Family history by Bob Melville

JOHN MELVILLE (b.12.3.1896-d.10.7.1982) and
ELIZABETH ROCKELL (b.20.1.1898- d.25.2.1963)

1914 - The Start of the Great War. Just the thing for a young man of action; something positive to do rather than let the Huns walk all over us (or so the feeling went in many parts of Britain).

In Scotland John joined up "aged 19" he said and he was in for the duration. Once over in France these boys found that all was not so rosy; there were the trenches, gas, Germans, being shot at, marches, shelling, more gas and even officers to put up with. Many of the officers had come through the years being promoted slowly through the system, as an army in peacetime tends to move more methodically - protocol being much more important than ability, though there were exceptions to this rule. John found a lot of this out when he was kicked in the mouth by an ill tempered mule. He would probably have taken some action with the animal but the pain tended to demand his attention at the time. One officer noticed straightaway, took charge, and had John over to the field hospital quick as a flash. What goes round tends to come round and in 1917 John had the chance to pay this man back for his good deed by pulling that officer, wounded and suffering from gas effects back to the lines from No Man's land. There was no great fuss made, but John was always pleased that he was able to help when he had been helped.

Things did not always go so well and he was later involved in forced marches to shore up positions that were having trouble holding the enemy. Some of these marches were up to 50 miles and the rumour was Woe betides anyone who fell out; John saw a few of these individuals, but he never asked questions.

The end of the war saw an older and wiser John, demobbed and back home in England where he and his sweetheart, Elizabeth Rockall were married on the 7th August 1918 in London.

Elizabeth Martha Emma Rockall was an English girl from High Wycombe which would prove to be somewhat of a bother when John introduced her to the family in Scotland as feeling still ran deep about "southerners". But his Lizbeth won them all over by just being herself - a very pleasant, kind person a facet which saw her through many difficult situations during her varied and active life. From the end of the war John worked with McAlpine and Sons at Catford in England until; 1923 when he took a position with William Arrol & Co. Ltd working on a bridge over the Prah River in Nigeria, which was then part of the Gold Coast colony. When this contract was completed in 1926 John joined the Public Works Department Nigeria as an Inspector until October 1929 when he returned to Britain at the end of his contract. His health was starting to bother him a bit. As the West coast of Africa, commonly known as the White Man's Graveyard, was very hard on people with malaria being one of the biggest problems. There were plenty of other sicknesses one could pick from but the constant re-occurrence of malaria and the taking of many doses of quinine, plus the odd drop of the hard stuff took its toll with blackwater fever being the beginning of the end in many cases in the late 1920's. John went down this road but he was lucky in that he had a good nurse who treated him with green coconut juice - he recovered, but was to feel the effects of the illness for some while.

John then obtained employment with the Public Works Department in Tanganyika in 1930, commencing on the 4th July by journeying to Dar es Salaam on a Union Castle line ship to take up the position of bridge builder PWD. A lowly rank but as John himself said "with plenty of scope to prove yourself" The country was young and conditions hard; hospitals were few and far between, schools fewer and further apart. Not that this worried John, but it meant that his wife and family were unable to join him. After his induction period he was supplied with a Bedford truck for transport. Which moved him, his team, all their belongings to wherever they were needed and until he was issued with a motor cycle he either used the truck or his feet to get around, thereby getting to know many parts of the country well as bridges, roads etc were needed all over the territory.

John and the team, with their camp gear were moved on the first trip so that a suitable camp site could be chosen. While camp was being set up the truck would go back pick up the masons and carpenters plus their gear, take them to the new camp and then repeat the process until all had moved, by which time the track that had been created was well defined thereby allowing the road gang to work their way along constructing the "road". The road making team would catch up with the bridge camp in time then start making the road ahead; the route having been chosen to the required crossing for the next bridge position on the river or creek ahead. This work was, of course, guided by Bwana John who was by now building a reputation of being a hard working but fair boss who didn't suffer fools gladly. His team was good and getting better all the time - it was during this period that John started thinking of ways and means of improving the lot of the local people. There was also the shortage of tradesmen and competent artisans in the PWD and other departments.

