From Our Vaults 81 Years Ago: March 15, 1944
The Southern Cross, March 15, 1944
Hero honour for Jo’burg man
Francis Drake, a parishioner of St Francis church in Yeoville, Johannesburg, has been awarded the Stanhope Gold Medal of the Royal Humane Society for his heroic rescue of two-year-old Neville Roberts from a 12m-deep well. His only means of escape was to climb up a pipe, child in arm, that was running up the side of the well.
Francis Drake of Johannesburg, a hero who rescued a toddler from a well. With the child in his arms, he had climbed to the top, but an old iron platform partly covered the well, impeding further progress. Locals heard his shouts for aid, took the child from his arms — and forgot all about Drake. He eventually managed to wiggle to safety on his own.
Pope’s Quiet Anniversary
Pope Pius XII gave his blessing from the balcony of St Peter’s to the assembled crowds on March 12, the fifth anniversary of his coronation. Due to the Nazi bombings of Rome, there were no celebrations or solemnities to mark the occasion.
Bombs over Rome
Aerial bombing of Rome affected the Vatican when the residence of the nuns attached to the Propaganda College was badly damaged. Many windows of the college were also broken. Windows in the basilica of St Paul’s Outside the Walls were also damaged in a March 3 air raid.
Conditions for Social Security
In his editorial, Fr Owen McCann writes that social security in South Africa can be attained only “when the dignity of each human member of the South African nation…is recognised. That dignity will only be recognised when the minds of the majority of the better-off section of the community are properly formed so they can judge according to Christian, and therefore right, values; not merely in terms of wealth, comfort and pleasure, but rather of justice, and duty, and order, and brotherly love.”
Previous “From The Vaults” articles at www.scross.co.za/category/from-our-vaults
- Pope Francis: A Humble Servant in a World that Insists on Building Empires - April 26, 2025
- Pope Francis Memorial Issue - April 25, 2025
- 5 Ways to Care for our Priests with Love and Respect - April 23, 2025
