Sunday, February 5, 2012

39. Corporal Frederick de Witt Tossel


Corporal Frederick de Witt Tossel was an interesting character. He arrived in Cape Town from Scotland in 1880 when he was 15 years of age. His real name was Llewellyn May. Tall and well-built, he became a security guard, at first in Cape Town docks and later in Kimberley. He taught himself Dutch and acquired a smattering of a number of the African languages. Wanting to advance his career, he went to Pretoria and quickly realized that his name might be a bar to joining the Z.A.R.P. He adopted the somewhat unusual name of Frederick de Witt Tossel and advanced
rapidly to the rank of Lieutenant and command of the Johannesburg detective department.