Pierre van Ryneveld

[3] 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.

[4][a] Colonel van Ryneveld established the SAAF in 1920, and directed it until 1933, when he was promoted to Chief of the General Staff (CGS),[5] 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.

[6] Van Ryneveld served as CGS for sixteen years, including the whole of the Second World War.

Sir Pierre van Ryneveld High School is in Kempton Park, Gauteng.

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
(L-R) Lt Col van Ryneveld with First Lt Quintin Brand , February 1920, in front of Vickers Vimy Silver Queen , before their England to South Africa flight