Jackson
Was Pawpaw Jack Dixon? If so, he was headmaster by the time I got to Glenwood High.
Josephine Wallstrom
Hi Allan, Derrick doesn’t remember his first name only that he was the English Lecturer at Tech, his nickname was Pawpaw and that he was a first rate air navigator. However Gerald also mentioned that Mr Dixon was the headmaster of Glenwood in 1961/1962. So we presume he was the same person. Regards Jo