In 1933 John put into practice a scheme whereby young fellows who were showing promise were taken on as understudies in various aspects of the departmental works. All had to agree that they worked under John without taking long breaks from work for the time it took for the trainees to become competent in their spheres. It was pointed out that this could be 5, 7 or more years - a lifetime to most Africans, but as it happened many of these men were still working with the PWD turning out fine work in the 1950's.

In late 1933 the Government relented and decided to allow the wives of more remote area officers to join their husbands if the wives were considered to be of the calibre that could cope with the rigours of the bush, tents, thatched huts etc. John was very fortunate as it turned out Elizabeth was able to join him after being adjudged to have sufficient commonsense and the ability to cope with bush life. So it was that she joined him in Africa leaving their three children Chris, Betty and Patricia who were by now school age, in Scotland with a favourite Aunt namely Jessie.

Prior to Lizbeth joining him John on one of his visits to Iringa to discuss the bridge and road programmes with the engineer of the area was staying at the local rest house. He returned to have afternoon tea on one occasion and as he turned into the driveway heard a couple of shots; it crossed his mind that being a twelve bore someone was most likely shooting a guinea fowl for the pot. He was approaching the steps of the house when the next door houseboy came running up "Bwana John please come and sort out this mess or Bwana Neil will be in deep trouble". They walked towards the house and the houseboy filled in the details as they went. Neil had apparently had one of his bad days and after a few drinks in the afternoon had seen what he assumed to be natives creeping up to do him a mischief as he sat on his verandah! Being a man of action he grabbed his shotgun and let fly at anything that took his fancy, including the men who were helping out the gardener on that day. They were less than impressed and all retired to the safety of the bushes by the entrance road. There they discussed payment for the day's work as it appeared to them that the contract period was over. The odd shot from the verandah reinforcing this assumption. John and the houseboy appeared on the scene and John hollered out to Neil as he walked closer "Thank God you've come round John"Neil said "Did you see them, they were in their dozens, but I kept them off" John joined Neil on the verandah sitting in the chair next to him, he mopped his brow with a hanky and said that it was a pretty hot afternoon and he could do with a nice cup of tea. Neil beamed at this suggestion and, ever the gentleman, put down the gun shouting for his houseboy to serve tea for Bwana. Meanwhile John picked up the gun removed the shells and the small stock breaking into its components. "Nice gun you have here Neil he said. Yes, it was a present from my father years ago - been good - oh, oh here comes Rodney. "Will you have a cuppa Rod?" Goodo, "Saidi another cup for Bwana Rodney."

Chief Inspector Rodney sugared his cup of tea "Well Neil he said "Not feeling too good today; there's been a few complaints
come in and I am to take you straight to Dar es Salaam as you are homeward bound". He turned to John "Troppo"he said.
Neil looked at John "Thanks John do me a favour would you have the gun - the case is in the bedroom and I had better get the boys to pack my gear".

A few days later John was asked to call at the Police station where the Chief Inspector had completed the transfer of the gun into John's name as Neil had wanted and so John became the proud owner of a hand made Purdey which he owned until 1954 when he returned to Britain.

The Works team had completed some minor bridges and crossings on creeks and now moved on to Kilosa where there was a large bridge to be built over the Mkondo River to carry the traffic of one of the busiest roads in Central Province. It was to be six spans long totaling 310 feet with a main span of 120 feet. The team that John had built up came into its own here - over 250 labourers were employed on the project for 12 months and a day, start to finish and not a single accident marred the operation.

