The gang formed in 1914, a few months after William Foster had escaped from Pretoria Prison, where he had been sentenced to 12 years hard labour for robbing a shop. Their first robbery was at the Boksburg North branch of the National Bank. When the gang began breaking into the bank, they were startled by a clerk who was sleeping on the premises. Carl Mezar instantly attacked the man sleeping on the floor and a brawl began. The clerk managed to escape and ran towards a nearby hotel on the other side of the street, shouting for help. This drew the attention of a barman named Alex Charlson. When Charlson tried to intervene, he was shot in the chest and later died. The entire robbery had been an abundance of disasters.