Thomas Henry Caldwell

Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: Mine Overseer

Notes:

Tommy was born in Eastleigh Germiston on 16 May 1918 to a farming family. He attended Brakpan Intermediate School but left the school halfway through his Standard Eight year in June 1933.

After leaving school he took up employment in the OK Bazaars as a store man. Obviously this work was not satisfying him as he left shortly after joining to work at the East Geduld Gold Mine as an assistant ventilation officer.

When the Union of South Africa joined the allies under the guidance of Jan Smuts, Tommy volunteered for military service. He joined the 1st SA Irish on 17 June 1940. On 9 August he was promoted to Lance Corporal. The regiment was sent to North Africa where they joined the 1st Field Regiment. Finally they fought in the 15th Field Regiment which was part of the 8th Army. As part of this unit he fought in the battle of El Alamean against General Rommel.

Whilst in military service he returned to South Africa on leave and married Sylvia Mavis Brett on 5 February 1944.

Tommy was finally discharged from the army on 19 August 1945 having achieved the rank of staff sergeant.

After his return he rejoined East Geduld Mines to assume his previous position. In the months ahead he was successful in obtaining his Blasting Certificate and the Mine Overseer Certificate. He worked his way up the promotional ladder to become a Mine Overseer.

Due to failing health Tom was transferred to the Winkelhaak Mine in November 1961, where he assumed the position of Cementation Officer. As his health continued to deteriorate, he was offered the position as Training School Instructor, which was a less stressful position.

After the war, Tom was made a Life Member of the South African Legion. He was a keen bowler and participated in many championships, achieving success in mixed and men's teams. He was the Chairman of the East Geduld Mine Bowling Club as well as the Chairman of the Union Corporation Bowling Club.

Tommy and Mavis had a son, Jack Arthur and a daughter, Rusleen Sylvia.

As a result of his long illness and successive major operations, he died on 17 November 1963.

Thomas married Sylvia Mavis Brett on 5 Feb 1944 in St Peter's Church, Brakpan, Transvaal, South Africa. Sylvia was born on 15 Oct 1920 in Johannesburg, Gauteng, South Africa; died on 19 Feb 1990 in Rustenburg, North West, South Africa. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

1. Jack Arthur Caldwell
2. Rusleen Sylvia Caldwell

Notes:

He was the son of bakers in Londonderry. He left home as did many Irish patriots to go to South Africa to fight the British; they hoped that defeat there would lead to freedom for Ireland. It was a family joke that he landed in Cape Town the day peace was declared and so decided to go to the Transvaal to seek his fortune and en route in Thaba Nchu he met my grandmother. How they communicated I do not know; maybe it was a much more complex love story than they ever told their two children.

He was killed in a mine accident.

On 23rd May 1911 when John Jacob was 29, he married Hester Foley, F, in Thaba Nchu, Orange Free State, Union of South Africa. Born in 1887 in Unknown. Hester died in Brakpan Transvaal, Union of South Africa in Dec 1953, she was 66. Buried in 1953 in Grave 4397 English, Brakpan, Transvaal, Union of South Africa. Occupation: House Wife. Education: Unknown. Religion: Methodist.

Jack Caldwell had this to say about his grandmother:

"Hester Foley was my grandmother. English was not her language. She spoke only Afrikaans, saying that English was the language of the oppressor. Apparently her parents were farmers in the Transvaal at the start of the Boer war. Her father fled into the hills as did many Boer men. She and her mother were placed in the concentration camp in Taba Nchu by the British, or at least this is how she told us it occurred. She would speak English to the grandchildren on rare occasions. As my father told it, when his father died, she started a plant nursery. My father and Dorothy would go to the rubbish dumps (now called landfills) and would scrounge the tin cans, bringing them home to be cleaned and used as potting pots for the new plants which she would raise and sell to make money."

John married Hester Foley on 23 May 1911 in Thaba 'Nchu, Free State, South Africa. Hester was born in 1887; died in Dec 1953 in Brakpan, Gauteng, South Africa. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]

Other Events and Attributes:

• Occupation: Baker

Hugh + Ellen McMillen. [Group Sheet] [Family Chart]