THE DAY A BOMB HIT KURUMAN

Six people died and thirty-six were injured in Kuruman after a bomb was accidentally dropped on a crowd during a military show on 28 May 1924 at about 16:00. The air show was organised by the Kuruman Commando with Defence Department approval. The retiring officer commanding was Lieutenant-Commandant J.A. (Koos) VAN ZYL, who had led the commando in South West Africa in 1914–1918. Two De Havilland bombers (DH9) were to take part in the show.

Lieutenant Frederick Herbert HISCOCK and Lieutenant Pierre Simond JOUBERT received an order to fly the two aircraft to Kuruman on 26 May 1924. They took off from Zwartkop at 09:30 for Kimberley, with Air Mechanic S.E. FORD flying with Lt JOUBERT. They landed in Kimberley at 13:40, and Lt HISCOCK carried out an order to photograph Wesselton diamond mine from the air. The next day, they took off from Kimberley for Kuruman, with Lt-Col W.J. KLERCK OBE flying with Lt HISCOCK in the lead aircraft. Without a flight map of Kuruman, Lt HISCOCK got lost. Pierre’s aircraft was low on fuel, so he signalled that he was going to land about 30 kilometres north of Postmasburg. As he was descending to land, one of the bomb racks hit a tree, and a bomb fell out. After landing, Pierre and the air mechanic checked the damage out and retrieved the fallen bomb. They repaired as much of the damage as they could.

Lieutenant HISCOCK performed an emergency landing approximately 5 kilometres from Postmasburg. His aircraft sustained damage that meant it could not fly further. Frederick and his passenger walked into town to get help. Frederick arranged for fuel, oil, and a farmer to drive him and his passenger to Pierre’s location. The group worked together to repair the damage to Pierre’s aircraft. As it was too late to take off, Pierre and the mechanic slept in the aircraft that night, while Frederick and the Lt-Col slept over at a nearby farm. The next morning they finished the repairs, and Pierre took off at 13:00 for Kuruman, where he landed at 13:45. The crew was taken into town for a bath and lunch. Back at the airfield, Pierre and his mechanic did the pre-flight and loaded the detonators in each bomb. Lt Arthur BERESFORD-WOOD, the district police commander, had asked Pierre if he could join him in the aircraft, which was granted. Pierre would only do his part of the show, which was to drop two 20-pound bombs on the target. As the runway was not the smoothest, the DH9 hopped three times before it got airborne. Unbeknownst to him, one of the bombs hung up on the bomb rack and only fell away when he turned. The bomb landed among the crowd.

Three people died instantly and three from their wounds. The bomb instantly killed Casper, his wife Anna VAN DER WALT, and Gert ERLANK. Casper VAN DER WALT (54) and Anna (52) were from the farm Edgehill. Chris ERLANK (39) was from Corheim. They were buried at the Kuruman Cemetery at the corner of Oasis and School Streets. The district doctor, Dr F.R. JONES from Olifantshoek, was at the show, and together with the Commando’s medics, he helped the injured on site. Drs. BEARE and YOUNG of Kuruman arrived on the scene to assist. A temporary hospital was set up in town, as Kuruman did not yet have a permanent hospital. Ambulances arrived to transport the seriously injured to Kimberley.

Christina Alida (aka Lila) CLAASSENS (8) died of her wounds during the night as doctors battled to save her. She was the daughter of Matthys Jacobus and Lila. Her younger sister, Hester Hendrina, was five years old and survived, along with another sister, Tiny. Hester’s daughter, Mrs Janetta ERASMUS, lived in Jan Kempdorp. Another daughter of Hester was named Lila and lived in Brits. Two other daughters, Hannetjie BATESON and Tillie VAN RECHE, resembled Lila when they were younger. During the accident, shrapnel injured Matthys, rendering him an invalid.

Piet VAN DER LINDE (21) and Abraham ERASMUS died of their wounds at Kimberley Hospital. Pieter died within days, and Abraham 13 days later.

Abraham stood among the crowd, clutching his newly baptised baby. The Erasmus family of Deben was on their way to the Orange Free State to show the baby to its grandmother when they decided to stay overnight in Kuruman and see the show. Abraham had a semi-military funeral. Shrapnel struck his eldest daughter, Catharina, on the head. Catharina suffered from headaches from then on and died at the age of 47. Sarie, the baby, survived, married a man with the surname Bothma, and settled in Bloemfontein. Her mother, Nelie, had to give up the family farm. When Sarie was four years old, her mother took a job as a cook in the boarding school at Laerskool/Hoërskool Seodin. The family received £400 in compensation from the government. When Sarie was in Standard 9 (grade 11), the school principal called her to his office – she had a visitor – Lt. Joubert. After a while, she forgave him, as did her mother, sister and brother.

