Jacob (Job) Masego, World War 2 (WW2) veteran, who sunk a German supply boat, died in Springs, Transvaal (now in Ekurhuleni Municipality), after being struck by a train. Masego had been employed as a delivery man at the explosives factory at Modderfontein, Springs, before he volunteered for service with the Native Military Corps of the Union Defence Force. While still working at the factory, he became familiar with the use of explosives, which later proved very useful.
After the fall of Tobruk in June 1942, Masego was one of 10 722 South Africans who were taken to a German prisoner-of-war camp. He constructed a bomb, using a milk tin, cordite and a fuse and, with the help of fellow prisoners Andrew Mohudi, Sam Police and Koos Williams, managed to hide the device on a German cargo boat at the docks of Tobruk. The boat was destroyed in the explosion later that afternoon. Masego received five medals for his service in the army, inter alia the Military Medal (MM), handed over by Major-General F.H. Theron. A street and a school in Kwa Thema have been named after him and in 1997 the SAS Kobie Coetzee was renamed SAS Job Masego.
References
Sonderling, N.E. (ed.) New Dictionary of South African Biography, v. 2|Mohlamme, J.S, (1995), SOLDIERS WITHOUT REWARD, from The South African Military History Society, 01 June [online], Available at samilitaryhistory.org [Accessed: 05 February 2014]