End of the road

End of the road
It didn't take police dogs long to sniff the Gang's trail to the cave. The police soon surrounded the cave, clearing the undergrowth from the entrance. Inside the cave the three men had decided they would not be taken alive. They wrote their farewell notes to their loved ones. Mezar was the first to go, but could not bring himself to put the gun to his head - Maxim did it for him with a single shot. Foster wasn't quite ready to end it all. He asked to see Peggy and his baby. He said he would come out of the cave once he'd seen them. Peggy was fetched. Then Foster's father, mother and two sisters were brought to the cave. A huge crowd had gathered outside, held back by hastily-erected fencing. It was a tense scene. The family were inside the cave, the police were positioned around the cave mouth, rifles at the ready. After an hour, Foster's family stumbled out of the cave, with the baby, but without Peggy. The crowd waited in silence. Then a shot rang out, followed by two others - Peggy had decided to die with Foster. But this was not the end of the tragic deaths. After Dr Grace's death at the roadblock, an instruction went out that there was to be no more shooting at vehicles unless it was absolutely clear it was the Foster Gang. Inspector Edward Leach, in charge of the western district of Johannesburg, had telephoned these instructions to every station - except Langlaagte, where the telephone was constantly engaged. After trying to get through for half an hour, he jumped on a motorbike and got the message through, but it was too late, De la Rey was already dead. Leach's conscience was further troubled by having persuaded his senior officers to allow Peggy into the cave. The remorse was too much for him - he committed suicide a few days later. Foster had great ambitions to make his fortune, but he set his sights low - post offices and liquor stores - although he certainly had the means: weapons, a getaway car, disguises, a hideout, and know-how like making skeleton keys. Perhaps if he'd got away with the first robbery - the jewellery store in Cape Town - he might have made his fortune and sailed to England with Peggy. The Foster Gang and Peggy are buried at the Braamfontein Cemetery. Peggy and Foster are buried in the same grave, alongside Mezar, and next to the 1922 Miners' Strike graves. John Maxim is buried in the general section. After the Foster Gang affair, police dynamited the cave, causing an avalanche of rocks to block the entrance. In 1985, students from the University of the Witwatersrand brought in a crane and removed the rocks from the entrance. The present owner of the property - in Juno Road, Kensington - says two large rocks fell down into the hole, one partially obstructing the entrance to the tunnel.

It didn't take police dogs long to sniff the Gang's trail to the cave. The police soon surrounded the cave, clearing the undergrowth from the entrance.

Inside the cave the three men had decided they would not be taken alive. They wrote their farewell notes to their loved ones. Mezar was the first to go, but could not bring himself to put the gun to his head - Maxim did it for him with a single shot.

Foster wasn't quite ready to end it all. He asked to see Peggy and his baby. He said he would come out of the cave once he'd seen them. Peggy was fetched. Then Foster's father, mother and two sisters were brought to the cave.

A huge crowd had gathered outside, held back by hastily-erected fencing. It was a tense scene. The family were inside the cave, the police were positioned around the cave mouth, rifles at the ready. After an hour, Foster's family stumbled out of the cave, with the baby, but without Peggy. The crowd waited in silence.

Then a shot rang out, followed by two others - Peggy had decided to die with Foster.

But this was not the end of the tragic deaths. After Dr Grace's death at the roadblock, an instruction went out that there was to be no more shooting at vehicles unless it was absolutely clear it was the Foster Gang. Inspector Edward Leach, in charge of the western district of Johannesburg, had telephoned these instructions to every station - except Langlaagte, where the telephone was constantly engaged. After trying to get through for half an hour, he jumped on a motorbike and got the message through, but it was too late, De la Rey was already dead.

Leach's conscience was further troubled by having persuaded his senior officers to allow Peggy into the cave. The remorse was too much for him - he committed suicide a few days later.

Foster had great ambitions to make his fortune, but he set his sights low - post offices and liquor stores - although he certainly had the means: weapons, a getaway car, disguises, a hideout, and know-how like making skeleton keys. Perhaps if he'd got away with the first robbery - the jewellery store in Cape Town - he might have made his fortune and sailed to England with Peggy.

The Foster Gang and Peggy are buried at the Braamfontein Cemetery. Peggy and Foster are buried in the same grave, alongside Mezar, and next to the 1922 Miners' Strike graves. John Maxim is buried in the general section.

After the Foster Gang affair, police dynamited the cave, causing an avalanche of rocks to block the entrance. In 1985, students from the University of the Witwatersrand brought in a crane and removed the rocks from the entrance. The present owner of the property - in Juno Road, Kensington - says two large rocks fell down into the hole, one partially obstructing the entrance to the tunnel.