Ted Eustance - memories of another era

 Published in the Meintjeskop Courier , March 1992

  

The Meintjeskop Courier has received this very interesting contribution from our oldest retired diplomat, Mr Ted Eustace. Mr Eustace is alive and well (at the age of 93) and living in Harare

Introduction

I was born in King Williams Town at  the end of the Nineteenth  century.  I matriculated  at Fort Beaufort, joined the Standard Bank in Adelaide and worked in that branch of the Bank for four years. I then resigned and joined the Civil Service. At that stage, Pretoria was  relatively small and not the big and spreading city that it is today. I, on arriving in Pretoria, immediately set out to get a degree in the Extra Mural section of the Transvaal University College, taking a BA (Law). It of course meant a lot of hard work, attending lectures in the afternoon or after supper. While I was still studying for the degree, I somewhat stupidly joined the Pretoria Regiment, working hard at that too, going to three qualifying courses at Roberts Heights Military College. Such courses enabled me to get rapid promotion through the ranks of Lieutenant, Captain and Major. There was no doubt about it, I had real zest for army life.

My involvement in the Active Citizen Force was such that I got the Defense Department's permission and help to go to England in 1934 to get a wider experience of Infantry training and administration. In England I spent four and a half months with the Royal Welsh Fusiliers, who were affiliated to the Pretoria Regiment.

Just before leaving Cape Town to go to sea to England, I made a brief application to join the Department of External Affairs. Applications were invited in a notice in the Government Gazette. But during my spell with the British Army and then while I was rushing round England, I really forgot about the application that I had sent in.

Much to my surprise, I suddenly received instructions, not to return to South Africa but to go to Rome where I had been posted as a First Secretary in the Legation. I was most dubious about accepting the post as my interest in Army life dominated most of my thinking.  However to Rome I went and never regretted joining our Corps, for a moment. I served in various posts for 25 years. On being pensioned I returned to Rhodesia where I had been our High Commissioner and was placed on several boards of directors whose companies were of South  African origin. I am still on three such boards and had better confess that I have been a pensioner in this country for just on 32 years. I am not ashamed of that confession but wonder quite often  how I have lasted 93 years and how I now have the nerve to contribute data to the Meintjeskop Courier.

Rome

 When I joined the Rome staff in early October 1934, I found that we were few in number. The Minister, Dr A Heymans of Belgian origin, but who had been an eye surgeon in Pretoria for many years, myself, a Second Secretary, a first grade clerk, Piet Theron, and the really  splendid Italian interpreter, Dante Balboni.

Life in Rome was exciting and most interesting plus, strangely enough, very inexpensive. The Fascist government under The Duke Mussolini, was especially well run. I had absolutely no knowledge of Italian but set out, with Balboni, to see if I could learn the language the quick and direct way, by living with an Italian family.

Our advertisement in a daily paper brought in several replies which Balboni examined, and it was decided to lease a flatlet in a building next door to the huge British Embassy. I was to pay the rent in advance so, on a Saturday morning, Balboni and I went for a further visit to the owners of the building. Balboni and a domestic, whom we had not seen on our first visit, seemed to be having a real squabble, which I could of course not understand. However, he grabbed me by the arm and muttered, "You cannot live here". We turned away and I demanded an explanation. I had to drag this from him and his reply shook me badly. The previous evening, Mussolini's "Sex Police" had raided the property and had discovered that it was an unlicensed "Brothel". It seemed a major disaster and one that must not leak out. I immediately imagined  newspaper headlines reading "Young Diplomat rents quarters in Rome brothel". We were not daunted for long and another advertisement was placed in a newspaper. I succeeded in getting first class accommodation in the home of an Italian retired diplomat, who had until recently been the Italian Minister Plenipotentiary in Paris. There, I was completely happy and began to pick up good Italian very quickly.

