As He Was Then

brilliant war record and his feats as State, and had been interested in a pioneer fighter pilot. So I won't flying since he first read about the dwell on them. Wright brothers. After the war, Colonel (as he was When Van Ryneveld said he was then) Van Ryneveld stayed on in looking for a co-pilot to make the London, working at the Air Ministry trip from Cairo to the Cape, Brand as Liaison Officer for South Africa. ,was most anxious to join him. While there he succeeded in acquir " The Vickers Vimy was hurriedly ing virtually for a song about 100 adapted to carry as much petro~ as aircraft and spares for the South possible and other preparatIOns African Defence Force. Under his rapidly made. supervision these were packed and Apart from Van Ryneveld and shipped to South Africa. Brand, there were other in the field. Those were the days, when before Two other pilots had already left military coups in Africa, on the map for the Cape in another Vickers of this Continent there was a con Vimy. This trip was sponsored by tinuous red section from top to the London "Times". bottom indicating British colonies The South Africans had named and territories. So the British their plane "Silver Queen" and by Government began constructing the time they took off from Brook aerodromes and emergency landing lands aerodrome on 4th February, strips from Cairo southwards. This 1920, the "Times" aircraft was 10 was a major undertaking for there davs ahead of them and there was had to be some sort of clearing every (mother expedition on the way in a 150 miles in view of the limited Handley-Page. range of aircraft. This was the pre There was no question of dilly lude to an announcement by the Air dallying and they had to push the Ministry in December, 1919, that aircraft as hard as possible. the trans-Africa route was open to But before Van Ryneveld and aviation if anybody cared to risk Brand reached Africa they realised his neck. perhaps even more clearly what was Meanwhile Van Ryneveld had in store for them. Thev had decided been talking to General Smuts, then on a direct crossing of the Mediter Minister of Defence, about the pos ranean from the toe of Italy to sibility of flying a Vickers Vimy Sollum. It was a night flight, and bomber to South Africa to inaugu almost immediatelY after leaving the rate the Cape to Cairo route. The mainland they flew into a gale. That General agreed and authorised the crossing took them 11 hours and conversion of a Vickers Vimy they had averaged about 40 miles bomber for this purpose. per hour the right direction. They By this time Van Ryneveld had landed with the proverbial teacupful met Major Quintin Brand at the Air of petrul in their tanks. This time Ministry. the plane remained intact. From Brand was a descendant of a there al went well until they reached former president of the Orange Free the Sudan. There ,north of Wadi Digitised by the University of Pretoria, Library Services Haifa, they had to make a forced referred to earlier. landing in the darkness. They ran The following day the "Pretoria into a rock and wrecked the under News" had a fuller account, and carriage. That was the end of the that historic event was recorded as "Silver Queen's" fuselage though the follows:- engines remained intact. "Two days ago Major Court It was not the end of the flight, Treatt and Lieutenant Holthouse however. The South African flew Voortrekker to Bulawa\l.O. Government bought another Vickers Arrangements had been made·to Vimy airframe, delivered it to them notify the public but Defence was in Cairo where the engines were not informed and heavy rains made fitted. It was named the "Silver everyone think that Van Ryneveld Queen II", and on 22nd February and Brand would not come. There they.resumed their flight. must, however, have been from two When they reached Tabora they to three hundred at the aero learnt that the "Times" plane flown drome, mostly children, when they by their competitors had crashed, landed. and that there was no one else in the "Here it might be mentioned that air. the manners of the Pretoria boys are With plenty of incidents, but atrocious. Curiosity is natural, but without further mishap, they reached the treading on the toes and the Bulawayo. There they took in 500 pushing aside of their elders cannot gallons of petrol, waved gaily to the be forgiven. big crowd that had assembled to "The people came in cars, on see them off and with the maximum motor-cycles, push-bikes and on possible run on the aerodrome, took foot. At the landingplace they were off. greeted by the