It would seem that a labour force of some 250 people would be excessive but remember there was very little machinery involved with these jobs. The emphasis was on using local people allowing them and their family's access to a fair wage. Mechanically the use of shovels played the biggest part in all facets of the work; leveling the site, forming the areas and, after all the woodwork and steel had been laid and fixed, the shovels were used to mix batches of concrete with sand that had been won from the river and blue metal that had been gathered from the appropriate hillsides. After the mixing had been carried out the batches were shovelled into pans. And it was something to see, 200 shovels working together and all to a singing accompaniment.

The only two white people involved were John, team leader and Lizbeth, wife, book keeper, sick bay attendant, ration supervisor and, as the bridge neared completion, mother for the fourth time.
At least there was no rule that said this one had to remain in Scotland with the other three children.

After the bridge was completed John and Lizbeth went to UK on service leave and the rest of the team went to their various homes.

1936 saw the team back at work on the Itigi/Chunya new road alignment through thornbush country - the haunt of many lions. The team would then work on the Chunya bridge on the Lupa goldfields near Mbeya in the Southern Province of Tangayika.

The work in the thicket country was trying as all the bushes had very sharp curved back thorns, nicknamed 'wait-a-bit'thorn because when they caught you that's what you did as you slowly endeavoured to disengage yourself. The bushes slowed work but a fine wide line began to appear heading south from the railway at Itigi. The local people thought that it was great and used the road during the day, but at night the lions took over enjoying the free movement and checking out the increase in length of cleared track. Eventually they arrived in the vicinity of the main camp which the road passed, continuing south. Employed at the camp was a cheerful, but simple man, known by the local name of Rooster due to his habit of being up before the cockerels crowed each morning when he would make his way to the kitchen area, light the fires, heating the water for tea and morning chores. Inevitably one of the lions and Rooster met face to face; the man turned and ran.With a short burst of speed the lion caught Rooster and was standing over what was now a very frightened person who was making a lot of noise, as was the beast itself. Rooster luckily chose this moment to faint which most likely saved his life.

John, who had not long risen and dressed, tied his shoes, grabbed the loaded and ready shotgun and the heavy rifle from the rail where they stood at night and ran out to investigate the commotion. He was joined by the water and firewood gatherer called Bomba. John handed him the rifle to carry as they ran towards the sounds. Bomba explained that a lion has caught Rooster and may have killed him. Before anything more could be said they burst out beside a bush where the rather large male lion was standing over what appeared to be a dead man. John's first thought was that he had the 12 bore, but did he have SSG or birdshot in it. Slowly he put his hand back "Give me the big gun" he said, but as Bomba had not been impressed with the scene and had retreated to a safer position there was no answer to the request. The lion bunched his haunches and its eyes changed a sure sign of action - it meant to sort out this thing with a stick in it's hands. Seeing these telltale signs John moved the shotgun forward, braced himself and pulled both triggers to make the best of it should the gun only contain birdshot. At no more than ten paces the lion copped two barrels of SSG in the face, thus taking him out of the equation and he fell over, dead which allowed Rooster to jump to his feet and take leave of the area. The other men were waiting for this to occur but it still took them some ten or fifteen minutes to catch Rooster and it was days before he calmed down properly. After this excitement road making became a bit spasmodic for the rest of the day but John's standing had gone
up a few notches. He was now Simba John.

The road pushed on and camp was moved for the last time, everything was on schedule, but the light rains were coming nearer every day. Up country Tanganyika being equatorial is fine and pleasant during the dry season, especially above 3000 feet altitude. After the dry come the light rains which cause the earth to bloom and these light rains are followed by the heavy or long rains which causes the grasses to grow; many of the species such as the elephant grass grows to eight or ten foot.. Most roads through this country turn into quagmires and, if not used enough, revert to being tracks through the bush. Many roads are kept open due to animal and human feet rather than vehicle wheels. With this in mind John checked out the conditions and was pleased with what they had achieved. The drains were working well and the surface was consolidating. Talking about the situation that evening he commented to Lizbeth that he should make the mail run to Itigi on the motor bike before the wet proper started. Lizbeth made a list of purchases like Aspirin and Quinine that were needed to replenish the stocks in the sick bay and she needed more oranges for the baby's orange juice. Space on the bike was limited due to the two gallon tin of fuel that was strapped to the frame on the back (an early long range tank)! Setting forth early next morning John had a good run into Itigi, collected the mail and was back on the road by 2 p.m. judging he would be back in camp by 5 p.m. although the build up of cloud made him think that he would have been safer to have been underway by 1 p.m.