The injured included:
H.J. SMIT
M. VAN HEERDEN
M. MYBURG
W. MYBURG
Gert MYBURG senior
G. MYBURG junior
H. MYBURG
A.S. ERASMUS, in a critical condition, was rushed from Kuruman Hospital to Kimberley Hospital
C. BARNARD
J. BARNARD
C.F. SCHOEMAN
H.W. SCHOEMAN
N. VAN DER WALT
J.N. SCHOEMAN
N.J. SCHOEMAN
M.J. CLAASSEN
P.R. VAN DER LINDE
V. VAN DER LINDE
G. VAN DER LINDE
D. SCHOEMAN
J.H. SCHOEMAN
J.D. CILLIERS
A.M. CLAASSEN
J.E.B. COMBRINCK
R. SCHOEMAN
V. PRINSLOO
G.V. COETZEE
M. VAN ZYL
P.J. DROTSKIE

The tragic event was recorded in P.H.R. SNYMAN’s book, “Kuruman, Vervloë pad na Afrika”, published in 1992. He writes that the crowd was angry, believing it was an attack on the Afrikaners by the Smuts government. Later that year, General Jan SMUTS’ political party (SAP) lost the local election in Kuruman. Lt Joubert had to be protected from the crowd and spent the night in the Kuruman prison. The next morning he appeared in court before Justice F.A. HUTTON on charges of culpable homicide. His bail was set at £500, for which four local businessmen stood surety.

A board of inquiry was set up for 30 May with Lt-Col KLERCK in charge, C.E. VILJOEN (Kuruman magistrate) and H.J.C. DE JAGER (lawyer and Kuruman mayor). More than 20 witnesses were called. The first witness was Dr Frederick JONES. The next witness to testify was Lt Arthur BERESFORD-WOOD. John FRYLINCK, a lawyer in Kuruman and WWI veteran, was the next witness. On 31 May, the board visited the incident scene along with Colonel Sir Pierre VAN RYNEVELD KBE DSO, Captain VENTER DFC, Mr HAMMERSCHLAG (Pierre’s lawyer), Pierre, and Dirk ROOS (local land surveyor). Other witnesses included:
Danie VAN VUUREN of the farm Toxteth, who was at the show with his brother David. One of David’s sons, Danie, joined the SAAF after matriculating in Kuruman. He retired as Col D.J.J.C. VAN VUUREN, after serving in Korea.
Detective Christiaan VAN VUUREN
James Moorcroft (farmer
Jan NEL (carpenter in Kuruman)
Adam BARNARD (teacher in Dingle)
Tom MELLVILLE (agent and en auctioneer in Kuruman)
Christian DE KLERK (of Hay district)

Colonel Sir Pierre VAN RYNEVELD testified that Pierre joined the SAAF with 100 flight hours in the RAF since 1917. He signed in on 7 January 1924 for a refresher course at Robert’s Heights as a pilot in the Special Reserves. The course included theory and practical training in bombs and bombing. He scored above-average marks and received the rank of lieutenant. He added another 40 hours of flight time.

On 4 June, Lieutenant JOUBERT was found not guilty.

WHO WAS LIEUTENANT JOUBERT?
My research led me to Lieutenant Colonel Pierre Simond JOUBERT, who died on 15 August 1945 in Wroughton, England.

Pierre was born in 1896 in Edenburg in the Free State, one of 14 children of Jan Christoffel JOUBERT and Amalia Leonora NIEUWOUDT. His father was a schoolmaster, and in August 1945 he was working at the orphanage in Winburg.

Pierre was a military man, having first served as a trooper in B Squadron of Enslin’s Horse from 7 October 1914 during the Rand Rebellion and then again later in the German S.W.A. campaign until the unit was disbanded on 28 May 1915. Later that year he attested for further service as a signaller with the 2nd Regiment, S.A. Horse, and served in German East Africa. He was mentioned in dispatches for gallantry and distinguished service in the field. Suffering from malaria, he returned to Durban on 29 November 1916 and later re-attested with the Royal Flying Corps. His World War II record shows that he served with the RAF from October 1917 until December 1919. He initially served as a lieutenant in Egypt.

Although not his fault, Pierre felt that some of the stigma of the Kuruman incident would be inevitable, so he joined the mines and rose to the rank of mine captain on East Geduld. With the outbreak of World War II, he re-enlisted in the SAAF. After being seconded to the RAF in July 1943, he served as a Flight Commander with 271 Squadron. On the night before D-Day, he took off in a Dakota at 22:50, one of seven glider tugs sharing a load of 20 men and various equipment in towing Horsa 262, which was piloted by Staff Sgt. ANDREWS, DFM. The following evening, in Operation Mallard, he once again successfully towed a glider to a landing zone near Gonneville.

