by Dr Scully
Early in the Second World War (1939-1945) when Royal Naval ships called in Durban for supplies and servicing, they were loaded with explosives which had to be removed from the ships as they were a danger to the safety of the graving dock, this was most inconvenient as they had no special place to store them.
The Admiralty approached the company, through Dr Scully, and at government level to obtain land at Kynochs. This was duly done and the explosives were loaded onto trains and taken to Kynochs where they were guarded by personnel. This proved unsatisfactory as there were no facilities for the men. Offices and a billet were then built by the Admiralty and store houses for the explosives were built into bunkers.
Eight houses were then built in the village by the Admiralty under an agreement with the factory that they would take them over once the admiralty vacated the area. This they duly did long after the war in about 1951. The company then purchased these houses for approximately £1 000, truly an advantageous deal.
Durban, having the only port that could accommodate large ships, and a well-equipped graving dock, was the natural choice of the Royal Navy.
The security was such that no movement of transport was known to the residents of Umbogintwini.
The present Titan (Tioxide) offices were the Admiralty offices and the present transport section was the billet of the guards.