The storm caught John at about 3 pm reducing his speed considerably; he had been going too fast anyway and had had a couple of hairy moments further back, but now there was water everywhere. Things went well as the earth soaked up the initial deluge but soon there was run off and John had his work cut out keeping the bike upright and steady whilst judging the speed, slip etc. The oranges in the cane basket on the opposite side to the can of petrol were hampering balance and may have slipped at this moment. Next thing he knew he and the bike were sliding along, mud flying and then silence. John was out for a fair while, how long he did not know. He came to with the machine resting on his left leg and the smell of roasting that was a bit of a worry. On the plus side the rain had washed most of the mud off of him and the bike and had cooled the motor fins considerably. The thought of his leg under the bike, the smell and the approach of darkness combined to give him strength and somehow he heaved the bike up ending up in the seat to get his breath back and do a check of the situation. His left leg was a bit sore but the wool stocking had taken most of the burn so John moved the kick start, gave it a couple of kicks and thankfully the motor started.
Trying not to get too excited, John moved the bike along the road, the rain had eased but the mud was deeper and more slippery which kept the speed down. John rode into camp about 5.30 p.m. He was quite pleased with himself but he did get an earful from Lizbeth about 'hot engines'and 'human legs''. They were both relieved that the situation had not been worse.

The road was finished on schedule and the team moved on to Chunya where a bridge was to be built over the river which was troublesome during the wet season flooding for days on end. The camp was already in operation when the team arrived and work went ahead as usual. In her position as nurse for the sick, Lizbeth used to tend to headaches through to ulcerated legs. The men, of course, thought that she was great and at this camp they lost no time in showing her little flakes of yellow stuff that they were able to collect as they broke stones into blue metal size for the concrete works. They soon showed Lizbeth where to gather flakes from and she became quite expert at using the sunshine to help her find the gold flakes in the finished concrete. These she would pick out with a knife and by the end of the job she had two brown quinine bottles full of gold which she would take back to the UK with her on their next leave spell. Meanwhile the labour force were doing well with their own sideline from the rocks and the local traders must have been rubbing their hands in delight.

Each day after the work during the short evening period John and Lizbeth took their daily walk; John with his 12 gauge and Lizbeth with her 410 shotgun. They oft times got the odd guinea fowl or yellow neck for the table. On one occasion Lizbeth had been asking John if there had been any further news on a herd of cattle that a local farmer had brought in to trial in regards to tsetse fly and ticks. John was just saying that he had not heard of any results so far when round the bend in the track they found themselves in a small herd of cows. Öh"said Lizbeth "Here they are and they all look to be doing well" "Yes"said John "Keep your voice down we do not want to spook them"and they walked on through the herd of grazing animals. Having left the herd behind John felt that he was able to breathe easier and he told Lizbeth that they had just walked through a herd of buffalo!!

With the bridge finished at Chunya the team moved back to the Kilosa area where the road to Morogoro was updated and crossings completed. John was now made Road Foreman and his service leave saw them leaving for Britain in May 1939. While in London they thought that they would have some of Lizbeth's gold made into a nice ring with a diamond set in it. They checked the jewelers along the main street areas but the price did not please John; looking for a bargain John checked further afield and in one of the back street shops found that "Yes" we can do this and that as you require and the price sounded reasonable. Just leave the makings with us and you can collect the ring in two weeks or so" When John and Lizbeth returned the place had changed, the shop was empty and, according to other people, the family that ran the jewelers had come into money and no one seemed to know where they had moved to.

