a distinctive sentiment among Rhodesians. John Connell, in his foreword to Welensky's book 4000 Days, wrote: "Welensky, who had not a drop of British blood in his veins, shared this pride and loyalty [towards Britain] to the full." After leaving school at the age of fourteen, Welensky found employment with Rhodesia Railways as a fireman, while putting his physical strength to work as a boxer. He rose through the ranks of Rhodesia Railways to become a locomotive engine driver and became involved in the trade union movement, joining the Rhodesian Railway Workers' Union. After participating in the unsuccessful 1929 Rhodesian Railways strike, Welensky was moved by management to Broken Hill, the main base of the railways in Northern Rhodesia. In 1933, he became Chairman of the Broken Hill branch of the union, and was appointed to the National Council. While working on the railways, he became the professional heavyweight boxing champion of Southern Rhodesia at nineteen years old and held the position until he was 21. During this time, Welensky met his first wife, Elizabeth Henderson, who was working at a cafe in Bulawayo, Southern Rhodesia at the time. They married after a two-year courtship. Colonial politics Welensky was elected to the Northern Rhodesian Legislative Council in the 1938 general elections. The Governor of Northern Rhodesia prevented Welensky from enlisting in the armed forces in World War II and appointed him Director of Manpower. In 1941 he formed his own party, the Northern Rhodesian Labour Party, with the aim of amalgamating the colony with Southern Rhodesia under a new constitution. The party won all five seats it contested in the 1941 elections. After the leader of the unofficial members in the Legislative Council, Stewart Gore-Browne, resigned in 1945 and stated that black Africans had lost confidence in the whites (due to the wish for amalgamation), Welensky was elected leader. Although a member of the Legislative Council, this was not a full-time job, and he continued working as a train driver for Rhodesia Railways, and also as a Trade Union leader. Amalgamation and federation From the beginning, Welensky was involved in the creation of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. He had earlier wanted an amalgamation of Northern and Southern Rhodesia with a constitution similar to that of Southern Rhodesia (that had effectively granted responsible government to the white Rhodesians by specifying franchise qualifications that few blacks had so far achieved