Memories of Southern Rhodesia contd.

My name is Gerald Louis Coffey. I'll start with where I was born: My parents were farmers in Southern  Rhodesia in a region known as Umvukwes(the Horse Shoe Block)they were tobacco farmers.My father was farm manager for the owner a Mr Mckensie.My mother went to the capital city - Salisbury to the Lady Chancellor Hospital to have me.I was born on 22 May 1957,Denise Fuller our neighbour had her son Mark, two days after me,our mothers were great friends.The Fullers later left Umvukwees and went "down south" (South Africa)My memories of those early years are a bit sketchy however I will record what I can remember.I remember being in the charge of a nanny  who wouldn't let me out of her sight.I suppose my earliest memories go back to my second year.Everything about the farm seemed huge to me,I particularly remember the giant blue gum trees and the sighing sound they made on windy days and the sense of excitement about growing up on a farm.The sounds and smells were heavenly.I remember the huge tobacco barns and the strong smell of un-cured tobacco,the smell of oil and diesoline in the tractor sheds.All of the farm machinery fascinated me but I was not allowed to explore, to my disgust,however I soon became adept at giving my nanny the slip.I of course was blissfully unaware of the trouble she got into because of my escapades and continued to play truant.We had two dogs that I remember;both of mixed parentage,the larger was named Shumba(Lion in the local shona tongue)He attacked and almost killed the smaller dog one day.My dad was out on the lands and my mother was un-able to separate them with the result that Shumba almost killed Hunter,the poor dog was in really bad shape.My mother had in the meanwhile sent a messenger to summon my father.... on his arrival back at the farm house he sadly had no choice but to shoot Shumba,he took him away from the house to do this.It was no longer safe to have a dog that had tasted blood, around small children.This was a great shock to me and very sad for all of us.The farm also grew groundnuts(peanuts) in addition to tobacco.The local baboons held the groundnuts to be their very own personal delicacy much to the disgust of my father.The solution was quite simple but not easily executed!Shoot them!The old farm shotty(shotgun)was used in addition to the efforts of the farm labourers.Each evening at dusk the labourers would assemble to bring the day's catch of dead baboons for inspection by my dad.I know this sounds really cruel but remember this was the 1950's,conservation was not big in those days.It seems that there was a plentifull supply of baboons because they just kept on coming!

On the political front things were not very rosy,pressure especially from Britain was mounting for Rhodesia to hand over power to the majority.Sir Roy Welensky had stepped down as Prime Minister(I many years later went to school with his great grandson Bernard Welensky)to be succeeded by the great Ian Smith.The aforementioned was the architect of UDI (Unilateral Declaration of Independance)by which means we seceeded from the colonial rule of Great Britain.Boy did that create a stink in Harold Wilson,s government!