Pierre van Ryneveld

General Sir Helperus Andreas van Ryneveld (2 May 18912 December 1972), known as Sir Pierre van Ryneveld, was a South African military commander. He was the founding commander of the South African Air Force.

Military career Middle East. C. 1941. Group portrait of Air Marshal A. W. Tedder, Air Officer C-in-C of RAF Middle East (left), Lieutenant General Sir Pierre van Ryneveld, Chief of the General Staff South African Forces (centre), and Lieutenant General Sir Thomas Blamey, Deputy C-in-C Middle East

Van Ryneveld began his military career in the First World War, in which he served in the Loyal North Lancashire Regiment, transferring in April 1915 to the Royal Flying Corps, later the Royal Air Force. For his service in the war, Van Ryneveld was awarded the Distinguished Service Order and Military Cross, Mentioned in Despatches and presented with the Chevalier of the Legion of Honour from the French government.

After the war, Van Ryneveld was called back to South Africa by the Prime Minister Jan Smuts in order to set up the South African Air Force (SAAF). He flew back home, across Africa, in a Vickers Vimy – a pioneering feat for which he and his co-pilot Quintin Brand were both knighted.

Colonel van Ryneveld established the SAAF in 1920, 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.

In 1925, then Lt-Col van Ryneveld took part in the government's suppression of the Baster Council's rebellion.

In 1928 van Ryneveld personally led an airborne expedition by new Board members of the Kruger National Park to investigate the effect of low-flying airplanes on game. The Board members included Deneys Reitz and General W.E.C. Tanner, who used the data from this trip to frame regulations on flying over the Park.

Van Ryneveld served as CGS for sixteen years, including the whole of the Second World War. During the war he flew South African Prime Minister Jan Smuts and his deputy Deneys Reitz on a reconnaissance mission over the Kunene River and Ovamboland to survey the northern defences of South West Africa. He was made a Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1945

Honours

Namesakes and legacy The Centurion suburb of Pierre van Ryneveld Park was named in his honour and the airport just north of Upington in the Northern Cape is also named after Van Ryneveld. Sir Pierre van Ryneveld High School in Kempton Park, Gauteng is also named after him. The SAAF's annual air power symposium, is known as the Sir Pierre Van Ryneveld Air Power Symposium.