1952 - Van Riebeeck, The Dompas, Hydrogen Bomb and Singing in the Rain.

The Year 1952

The year 1952 is but a distant memory for me. Sixty-five years ago I would be turning five in less than a month. When I think back to that time I realise how sketchy my memory is, I have flashes of memory from that time, floats from the Van Riebeeck Festival, visiting the bushmen exhibition with my father, vague memories of old Cape Town station. We never owned a car as a family, so all travelling was done by train. I remember the wooden carriages, the sound of the conductor’s whistle and the heavy clank of the doors being closed. It was another world.

Private Collection - Van Riebeeck Festival Program

Private Collection - Van Riebeeck Festival Program

South Africa would stage the Van Riebeeck festival this year celebrating the tercentenary of Van Riebeeck’s ships arriving at Table bay. The festival was a glorious affair of massed dancing, Volkspele in colourful costumes and a sign of Afrikaner pride. As mentioned earlier I have vague memories of this event and although my father was no Afrikaner he was never-the-less proud of his nation.

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It was this year that the infamous pass book the “Dompas” came into being. It was a 17 page document and restricted movement for millions of black South Africans and created a criminal class of many whose only fault was not having their pass book on them when it was asked of them.

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There was strong resistance to the apartheid laws, on the 6th of April the African National Congress, South African Indian Congress and the Coloured People's Congress launched defiance campaigns. The system was becoming firmly entrenched.
Sometime during this year, Nelson Mandela is given a 9 month suspended sentence and is forbidden to leave the Johannesburg area for the next 6 months.

The world experienced many firsts, in India Mother Teresa started her work among the dying and destitute, In America the first Hydrogen Bomb is tested on Elugelab in Enewetak Atoll. It exploded with a force of 10 million megatons and was 1000 times more powerful than the atomic bomb. In Korea the war dragged on. Peace negotiations had begun but Battles raged on. A stalemate had been reached and both sides were trying to consolidate territory.

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Even though the war was raging in Korea, most Americans saw a rise in their standard of living. Cars, phones and TV’s were becoming common place. The first passenger jet, The Comet is produced in the UK providing cheaper air travel. Unfortunately at the same time the year 1952 sees 4000 deaths due to London smog.
Queen Elizabeth 2 becomes queen after the death of her father King George V1. The following year she will be crowned in Westminster Abbey. It will be the first time that a coronation will be televised.

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Polio / Poliomyelitis is killing and maiming many around the world. I remember neighbouring children being infected. I was too young to understand why I could no longer play with my friends. The word Mau-Mau was being whispered and spoken about. In Kenya Settlers are being murdered on their farms. Stories of diabolic rituals circulate among South Africans. In October Jomo Kenyatta is arrested and troops are sent to quell the uprising.

Entrance to Mau-Mau Cave in Kenya

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For some reason trains are important to me. It is probably because often my father and I travelled together to Cape Town from our home in the suburbs. In 1952, 50 Class 4E locomotives are acquired by the South African Railways and are put in service on the line to Touwsriver.

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The English version of Anne Frank’s “Diary of a Young Girl” is published. In the USA “Singing in the Rain” premieres starring Gene Kelly, Debbie Reynolds Donald O’Connor, and Jean Hagen. Music from that year brought us Blue Tango, Cry, Wheel of Fortune, You Belong to Me, Auf Wederseh’n, Sweetheart and one of the earliest songs that I remember, High Noon.

Hits of 1952

1952 was also the year of the “Big UFO Flap” on four consecutive weekends in June large numbers of sightings were reported over Washington. Project Blue Book and the US Air Force were inundated with sightings. Five years earlier the Roswell Incident had made headline news and I expect it was still on people’s minds.

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