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4 unusual facts about Jan Smuts


1946 African Mine Workers' Union strike

At first the union was not recognised by the Chamber of Mines, but after sustained pressure for better wages and conditions, the prime minister, Field Marshal Jan Smuts, announced some piecemeal increases improvements in conditions while at the same time issuing War Measure No. 1425—banning gatherings of more than twenty people on mining property without permission.

Illtyd Buller Pole-Evans

In 1930 Pole-Evans accompanied John Hutchinson and Jan Smuts on a two-month expedition through Southern and Northern Rhodesia to Nyasaland and Lake Tanganyika.

Richard Thomas Evans

Lloyd George said he failed to act to stop the battle because he did not wish to be accused if interfering as prime minister directly with the military decisions of his soldiers, particularly General Jan Smuts who was in favour of the operation.

Union Airways

In 1933, Union Airways placed a Junkers at the disposal of deputy prime minister General Jan Smuts for an election tour.


German Colony, Jerusalem

Apart from the French author Émile Zola, Czech president Tomas Masaryk, and South African prime minister Jan Smuts, many of the streets are named for Britons: Liberal Prime Minister David Lloyd George, British Labour Party MP Josiah Wedgwood, Colonel John Henry Patterson, commander of the Jewish Legion in World War I and the pro-Zionist British general Wyndham Deedes.

W. K. C. Guthrie

Returning to Cambridge after the war Guthrie was much in demand in his capacity as Orator, called upon to deliver Latin encomia in honour of such dignitaries as Winston Churchill, Clement Attlee, Jan Smuts, Nehru, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Viscount Slim and General Montgomery.

Witwatersrand Rifles Regiment

The inter-war years saw the Regiment deployed during the 1922 Rand Revolt, when rebellious South African Communist Party white miners attempted to overthrow the government of General Jan Smuts.


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