UP commemorates 100 years
Africa joined the aviation community in 1920 when two pilots, Pierre van Ryneveld and Quintin Brand
completed the first flight from England to South Africa across the African continent.
Two crashed planes, 109 flying hours over 45 days; this was the record-breaking journey of pilots,
who pioneered the first flight from London to Cape Town in swashbuckling style.
On Saturday morning14 March, I attended the centenary celebration of this flight over Afica which was staged at the newly built Engineering 4.0 building at the University of Pretoria. Over the past 100 years air travel has become, quite literally, the driver of innovation in the globalised economy.
After the world had applauded the first transatlantic flight and then the first flight from London to Australia, the next big challenge was ‘who would be the first to fly the length of Africa?’ In December 1919, the British Air Ministry announced that surveys had been completed and with the help of local African labour, a string of landing strips had been cleared from Cairo to Cape Town and the race was on for the first aircraft to complete the journey.
In January 1920, The Times of London (some sources say the Daily Mail) offered a £10 000 (approximately £300 000 today) reward for the first aircraft to complete this arduous flight and less than a month later a British team in a Vickers Vimy set out set out from England for Cape Town. It was piloted by Captains S. Cockerell and F.C. Broome and included Dr. Chalmers Mitchell, Secretary of the Zoological Society. However, South Africa’s Prime Minister Jan Smuts wanted a South African to win the prize so he authorised the purchase of a Vickers Vimy at a cost of £4 500.
On 4 February 1920, van Ryneveld and Brand took off from Brooklands’ Aerodrome in Surrey in the Vimy named the Silver Queen. Van Ryneveld and Brand had to do some night flying to catch up with the British piloted Vimy sponsored by The Times. They encountered bad weather over the Mediterranean and the crossing took approximately 11 hours. However, a leaking radiator led them to make a forced landing at night at Wadi Halfa in present-day Sudan - then southern Egypt. Although they were unhurt, the plane was unusable. A second Vimy, based in Egypt was loaned from the Royal Air Force. Eleven days later, on 22 February in its newly christened Silver Queen II, the South African team took off from Cairo and continued on its journey. On 27 February, the competing British aircraft crashed at Tabora in Tanganyika, now Tanzania, without any injuries to the crew, but the flight was discontinued.
On 6 March, in hot conditions and struggling with an overloaded plane at a high-density altitude, Van Ryneveld and Brand crashed the Silver Queen II whilst attempting to take off from Bulawayo, then
Southern Rhodesia. Again, fortunately there were not any injuries.The South African government intervened and another aircraft, this time a De Havilland DH9, part of the Imperial Gift from Great Britain to South Africa for its efforts in World War l, was flown to Bulawayo and handed over to the two pilots. It was named ‘Voortrekker’. The journey resumed on 17 March and two days later the aircraft landed on South African soil for the first time at a strip near what are the universities sports’ fields today. This spot commemorating the duo’s ground-breaking flight was deemed a heritage site some years later. The following day, the aircraft landed at Youngsfield in Wynberg, Cape Town completing an incredible feat of aviation.
The monument has been relocated in its original state to pave the way for the University of Pretoria’s innovative Engineering 4.0 building. The new site was chosen because it was very close to the actual landing strip where the intrepid airmen landed in 1920. Both men were knighted for their achievement by the British Government.
London to Cape Town
Who were Sir Pierre van Ryneveld
and Sir Quintin Brand?
General Sir Hesperus Andrias van Ryneveld, KBE, CB, DSO, MC (2 May 1891 – 2 December 1972), known as Pierre van Ryneveld, was a South African military commander. He was the founding commander of the South African Air Force (SAAF.) Van Ryneveld began his military career in the First World War, in which he served in the Royal Flying Corps and later in the Royal Air Force. For his service in the war, Van Ryneveld was awarded the Distinguished Service Order (DSO) and the Military Cross (MC), mentioned in ‘despatches’ and presented with the Chevalier of the Legion of Honour from the French government.
Air Vice-Marshal Sir Christopher Joseph Quintin Brand, KBE, DSO, MC, DFC was a South African officer of the Royal Air Force (born 25 May 1893 in Kimberley, South Africa died 7 March 1968 in Mutare, Zimbabwe. He was awarded Awards the Distinguished Service Order, Distinguished Flying Cross for his years of service 1913 to 1943.
In 1920, Colonel van Ryneveld was recalled to South Africa by Prime Minister Smuts in order to establish the SAAF, as a separate entity to the South African Army .This he duly did, hence the SAAF being the second oldest Air Force in the world next to the Royal Air Force and directed it until 1933, when he was promoted to Chief of the General
Staff (CGS), in command of the Union Defence Forces. However, for the next four years the SAAF remained under Van Ryneveld’s direct control as no one was appointed as the Air Force’s director until 1937. Part of what had driven Prime Minister Smuts to finance and pursue this goal was his conviction of the value of air power. In his new position Van Ryneveld used air power to crush several rebellions. The air force was used against striking white mineworkers during the Rand Rebellion of 1922 and some aircraft were shot down. Amongst them was Voortrekker, the De Havilland DH9 that had completed the last leg of the air race from England. South African air power was also used to stamp out the Bondelswartz rebellion in what was then South West Africa in 1922 and shortly after that, another rebellion by the Rehoboth people. Van Ryneveld was promoted to Chief of General Staff of the South African Defence Force in 1933, a position he held throughout World War ll until he retired in 1949.
The celebration coincided with the re-installation of a monument at the site. The monument was relocated last year when construction began on the Engineering 4.0 building. EBIT Dean Professor Sunil Maharaj said the University of Pretoria (UP) was proud to be an inextricable part of South Africa’s aviation history. “Technological advancement is at a stage where travelling from London to South Africa by aircraft is approximately 12 hours long. One hundred years ago, this was not the case. So, it is important for us to commemorate this event, because it helps us take stock of how far we have come,” Prof Maharaj said.
Professor Wynand Steyn, Head of the Department of Civil Engineering at UP, said it was important that this event be commemorated and its landing site restored, because it is a reminder of the technological advances that have been made over the past century. “It is a mere 100 years ago that the first plane landed in South Africa from Great Britain,” Prof Steyn said. “We often take existing technology for granted. I believe that the visibility of the memorial will make us remember that apparently impossible feats become possible when good people put their minds to it and become commonplace once we understand the issue or challenge or technology better. That is why we teach engineering, for the benefit of humanity.”
Re-building of the monument
Commemorating 100 years
In all 16 aircraft and three helicopters took part in this fly-past, which was planned and excellently co-ordinated by Francois Hanekom, with Brian Emmenis and his Capital Sounds’ team providing the running commentary. Captain Karl Jensen spoke with passion as he provided some of the valuable history of the flight to South Africa, whilst Vice-Chancellor and Principal of the University of Pretoria Professor Tawana Kupe unveiled the new Van Ryneveld Air Force Monument.