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KV Carlstein

TODAY IN KIMBERLEY’S HISTORY 8 AUGUST

UPDATED: 08/08/2023

8 August 1914, The De Beers mines close down.
8 August 1968, KV Carlstein (pictured) honoured for his contribution to the war effort (1939-1945).

Book honours City man for part in South Africa war effort

A Kimberley company director, Mr Kingsley Vane (Carlie) Carlstein, has been honoured for his contribution to the 1940-1945 South African war effort in a newly released book, “The Engineer’s Contribution,” by J Ralph Draper. The book traces the history of mechanical engineering in the Republic between 1892 and 1967.PT-Small_Arms_Ammunition-1968

In a chapter devoted to military engineering, the author mentions the role played by Mr Carlstein, who is managing director of Kimberley Engineering Works Limited.

Mention is made of the special plant and equipment made under his supervision which probably had the greatest impact of all on engineering knowledge of mass production techniques in South Africa at the time.

Mr Carlstein’s company’s contribution of .303 ammunition was the highest in any of the Allied countries during the last war. A total of 5000 million rounds of .303 ammunition was produced in Kimberley.

Kimberley and Mr Carlstein’s contributions to engineering feature prominently in the book. The author points out that the Long Cecil’s birthplace is the present Kimberley Engineering Works, where the original lathe used to manufacture the 28-pounder field gun is still in use.

The engineering works is described as “a veritable storehouse of early mechanical equipment.”

The author refers also to a vintage two-pole motor still in stand-by duty in the generator room. “Collectors have frequently eyed this museum piece, but Mr Carlstein prefers to keep it in running order,” Mr Draper says.PT-Small_Arms_Ammunition-List-1968

Mr Carlstein’s role in the production of small-arms ammunition at the Kimberley branch of the South African Mint during the last war is referred to not only in the book but also an article in the Diamond Fields Advertiser in December 1945.

“At the tragic fall of France the Kimberley branch was the sole source of supply of small arms ammunition for the Abyssinian campaign,” the article reads.

In October 1944, Mr Carlstein, as works manager of the Kimberley branch of the mint, took an Empire Parliamentary delegation over the works.

(Kimberley was chosen as the site for ammunition production after Mr Carlstein had brought to the notice of the director of the mint, Mr JT Becklake, the plant and equipment available in the city.)

Mr Carlstein is due to retire in three years. Asked about his company’s present activities, he declined to comment. But, Mr Carlstein said, he was prepared to continue assisting the Government and South Africa to the best of his ability.

(All above from the DFA 8 August 1968).

Note: All below from the website cartridgecollector.net

At first the Mint in Pretoria produced ball ammunition at the target rate of twelve million rounds per annum, but an extension of the output to include a wider variety of ordnance was decided on early in 1939 and on the outbreak of hostilities in Europe was immediately approved. These extensions included artillery cases for up to 4.5” Howitzer, 18- and 25-pounder shell cases, anti-tank solid steel shot, several types of primers, fuses, detonators, etc., flame tracer and armor piercing .303” small arms ammunition. It became clear however when the target rate for .303 ammunition was changed to unlimited output that the Pretoria facilities were inadequate for wartime production. A meeting was held, chaired by General Smuts, and attended by Dr. P.V van de Bijl, a member of the Smuts Cabinet and at that stage the minister for Native Affairs, Mr. T.P. Becklake. Deputy Master of the old Royal Mint and first director of the SA Mint, and civil engineer, Mr. Kingsley “Carlie” Carlstein, who was to be appointed as the manager of the new facility and who later became the Director of the Kimberley Engineering Works. As a result of this meeting, Mr. Stratten, who was the Chairman of the Union Corporation and Mr. Carlstein visited Kimberly to ascertain the extent of production facilities and the decision was made to relocate the factory entirely to Kimberley, which had been in operation since September 1941.

The plant was operating in the Kimberly tram sheds that were adjacent to the well-equipped workshops of the de Beers Diamond Company. The existing factory in Kimberley was originally destined for France from the United States on a lend-lease basis, but when France fell to the Germans in early 1940 it was diverted to South Africa. The reasoning for the move to Kimberley was three-fold, firstly to spread the risk in case of an attack, secondly because of the existing rail and road infrastructure network already in place from the diamond mining days and thirdly to address the critical shortage of labour and housing facilities in Pretoria, whereas the area surrounding Kimberley had sufficient labour available. Skilled staff for the Mint were supplied by such bodies as the Chamber of Mines and large South African engineering and manufacturing concerns and apart from these, the Mint employed almost 14,300 people during the War. The original Pretoria plant was kept in operation until early in 1942 and was then transferred and the factory was known as the South African Mint – Kimberley Branch and functioned from September 1941 until about September 1945. The only type of small arms ammunition made in South Africa during World War II was .303” ammunition and interesting to note that only the components and not loaded ammunition were manufactured at Kimberley. Bullets and cases were on completion sent to a central loading facility in Pretoria.

8 August 1914, The De Beers mines close down.

DID YOU KNOW

Because of the war in Europe, all operations on the diamond mines in Kimberley had shut down on 8 August 1914, washing having ceased the day before. Wesselton Mine and Bultfontein Mine would reopen in May 1916, but the most famous of the five big mines, the Kimberley Mine (Big Hole), would never again operate.PT-War_in_Europe-1914

Francis Oats, Chairman of De Beers Consolidated Mines Ltd, (pictured), explained the closure to a distressed Kimberley:

“Today we are onlookers at the greatest crisis the world has ever known. As to how long that crisis may continue we can have no foreknowledge. I have to tell you, however, that since the declaration of war we have sold no diamonds at all. We have to recognise that we are a company producing a luxury, which naturally does not find a sale in circumstances like those that we face today. We are perforce compelled to mark time. We have faith that things will eventually right themselves, and that our product will again be in demand.

Francis Oats

But today we have to face the fact that no demand exists. We have therefore to ask ourselves, shall we go on working without selling diamonds? I need scarcely tell you that the position has been very anxiously discussed. There have been differences of opinion among the Directors but in the end we came to the conclusion that while this state of things lasted we must as far as possible confine ourselves to marking time, and not further increase the stock of unsold diamonds already on hand. With that decision, naturally, there arose a question which concerned Kimberley very closely – the employment of our workpeople. On that matter we have done the best we could under the circumstances…The Directors claim your sympathy in the crisis they have already gone through, and in that which is still to come.

PT-Francis_Oats-1914

Francis Oats

“At the moment of closing our work down there was no money to be obtained. Our consols were unsaleable. The bank rate in London was at that time ten per cent. We were faced with difficulties on every hand. The question of what we had to do with our workpeople was not the least of the problems with which we had to deal.

“With regard to our men…shows that of the 2700 Europeans previously in the services of the Company we have assisted about 699 to go elsewhere to obtain employment. Over one thousand in number…came forward and patriotically gave their services to the country in time of need. A number of men went to the front and we decided…that they should not lose pecuniarily by their patriotism. They were receiving half pay, and we told them that as long as they continued on active service the difference between their military pay and the half pay they were receiving from the Company should be made good.”

Oats went on to say that the 1000 or so men still in employment would receive half pay until the end of January 1915 where a further decision would be made.

From Kimberley Calls and Recalls on Facebook By Steve Lunderstedt

Aeon Computer Kimberley

About Steve Lunderstedt

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