Deputy Mayor, Mr. Unfortunately, howe v e r, the George McLean, a representative of weight of the fuel they carried was the Administrator, prominent offi too much for the engines to lift in cers, several town councillors and the thin air at that altitude. The prominent citizens. The Town Clerk Vickers Vimy wobbled, plunged and did the honours of introducing them they came down only one mile from to the visitors. Prominent, too, were the aerodrome. Captain Brand's parents. Having come so far, the Govern "The landing was a prefect one, ment decided that they must com and on their alighting it was seen plete the last stage of the journey. that the airmen were of that tvoical A.D.H. 9 which was among the type which in rugby packs had been olanes South Africa had acquired the terror of overseas teams. Not too from Britain was speedilv assembled lean with magnificent physique, in Pretoria. christened' "Voortrek sunburnt and hard as nails, they ker". and flown to Bulawayo. looked like men who would over Van Rvneveld's and Brand's safe come all difficulties. arrival in Pretoria was announced in "Mr. Van Velden, the Provincial the shortp "stop press" report I Secretary representing the Admini- 63 Digitised by the University of Pretoria, Library Services strator, speaking in Dutch said that conferred Knighthood on them both. it was a matter of pride that two The Governor-General sent a South African boys had been suc cable to the British Government cessfull in the great 'flight'. expressing warm appreciation of the "The flying distance from London high enterprise and foresight it had to Cape Town is 7,790 miles. Of this displayed in laying out the aerial Col. Van Ryneveld has completed route from Cairo to Cape Town, 7,082 miles in 99.8 hours, averaging and than~{ing it for its assistance a speed of 70 miles per hour. The after the mishap in the Sudan. aviator has 908 miles more to Now let us revert to the search travel". for that elusive aerodrome: So far this report in the "News". The first clue regarding its situa The departure was sched uled fo~ tion was the reference to the Thursday, 18th March, at) 4 p.m. Arcadia tram terminus I read just There was a special train from the now. This terminus, as some of you Pretoria Station to aviation siding, will remember, was near the inter which left the station at 3.15 p.m. section of Pretorius and Hill Streets. There was also a special bus service So the aerodrome must have been from the Arcadia tram terminus to to the east of the city. the aviation grounds. But the aviation siding, referred The ever - present journalist to in the same report, remained a reported that the deluge broke just mystery. Not even the research before the plane went up. A tense library at Railway Headquarters in moment or two held the crowd Johannesburg could help. A further when a runaway horse dashed in search brought to light one small front of the Voortrekker and paragraph in a Johannesburg news careered across the veld. It was paper which on 18th March reported st~ye? at la~t by a brave bobby that "Sir Pierre van Ryneveld landed clmgmg to Its head for dear life on the experimental farm at the and other mounted warriors University of Pretoria on 17th "shoo-ing" it back. March, 1920, at 4.30 p.m." Just to complete the story of this That then was the answer, and flight: . also the answer to Professor The "Voortrekker" flew to Johan Henning's question. nesburg that afternoon. and the foJ The Professor's interest in the lowing day it took two and a-half matter was this: hours to reach Bloemfontein land Some years ago he was investiga ing in Cape Town that Saturday ting the outbreak of a nervouS afternoon. There they were wel disease in cattle on the Pretoria comed by the Governor-General, University's farm. He discussed the Lord Buxton, and General Smuts. problem with Sir Arnold Theiler The latter announced that Van and Sir Arnold suggested a chemical Ryneveld and Brand would share s analysis of the organs of the affected prize of £5,000 awarded by the animals and Professor Henning Union Government, and the King diagnosed lead poisoning. 64 Digitised by the University of Pretoria, Library Services Professor Henning relates this your internal and domestic affairs story in Theiler's biography and a dangerous procedure these days. says that to mark the landing strips, But would it not be possible to white lead had been used. This lead erect, in collaboration with the proved to have been the cause of the University of Pretoria, a plaque or disease.

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