The threat of war was very close and they were quite pleased to sail on the Landovery Castle from Southampton in September 1939. The convoy of ships was docked in Genoa when war was declared. The ship's captain had foreseen this possibility and on the evening tide slipped anchor and left rather than wait for hostilities to begin. A number of other ships had done the same, but, of course, convoy formation was not practical so each one made their own run. On the second night out the captain informed the ship that a U boat was shadowing them and that he would be taken evasive action where possible. Covers were removed from the deck guns which were mounted fore and aft and as darkness set in the ship changed course several times. By full darkness the captain had the boat at full speed and made his run. At the same time as this was happening the U boat must have endeavoured to outwit the ship; obviously to take up a firing position. The outcome of all this jockeying was that the ship, some 20,000 tons in weight, hit the submarine which must have been at periscope depth, and presumably sunk it. In speaking to John next day the captain told him that he had had a disturbed night worrying about damage and the other subs in the area. Damage to the ship was minimal and they were able to sail on to the Suez and the East African ports of call arrangements having been made for repairs to be carried out in South Africa.

Disembarking at Dar-es-Salaam John learnt at Head Office that he would be posted at Mbeya in Southern Province where there was need for bridges and upgrading of the Great North road.
As fresh troops were being brought up from South Africa to the conflict in North Africa and the Mediterranean areas there was an urgent need for a permanent highway. John and Lizbeth took the train to Dodoma where the team driver by the name of White and the head houseboy, Abdullah Ramathani, universally known as Austin to avoid confusion with the other Abdullahs in camp, were waiting with all the gear loaded. As soon as John and Lizbeth were aboard they set off for Iringa and after three days of traveling arrived in Mbeya. From here they continued to the South Ruhaha River where the team were already working on a bridge crossing. Two days later the weary travelers arrived at the new camp situated on the banks of a delightful river which was to be home for the next ten months - the time that it took to erect the new bridge.

Lizbeth was particularly pleased with the encampment at the South Ruhaha. Whereas in the past their accommodation had comprised of a large tent for general living and sleeping, the cooking facilities had always been in a grass hut set apart from the tent area which meant that during the periods of rain there was always a problem with the mud and the leaks. The fact that tents were used normally meant that the camp site was positioned for proximity to the work rather than any pleasant aspect or peace and quiet. After this period of time it seemed that Liz's team had understood what the memsahib required and therefore the new camp comprised of good thatched huts set on the banks of an attractive river area. The tent was stored for this period but was in use again at their next project.

As soon as the bridge was completed the team moved further south to a place called Mbulizi where a large grass airstrip had to be constructed as a fuel stop between the Rhodesian border and Mbeya airfield enabling troops to be flown north supplementing the main road convoys. While John and Lizbeth were working on the airstrip they had an arrangement with the postal pilots who used to drop their weekly newspaper, letters and any groceries such as bacon or tinned butter, as they flew over the strip. The items would be contained in a woven grass basket, wrapped in hessian and then securely sewn with streamers for safe landing The men always thought it was great fun positioning themselves along the strip area each jockeying to be in the best position to find the kikapu as the person who did so was always given a shilling by John. A silver shilling was, at that time, a day's pay and no basket was ever lost although some took a while to find if the cross winds were strong. During this period Lizbeth saved many of the food items for inclusion with the monthly food parcel she and John sent to Aunt Jessie and the family during the war.

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When the strip was almost to handover stage the army and airmen were already using it to keep troops moving to the northern campaign. One day a plane that landed had a bearing problem and the airmen stripped the bit from the engine but there was no spare in stock. Saidi, the head carpenter, produced a piece of black ebony and within a few hours had made a reproduction of the bearing block which, with careful scraping and smoothing, fitted beautifully. The engine ran A1 and the pilot confidently took off. The next plane south informed everyone that the repair had worked a charm and the plane had landed safely at Mbeya airport. This was the high standard that the team members had arrived at and John always expressed great confidence in their abilities.

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