Susannah Margaret Kruger- born Claremont, capetown 1920/1921

[queenswood 1]

I am trying to find out as much as I can about Susannah (known as Sue) as she was engaged for a short time to my late uncle Leslie Roots whilst he was in training with the RAF at 44 Airschool in Grahamstown in 1943. He was in navigator training from Feb 1943 until May 1943 when he passed out as Flt sgt navigator- and then returned to the UK in August 1943 to commence operational duties with the RAF.  I know that, for whatever reason, they broke off the engagement and Sue married Stanley Smith in Grahamstown in April 1944 but she kept in touch with my late uncle's parents in London for a short while after she married Stanley- and they all seemed to be on very good terms! She was sending food parcels to London for them from south Africa and many airgraphs passed betwen them.  My late uncle was sadly killed in action on 19th July 1944.
By Christmas 1944 it seems that sue and her husband Stanley Smith were living in Wynberg - 29 Rays Mansions, Byrnes Avenue, Wynberg- as Sue sent my grandparents a very warm Christmas card with her new address in Wynberg.

Sue worked as a cashier at the Grand Theatre in Grahamstown and presumably this is how she met my late uncle in 1943. Her husband, Stanley Smith, was also born and raised in England and at the time of marriage in 1944 was an Electrician with the RAF in Grahamstown. So it is possible that both my late uncle and Sue's husband knew each other during their time with the RAF at Grahamstown.

I would like to know more about Sue- any birth records etc- and what happened to Sue and her husband Stanley Smtih after WW2 ended.

I have found a copy of the marriage certificate for Susannah Margaret Kruger to Stanley Smith- she has a distinctive style of handwriting which matches exactly with the Xmas card sent to my grandparents so i know I am on the right track. I also have diary entries from my late uncle, indicating that he travelled from Grahamstown  to Cape Town in the summer of 1943 for a few days- and Sue was there with him- presumably going to meet her parents? I can see on the map that Sue was born in Claremont and that, when she married stanley, they m,oved to wynberg which is only 20  iles away from where presumably her family lived.

Any information at all-in particular anything after WW2 fopr sue and Stanley would be simply amazing as this brick wall has stood for many years!

I have located Stanley's family in the UK in the 1939 Register but with common names and no RAF service number for Stanley it is quite a tricky search!

With grateful thanks in hopeful anticipation!

Caroline Wood (nee Roots)

[TreeSpirit]

Susannah Margaret KRUGER b 26 Mar 1921 Claremont, d 25 June 1984 Wynberg (WC)
          Her Estate file starts here: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-C9B7-T7B1
          Grave/Memorial: https://www.graves-at-eggsa.org/main.php?g2_itemId=3921882

X 17 Apr 1944 Grahamstown (CP) - https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:S3HY-6LR9-19X?i=137
To: Stanley SMITH b abt 1920/1 England


I can’t prove it, but I am wondering whether he might be the Stanley SMITH b 19 Jan 1921, d 15 April 2005 who married a Daphne Agnes Gladys PALMER abt 1989.
Daphne dies in 1999 … Her estate: https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3Q9M-CS7S-2YRR?i=330&cat=4092188 and her grave/memorial: https://www.graves-at-eggsa.org/main.php?g2_itemId=4248781

Unfortunately the 2005 estate files are not online yet, so I can’t check whether this Stanley is the right guy, but this is his 2005 grave/memorial:  https://www.graves-at-eggsa.org/main.php?g2_itemId=3921897

[queenswood 1]

Thank you so so much! This is definitely the correct Stanley on the registration of Sue's death as his signature tallies with that on their marriage certificate.
It is a shame that Stanley did not register the death of his second wife- if that is correct- as that would have confirmed that it is the same Stanley that then married Daphne.
it is also such a shame that Sue and Stanley did not have any children so i guess this is the end of the road for this branch of my research- but i am inordinately grateful to you for helping with this research for me.

One final question- Sue and Stanley married by Special Licence in April 1944. What circumstances do you think may have required the special licence? it still niggles at me as to why Sue married Stanley so quickly after breaking her engagement to my uncle Leslie- and I am just wondering if possibly she fell pregnant with Stanley? Would there be any records of a birth or miscarriage? Just curious to close any gaps.
Either way, thanks to all you help, I have found out so much more about Sue than i could ever have hoped for- and am just so grateful.

Caroline

[queenswood 1]

I now know that Susannah Margaret Kruger was born on 26th March 1921 in Claremont, Cape town. Is there any way I can find out about her parents or siblings please?

Thank you

Caroline

[Sunflower16]

Have you searched the national database for South Africa?

http://www.national.archsrch.gov.za/sm300cv/smws/sm300dl

A quick look (unfortunately Susanna Smith does return a large number of possibles being a common name) shows a Susanna Smith Estate records in the 1950's as a mental patient and a whole lot of others.....

If you can identify a possible record from the index, it is possible to get researchers to obtain the estate files or copies of court records etc at very reasonable rates for most areas. Unfortunately, the Cape archives are a bit more difficult as their rules are more restrictive but it is possible.  Covid restrictions have closed most archives and services though at the moment.