Wolwehoek Handgun Shooting Club

I have taken the liberty of using mom’s original documents and compiled them into this club history. She had various type written pages which I have tried to organise, and I have included some extracts from the original club minutes in her story. Later, you will see my input. Some facts might be duplicated but that is my input. – Alan Peeters

During the Second World War, the 22 nd air school of the Royal Air Force was stationed in Vereeniging. On the airfield there, pilots and gunners were trained in shooting at a moving target using a trap machine throwing clay targets. In 1944, the pilots invited Norman Roberts, who was manager of the National and Riviera hotels, and Nelson Grant to try their hand at shooting clays.

These men, together with Jack Otto, Gaby Cutler and Dr. Roberts, joined Jack Fergusson to build a clay shooting range on the Vaal Highveld Power (VHP) Station which had an existing .22 range. Here, George Thornhill, then a school pupil, used to pull the targets on a Sunday morning for the national training brigade to practise shooting at 200 meters. The shotgun ammunition (black CAC, (Colonial Ammunition Company) 12 gauge no 7 & 8) was imported from Australia by Alan Falcke, who had a gun shop in Vereeniging.

At the Redan Range when Wim shot at a clay coming towards him, he shattered it and a piece hit him on his forehead. He decided that shot guns were dangerous! Georg