Early in 1935 the Legation received a wrathful letter from the Bata Shoe Company in Zurich. It was agreed that Piet Theron, who had good savoir faire, should at once go to Zur ich to look into the complaint. On his return to Rome, Piet advised that the Company had  every right to stage the bitter complaint about hides and skins that they had received from Port Elizabeth. The bales, when opened had many foreign bodies in them to build up weight. Full details were sent to Pretoria and most fortunately the authorities took quick and correct action. An announcement was published in our Government Gazette, stating that in future all South African hides and SK~ns exported, would be liable to inspection before export, and that penalties for harmful exports would  be heavy. We advised the Bata Company and in due course received their  grateful thanks for the action we had  taken. .

In the beginning of 1935 the Legation was notified that a courtier from the Royal Palace wanted to meet Dr Heymans to discuss the formalities that would have to be followed, when the Minister presented his Letters of Credence from the King of Britain to his Majesty the King of Italy. The ceremony would take place on the morning of the 24th January and, following ancient practice, would be very formal.

In due course the South African party including Dr A Heymans, his lady wife, plus all the diplomatic staff and their wives, would be expected to go to the Palace, all dressed up in formal evening dress, the ladies all wearing three meter trains. A courtier from the Palace would escort them, the Minister and his wife, in a horse drawn and formal carriage, plus coachman and footman. The diplomatic staff, plus their wives, would be expected to accompany their Head of Mission and his wife, but would be required to use their own or hired cars, of good appearance.

The great day arrived. The South African party were ready at the appointed time, the court carriage arrived, plus a senior courtier and, outside the gates of the Legation, an escort of motor cyclists were ready to lead the way and look after the procession.

On arrival at the Palace, the whole party entered a special courtyard, disembarked, formed up behind the courtier and went through passages and formal rooms till they reached the entrance of the Presentation Chamber. There was a pause; a high, piercing fanfare of a dozen trumpets welcomed the South Africans. There was another pause, and a door opened into the gracious Chamber. Some distance from the door, on a raised dais and on their handsome thrones, sat Their Majesties in a formal pose.

 We were signed to by the courtiers and our ladies made showy, slow, full curtsies and the men made their bows.  There was another pause and then the courtier took our Minister up to the King's throne. A lady-in- waiting took Mrs Heymans up to the Queen's throne. They bowed and Dr Heymans formally handed over his Letters of Credence. His Majesty opened the sealed letter; pretended to read the missive and slowly handed it over to one of his officials. Again there was a pause and then the King bowed to the Queen, handed her down off the dais and they went to two halfmoon circles of chairs, near the one wall of the Chamber. When they had settled themselves, the courtier and lady--in-waiting presented the men and the women to the King and Queen, men to the King and women to the Queen. A few sentences were addressed to each visitor by the royal pair. The King and Queen  rose, the South Africans bowed or curtsied and the royal couple made their way out of a side door; and the ceremony was over.

The courtier escorted all of us out to the courtyard, at which we had arrived, said a few complimentary words to the Minister and Mrs Heymans and then we all entered the carriage or our cars. The latter were two fine looking Cadillacs that had been hired for the occasion. Mrs Heymans had kindly arranged to give us champagne in the Ball Room of the Villa Somalia, which was a truly wonderful room, with very fine doors, wonderful ceilings and all of the walls were covered in.the most marvellous tapestries imaginable. They were regarded as being on a par with the best tapestries in the Vatican Museum and, let me add, were merely on loan to the Legation.

This memory is especially vivid. Today such pleasant pomp and ceremony is seldom seen.  It is for this reason that I have attempted to describe the event.  The best of excitements and happy spells seem to last such a short time. My stay in Italy, of just over a year, came to an end when a cable from Pretoria instructed me to prepare to go to our Legation in Stockholm, as Charge d'Affaires. That did upset one matter that was most important to me. My fiancee and I had planned to marry in the near future. However, the arrangements for so doing were speeded up somewhat and we were married in Berkshire, just before I was due in Sweden.

My introduction into the South African Diplomatic Corps during my first year was both heartening and truly exciting. May the new entrants of today, with their much better qualifications, find their service really rewarding. My generation had to try to find the way and I believe that all tried hard to help our country.