 Birth Notes:
https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G9QG-RDL7?i=236&cc=1910846
Christening Notes:
https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/3:1:3QSQ-G9QG-RDL7?i=236&cc=1910846
Death Notes:
http://ancestry24.com/search-item/?id=C2557377
Name: VAN RYNEVELD, HELPERUS ANDREAS
Date Of Death: year given in reference
Passport Number: 457109
Source Location: National Archives, Pretoria (TAB)
Reference: 12811/72
Source: Master of the Supreme Court, Pretoria (MHG)
Collection Name: Transvaal Deceased Estates Index 1855 - 1976
Burial Notes:
http://www.eggsa.org/library/main.php?g2_itemId=2310710
Sources of information or noted events in his life were:
Honours. He received the Distinguished Service Order (London Gazette 1 January 1919), the Military Cross (London Gazette 3 June 1916), the Legion d'Honneur (London Gazette 15 July 1919), the Order of Leopold plus Croix de Guerre (London Gazette 15 July 1919), the Order of the Nile 4th Class and was entitled to wear the 1915 Star; he was Mentioned in Despatches six times.
Honours. 14 May 1920 - Lieutenant-Colonel Hesperus Andrias Van Ryneveld, DSO, MC, late Royal Air Force - Appointed a Knight Commander of the Order of the British Empire in recognition of the valuable services rendered to Aviation by the successful flight from England to Capetown, South Africa
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_van_Ryneveld
Web Based Info. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pierre_van_Ryneveld
And
http://www.prominentpeople.co.za/van-ryneveld-pierre.aspx
And
http://www.theaerodrome.com/forum/people/41059-looking-photograph-pierre-van-ryneveld.htmll
And
http://ancestry24.com/wp-content/uploads/pages/Genealogies%20of%20old%20South%20African%20Families/page_02860.pdf
And
There is a synopsis of his life at:-
http://ancestry24.com/wp-content/uploads/pages/Dictionary%20of%20South%20African%20Biography/page_05397.pdf
Travel, 1933. http://search.ancestry.com/iexec?htx=View&r=an&dbid=1518&iid=30807_A001027-00485&fn=Betty&ln=Van+Ryneveld&st=r&ssrc=&pid=7443602
With his sister Elizabeth (Betty)
Travel, 1937. http://search.ancestry.com/iexec?htx=View&r=an&dbid=1518&iid=30807_A001133-00316&fn=Betty&ln=Van+Ryneveld&st=r&ssrc=&pid=10424055
With his sister Elizabeth (Betty)
General Comment. Pierre was born and went to school in Winburg (in the Orange Free State), later to Grey College (Port Elizabeth) and then to the University of Cape Town.
He served with great distinction in World War 1, in the RFC and RAF, reaching the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. He was wounded, but recovered. He was regarded as one of the fighter aces in France, and a master tactician who had evolved new theories of "dog fighting".
In 1920, he and Quentin Brand, set out from England in a Vickers Vimy bomber in a race to achieve the first flight from England to South Africa. They had a nightmlare, but successful, crossing of the Mediterranean but they crashed near Khartoum. They managed to get the plane fixed, and eventually reached Bulawayo, ahead in the race, as all the other 5 competing planes had crashed. However, they crashed soon after take-off, and were lucky to survive. Jan Smuts sent another plane to them from South Africa, in which they finished the epic journey, eventually landing in Cape Town. With open cockpit and no navigational aids, it had been a remarkable performance. They did not get the prize money that had been offered by the London Daily Mail, but they were both knighted, and received 5000 pounds from the S A Government.
In 1922, Jan Smuts asked him to create the South African Air Force. In the early 1930s, he was appointed Chief of the General Staff, commanding the total Defence Force, and held that position right through World War 2, eventually with the rank of General. He retired in 1949, to his farm Spitskop near Bronkhorstspruit, east of Pretoria, where he died in 1972.
General Venter, also a founder member of the Air Force, and great friend of Pierre's, said "He was a great and good man, a gallant officer, enormously courageous, of immense firmness and integrity, a true South African".
The Cape Argus, under the heading "Great South African" said "In South Africa's Hall of Fame, the name of Sir Pierre van Ryneveld ranks high amongst men who have distinguished themselves in the cause of the country's defence. For 16 years, Sir Pierre guided the destiny of the South African forces in peace and war. His skill as one of South Africa's leading aviators, fitted him admirably for the task of founding the S A Air Force, and his fighting experience in World War 1 enabled him to command the respect and affection of his country's soldiers, sailors and airmen. Sir Pierre's death at 81 will be mourned by all sections of the community, for his essential South Africanism and natural sense of loyalty assured him of the friendship of all with whom he came into contact".
Pierre was divorced from his first wife, whom he may have married out of feeling sorry for her, after the death of her fiancιe (his brother) John. He remarried (in 1937) Betty Meintjies, who had been married to Major Meintjies. This raised critical eyebrows. Sadly it also led to an estrangement between Pierre and his son John.
AJvR records:-
Our family saw a lot of Pierre every year when Parliament was sitting, for he was then also based in Cape Town, and occupied Sir Abe Bailey's cottage on the sea front at Muizenberg. He had a friendly personality with a warm smile. I also enjoyed a holiday in 1938 with his son John at their home in Robert's Heights (now Voortrekker Hoogte) and at the farm Spitskop near Bronkhorstspruit, where Pierre taught me contract bridge. At the farm was a famous lorry, with a Rolls-Royce engine. Pierre arranged for me to have my first flight, in a Hawker Hartebees, and the pilot did a loop with me!
Helperus married Enid Kathleen Helen Collard, daughter of Dr. Frederick Stuartson Collard F. R. C. S. and Sybil Pinder Simpson, on 1 Sep 1921 in Cape Town, Cape Province, South Africa. The marriage ended in divorce in 1929. (Enid Kathleen Helen Collard was born calculated 15 Jan 1901 in Croydon RD, , England, christened on 23 Feb 1901 in Croydon, Surrey, England and died on 15 Jul 1957 in Ladysmith, Natal, South Africa.)
Sources of information or n events in their marriage were:
Web Based Info. https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.3.1/TH-266-11674-83665-62?cc=1478678&wc=MMLQ-W18:n1362199653
And
https://familysearch.org/pal:/MM9.1.1/VRL4-626
And
National Archives of South Africa
DEPOT TAB
SOURCE TPD
TYPE LEER
VOLUME_NO 5/287
SYSTEM 01
REFERENCE 47/1929
PART 1
DESCRIPTION ILLIQUID CASE. DIVORCE. HELPERUS ANDRIAS VAN RYNEVELD VERSUS ENID KATHLEEN HELEN VAN RYNEVELD (BORN COLLARD).
STARTING 19290000
ENDING 19290000
And
https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:VRL4-6GL
Helperus next married Edith Stirling Graham, daughter of Rev. Edward Kilvington Graham M. A. and Gertrude Annie Moore, on 1 Sep 1921 in Cape Town, Cape Province, South Africa. The marriage ended in divorce in 1929. (Edith Stirling Graham was born on 13 Jun 1894 in Solihull, Warwickshire, England, died on 9 Jul 1971 in , Transvaal, South Africa and was buried in Centurion, Gauteng, South Africa.)
Sources of information or n events in their marriage were:
Web Based Info. http://ancestry24.com/search-item/?id=C2149550160
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