CTARC Bernie Crockford ZS1BW Silent Key - 22 Dec '17

You will have heard the sad news of the passing of ZS1BW in the Sunday CTARC bulletin of 24 December 2017. Here follows a brief eulogy that was broadcast on that bulletin:

Bernie Crockford / ZS1BW
(Photo by kind courtesy of Dennis / ZS1AU)

On Friday 22 December, the key of Bernie Crockford / ZS1BW or “Boere Wors”, as he will be affectionately remembered, went silent. He was 88 years old.

Bernie was born on the channel island of Guernsey.

He saw service in the Royal Navy, and came out to South Africa in 1947 on the HMS Vanguard, which was considered then to be the most advanced battleship in the naval fleet.

The special white-painted royal train,
with the HMS Vanguard in the background

Also on board that ship were members of the Royal Family, including then Princess Elizabeth, on their post-war tour of South Africa.

Bernie liked our country so much that he returned here. He married Sylvia, who survives him, and in time became the patriarch of a large family that includes children, grand children and even great grand children who will all, like us, remember him with fondness.

Bernie worked for Gallo South Africa as a recording engineer, in a studio in Oranjezicht. Ted Baker (then ZS1RA) was the managing director. Bernie also worked later on for CNA and was the manager of the Wynberg branch when he retired.

His QTH was in Ferness Rd in Ottery for a number of years, where he kept a significant radio station with a TH6 beam antenna. It was from this QTH that he broke the South African record for DX contacts in the two metre band when he worked a station on a ship up in Luanda harbour on 144 MHz, taking advantage of unusual coastal ducting conditions. As far as I have been able to ascertain, that record still stands unbroken.

Bernie was an honorary life member of both the SARL and of the CTARC.  He served as CTARC Chairman and on the CTARC committee. He edited the CTARC newsletter, "Ragchew" for years and also diligently put together the "Acorn Times" newsletter of the Oakdale Klub-Amateur Radio. He also hosted the ZS1OAK Natter Net for some years. He also used to relay the transmission of these CTARC Sunday morning bulletins on the 80 metre band for a while.

Later, Bernie and Sylvia moved up to Langeberg Ridge, where he was not too far from Dave Perry / ZS1SG.

Bernie was one of the great characters of our hobby, broad in compassion, wise in his insights and not unafraid to puncture some over-inflated sacred cows where necessary. We shall certainly miss him. 

Go well, old man.

(The above eulogy was compiled by Nick / ZS1ZD in consultation with Paul / ZS1S and Rob / ZS1SA)

Dennis / ZS1AU submitted the following contribution about Bernie:

Bernie was a great radio amateur, a GIANT amongst GIANTS and did so much for all in this ZS1 area.

He held the SARL Jack Twine & Honorary Life Member Awards.

He served as Chairman and Committee Member of the Cape Town branch / CTARC & Oakdale Club  and was the editor of Ragchew (for CTARC) and the Acorn Times (for Oakdale Club).

Bernie was one of a kind and his XYL Sylvia stood by him in all his ham activities.

He was a popular and likeable human being and we will miss him for his contribution to amateur radio and his friendship over many decades.

My deepest sympathy to Sylvia and his large family.

He was 3 months younger than me and his passing was still unexpected.

Bernie had many interesting ideas and was a very busy and hard-working person.

May he rest in peace.

A private family memorial service for Bernie was held on 5th January 2018.

Grateful thanks to Dennis / ZS1AU, Mike / ZS1FP and and Nick / ZS1ZD for the photographs and articles below of Bernie.

R.I.P.

Bernie was awarded the Len Wells Ham Spirit Award trophy
in both 1981 and 1989

.

Bernie at the mike of ZS1OAK

Bernie and Sylvia

Dave / ZS1DFR and Bernie / ZS1BW share a joke
at the CTARC fleamarket

Left to right: Alfie / ZS1HX, Bernie / ZS1BW and Mike / ZS1FP

Bernie receives his Honorary Life Membership of the CTARC
from CTARC chairman Bud / ZS1BW in 2003

CTARC Report Back on 70th Anniversary Function - 26 Jun '16

John / ZS1PM delivers his fascinating account of  the post-war days
of ham radio, and of his work with Dr Wadley

This is a brief first report-back which will be updated presently with a more comprehensive one, along with more photographs.

The CTARC's 70th Anniversary celebratory luncheon was a great success! Members past and present met at the Wild Fig Restaurant in Mowbray from 12h00 on Saturday 25 June. We had the chance to enjoy a flute of champagne in the downstairs bar while waiting for all the guests to arrive.