In September 1944, he received the Air Force Cross. Pierre also played a part in Operation Market Garden, where 271 Squadron delivered elements of the 1st Airborne Division to a landing zone behind the German lines near Arnhem, establishing a bridgehead over the Rhine. On September 17, the squadron contributed 24 crew members for the first glider tug. Pierre, with his co-pilot Flying Officer R. BOASTEN, followed Wing Commander BOOTH for the six-hour round trip.

He was promoted to lieutenant colonel in October 1944 and posted to HQ Down Ampney as wing commander. He returned to his squadron as Commanding Officer in January 1945 in time to fly to Brussels to bring back the 50,000th casualty carried by 46 Group. On 24 March 1945 he towed Horsa Gliders into Germany across the Rhine north of Wesel. He received the Distinguished Service Order on 23 April. Only two South Africans received both the DSO and AFC. The war in Europe ended on 5 May, and after making only one further operational flight, he was seriously injured on VJ Day. A fireworks display was planned at his air station, and as station commander, he stepped forward to light the fuse on a pipe that had been filled with pyrotechnics. The fuse appeared to go out, but it was a hang fire, and when he went forward to relight the fuse, the pipe exploded in his face, killing him. He was buried at Bath (Haycombe) Cemetery.

According to Colonel VAN EYSSEN, Hon. Colonel of 31 Squadron in 1992, Pierre (aka Joubie) joined the SAAF in 1920 and was involved in the offensive role of the SAAF during the miners’ strike in March 1922. Pierre’s SAAF record shows he served with the SAAF from April 1924 until April 1926. The SAAF then transferred him, with the rank of captain, to the SAAF Special Reserve, and in June 1933, to the SAAF General Reserve. He flew 3,092 hours on different aircraft, including Oxford, Maryland, Lodestar and Ventura . While serving with the SAAF during WWII, he and another pilot rescued some of the passengers and crew from the ill-fated Dunedin Star, which went aground on the Skeleton Coast in South West Africa in November 1942. John Marsh and Jeff Dawson mention Captain Joubert in their books Skeleton Coast and Dead Reckoning.

Pierre married Freda Hope BALFOUR on 17 April 1926 at St Dunstan’s Anglican Church in Benoni. At that time, Pierre was a pilot in the SAAF and stationed at Robert’s Heights in Pretoria, while Freda lived at 2 Modder Deep Gold Mine in Benoni. They had one child, Mary Amalia, born on 7 March 1927. When Pierre died in 1945, Amalia was living at 7 East Geduld Mine in Springs. Freda died on 18 October 1986 in Wynberg. In the late 1980s, Mary Amalia was a journalist in Cape Town and was married to Michael John GREEN. She died in 2006 in Newlands.

FREDDIE HISCOCK
Frederick Herbert HISCOCK was born in 1896 in Johannesburg, the son of William John HISCOCK and Katherine Mary PAPENFUS. He was known as Freddie.
He died on 14 December 1933 near Eshowe. Captain HISCOCK was flying a Junkers W.34fi (ZS-AEB) for Union Airways. The flight took off at 10:30 from Durban in misty weather en route to Johannesburg. The captain made a detour via the Tugela Valley due to the weather. The crew encountered poor weather conditions with poor visibility due to fog. Too low, the aircraft impacted the slope of a hill near Eshowe. One passenger was critically injured. Two crew and three passengers died.
At the age of 17, Freddie enlisted and served in South West Africa and East Africa. He served in France, where he sustained two wounds. On his return to South Africa, he served in the SAAF until 1928. Later he joined the staff of the British General Electric Company and Ford Motor Company in Port Elizabeth. Before joining Union Airways in August 1933, he was with Arrow Lines. He had 633 hours of civil flying. He married Ann Myrrel BAXTER in 1927 in Pretoria. They did not have children.

CREW:
Captain HISCOCK, died on impact
W.M. GROBLER, wireless operator, died in hospital. He served in the Royal Navy and had joined Union Airways in September 1933.
PASSENGERS:
Philip WEINBERG, insurance agent of Durban, died in hospital
W.B. THOMAS of Johannesburg, died on impact
Clifford REYNOLDS, of Johannesburg, died on the way to hospital
H.Philip HEPKAR, jointing managing director of Rhodesian Timbers in Durban, sole survivor. He was flying to Johannesburg to attend his uncle Julius HEPKAR’s funeral.