Bwana wa Polisi

The story of a Policeman's Life in

England, Nyasaland and Bechuanaland

1952 - 1967

by Christopher Bean

Edited by Ian "Witty" Whitfield

(of the St Andrew's 'Federal Saints' Group)

[To be Published soon by "30 Degrees South"]

    CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

Gods From the Sky

Whilst I am on the subject of the Makarikari Pan, in Bechuanaland, I will recount a quite unique incident which occurred some twenty years before I arrived in the BP.

During the Second World War the R.A.F. maintained a large Training Base for Pilots in Bulawayo. In 1944 a DC3, the old workhorse "Dakota", left Bulawayo on a training flight which took it out over the Kalahari. Something went wrong with the plane’s direction finder and radios and it flew until it ran out of fuel. The Pilots, two in number, seeing the wide, flat, white expanse of the Makarikari below them, were able to land safely on the salt. At that time they would have been within a hundred miles of Bulawayo as the crow flies. There was nothing wrong with the plane, it was just empty and they suffered no harm at all. But nobody knew where they were.

Within a short time they were approached by a group of real Bushmen, the "San", who had observed the Plane’s descent from the fringes of the Pan where they were camped. The Bushmen of course spoke no English, indeed they only spoke their own “Click” Language which very few White Men then understood. They had never seen white men before and were quite convinced that these creatures were 'Gods' who had come from the sky. Many African Tribes believe that if they eat a part of another influential being, such as, a rich man, a powerful man, a wise man or a beautiful woman, they will be imbued with that person’s envied qualities. This has always been a very common belief. So they lead the two Pilots to their rudimentary camp on the edge of the Pan, fed them up for three days and then cut them up and ate them!

Meanwhile of course, the R.A.F. had not been idle. After an appropriate period of time they had started their 'Square Searches' during which they search from overhead in series of squares, increasing in size to cover ever wider areas. But they had an idea of the area in which the Dakota could be and of course they were looking for wreckage. To their surprise, after some days, the Dakota was spotted sitting in the middle of the Salt Pan apparently, and in fact as it turned out, undamaged. They managed to land small Aircraft and were very puzzled by the fact that the two Pilots could not be found. The Pilots were trained to stay by a downed aircraft as this is the most obvious place for rescuers to look and it could not be believed that they had wondered off by themselves, especially as there were no signs of injury or struggle.

The R.A.F. and the Bechuanaland Police were ill equipped to conduct the kind of search now required and the British South African Police, (B.S.A.P.), from Rhodesia were called on for help. They came down with expert Trackers who soon picked up the spoor of the Bushmen together with those of the two Pilots. There were still no signs of struggle, nor would any be expected as the Bushmen are a very peaceful people. They were tracked to the edge of the Pan where the temporary encampment was found, (Bushmen in any event only ever build temporary encampments as they are semi-nomadic), and the trail continued further into the Bush. Eventually the group of Bushmen was found and they quite voluntarily told the B.S.A.P., through Interpreters, what had happened. They were quite oblivious to the fact that they had committed Murder and Cannibalism and were sure they had just eaten some fortuitously arrived Gods!

They were arrested, twenty eight of them, and charged with Murder. The case was heard in the High Court at Lobatsi and the Judge, who would have been British, found them guilty. However, in sentencing them he took account of the fact that they had no knowledge of the White Men’s Laws, had in fact never seen White Men and had simply acted in accordance with their Tribal Beliefs. He said it would be immoral and unjust to impose any sentence on them other than to discharge them and tell them not to do this again. They were released and taken back to the Kalahari. This must surely be a Murder Case unique in the annals of British

Justice!!

End

Thanks to Ian Whitfied for making this article available to ORAFs. Thanks also to the author, Christopher Bean, we wish him well with the sales of his book.

Ian is hoping that someone might know further information on this matter and he asks that you contact him on whitfield@federalsaints.net

Comments are welcome - please send them to Eddy Norris at orafs11@gmail.com

Christopher Bean, (Nyasaland Police  Superintendent (Ret)), 

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