At around 12h45 we moved upstairs into the function room which had been beautifully laid out in preparation for the event. Once the guests were settled, Danny /  ZS1BL as Master of Ceremonies introduced us to the programme and to our chairman, Rob / ZS1SA. On a projector screen in the background, a presentation (weeks in the making!) by Rob & Anne ran continuously, showing photographs highlighting the history of our club from its founding in 1946.

Rob formally welcomed us to the event and started the meeting with the sad news of the passing of Tippy Marais / ZS1CL /sk. A brief moment of silence was held in his memory. Rob then gave us a concise history of the CTARC (in its numerous manifestations and localities) up to the present day.

The first course was then served.

Speeches and comments were then delivered by:
John Blackman / ZS1PM
Shaun Overmeyer / ZS1RA
Paul Johnson / ZS1S
Deon Erwin / ZS1ZL
Dennis Wells / ZS1AU
and
Bernie Crockford / ZS1BW
(A more comprehensive account of these will be written here shortly)

We were then served the Main Course (where we had a choice of three different options). Towards the end of this, Tony / ZS1TK presented Anne with a beautiful bouquet of flowers for all her efforts and then, being the perfect gentleman, a bouquet for his dear XYL, too.

Later on,  the delicious dessert (Malva pudding) appeared before each one of us.

The afternoon concluded at around 16h30. As guests departed, they were each presented with a commemorative certificate of attendance. Some of us stayed on for coffee at the downstairs patio until around 17h00.

All in all, a great event! All the more so due to the sterling efforts of all those involved, in particular:

Anne (our club secretary), for organising the whole event with her characteristic precision, practicality and common sense. (In addition to all this she also designed and produced the invitations and menu, and with Rob put together the historical slide show!);
Rob / ZS1SA, for his involvement with the slideshow and for chairing the event;
Danny / ZS1BL, for his able role as MC;
All those who kindly prepared and delivered speeches;
Paul / ZS1S, for making videos of all the speeches;
Nick / ZS1ZD, for taking the photographs, and for the certificates, name labels and 70th anniversary logo;
The management and staff of the Wild Fig Restaurant for their superb venue, excellent service, scrumptious fare and also for the kind loan of their video projector;
All the others involved, in various capacities.

Our next meeting will be the important Annual General Meeting, to be held in July. Details will be published in due course.

CTARC Some Old Friends - 9 May '16

Mike / ZS1FP recently attended a meeting at the Oakdale Klub, Amateur Radio in the northern suburbs of Cape Town. There he took some photos of Alfie / ZS1HX and Bernie / ZS1BW, both of whom fine gentlemen are well know to the Cape Town Amateur Radio Centre.

Bernie now has 88 summers to boast, and is still in reasonable health, as is his XYL Sylvia. Alfie is still busy up on his farm at Kalbaskraal and is often heard on the Cape Town repeaters as he whizzes up and down the N7 freeway.

Thanks to Mike for the news and photos.

Above: Bernie considers a construction project

Above, left to right: Alfie, Bernie and Mike

CTARC Some History

Bernie, ZS1BW, kindly sent us the following...

A LITTLE LOCAL HISTORY

Going back in time is a good way to show newcomers what it was like in the ‘Good Ole’ Days’. Those were the days when clubs were called ‘Branches’, you paid your SARL subscriptions and nominated which ‘Branch’ you wanted to support. The SARL HQ was then based in Cape Town, Sorry about the picture quality but they were not taken with a digital camera Hi!

Here (below) we have the Cape Town Branch committee: (also 1975/6 vintage)



Above, left to right: Ivo Waher /ZS1DD, Geoff Tinker /ZS1LM, Mike Obeler, /ZR1AG, Howard Green /ZR1BQ, (Yes, we had ZR’s back then)













Front row, left to right: George Doudney /ZS1SP, Greg Roberts /ZS1BI, Uli Denning /ZS1UD (Chairman), Ian Simpson /ZS1IS, and missing is Dave Perry /ZS1SG. (Dave must have been somewhere in the mountains with his beloved repeaters when this photo was taken.)

The Cape Town club had quite a number of venues for the monthly meetings but eventually settled with a clubhouse of their own in Rondebosch.

There is such a lot in the history of Amateur Radio in the Cape. It would fill too many pages for this newsletter. I think it would be a good idea to get it down in black and white for the benefit of those who follow in our footsteps. I’m asking all old timers with faded memories to put something down on paper so that whatever it is can be recorded for future generations. There must be hundreds of photographs but they need some sort of explanation so get your pens and paper out and make a start. Don’t worry about spelling mistakes, the computer looks after that side. Get your copy to me in whichever way you prefer. Contact Bernie / ZS1BW [here].