MULLER BOOK & REUNION

Most of those in South Africa with the surname MULLER are descebdnts of the German soldier Antonie Michael MULLER. He married Adriana VAN ROOYEN (daughter of Cornelis VAN ROOYEN and Jacomina VAN DEVENTER) in Roodezand (now Tulbagh) on 04 May 1746. He settled on the loan farm, Zeekoegat, where he died in 1782. Koot MULLER is writing a book on the family, ahead of the 2010 reunion in Riversdal. If you are a MULLER contact Koot at kootmuller@absamail.co.za or 083-378-9550 or by mail at PO Box 33436, Glenstantia, 0010. He is looking for family photos as well.

100 YEARS OLD

The SOUTHEY family gathered at Hoekwil, near George, earlier this month for the celebration of the 100th birthday of Ruth SOUTHEY, daughter-in-law of the late Fred SOUTHEY of Hillmoor, Steynsburg. The almost 100 guests were mostly descendants of Fred and his first wife, Louise WATERMEYER, and his second wife, Kate ANDERSON. He had six children and 23 grandchildren, all of whom attended school in Queenstown. Some of his great-grandchildren were also at boarding school in Queenstown.

The celebration was arranged by Ruth's daughters, Marylyn and Jeanette. Her sons Jocelyn, Christopher and Timothy were also there. Grandson Richard SOUTHEY came from Melbourne, Australia. The birthday cake was made by granddaughter, Lee-Anne LESLIE.

Ruth was born in Greytown on 09 September 1908. Her father died when she was two years old, and her mother later married Bill BALLENDEN, a civil engineer with the Railways. He designed the bridge between the Wilderness and George. Ruth studied land surveying at Cape Town Training College (now UCT). In 1930 she married Lance SOUTHEY and they farmed near Hillmoor. They had six children. Ruth lives with her eldest daughter, Marylyn and her husband Derek DAMANT. Ruth's sister, Christine BALLENDEN from Montague (age 93) was also at the celebration. Christine was a Sister Tutor at the Frontier Hospital. Another sister, Peggy, passed away in Hermanus a year ago at the age of 89. Christine’s twin brother, Kit, died in Burma during World War II. He was an officer in the Engineering Corps and saved his men when he tried to detonate a bomb. He was posthumously awarded the Military Cross. Ruth was a butterfly collector and has a butterfly named after her. Her butterfly collection is in the Queenstown Museum.

DE AKKER ON AUCTION

One of the country's oldest operating pubs, De Akker, at the corner of Dorp and Herte Streets in Stellenbosch, is being auctioned on 27 September. The popular hang-out of countless Stellenbosch University students through the years, is housed in a building that was built in 1802. The current owner, Jose JARDIM, has owned the pub for the last 19 years but said that he cannot carry on because of ill-health.

CEMETERY CRIME

A Port Elizabeth couple was caught last week while they were allegedly vandalising historic graves at St Mary‘s Cemetery in South End. It is believed they were collecting scrap metal. They were expected to appear in court last week.

VALUABLE COINS

Lorence FIVAZ bought a bag of old coins for R1-million. The bag contained 240 Kruger pennies minted in 1898. They might be worth R7-million today. They belonged to Samuel (Sammy) MARKS. Lorence is the owner of South Cape Coins in Mossel Bay. A great-grandson of Marks sold the coins to a coin dealer in Johannesburg earlier this month. The coins are veing evaluated by Numismatic Guaranty Corp. in Sarasota, USA. Lorence will sell them afterwards. In 1998 Lorence sold a Single Nine Kruger Pound for R4,65-million, and in 2001 sold the same coin for R9,8-million. The Single Nine was the result of a wrong stamp being used in 1898. The coins after that were stamped with small double 9s.

In 1868 Sammy MARKS landed in Cape Town, a penniless young man. He became a smous (travelling salesman) before going to Kimberley where he became involved in the Diamond Rush. He moved to the Transvaal and became a life-long friend of President Paul KRUGER. In 1898 Marks was allowed to use the State Mint for one day. He minted 215 golden Tiekies to give his family and friends as gifts. A few months ago, one of the Marks Tiekies sold for R1,4-million.

HEART PROBLEM

A Ravensmead family are claiming that the late Prof. Chris BARNARD "stole" the heart of one of their family members and used it in the heart transplant of Dorothy FISHER in 1969 at Groote Schuur Hospital. Pieter GIER was 39 when he died. Groote Schuur Hospital has stated that he was not the donor. His wife Mavis (80) said that his body had strange cut marks on his chest when the family saw the body after a post-mortem. Gier was flown from Calvinia to Groote Schuur after being in a car accident with three friends, while on their way to Kakamas, eleven days before the transplant on Dorothy. Gier had neck injuries and died on 17 April 1969. The first heart transplant patient, Louis WASHKANSKY, received the heart of Denise DARVALL in 1967. She died in a car accident in Observatory, Cape Town.

A TRIBUTE TO AN AVIATION PIONEER

Phyllis Doreen DUNNING (maiden name HOOPER) was the first South African woman to be called upon to volunteer for full-time war service on 01 June 1940. She was only 22 years old when became the Officer Commander of the South African Women's Auxiliary Air Force (SAWAAF), with the rank of Major. She was the youngest officer in the British Commonwealth to attain this rank. Prime Minister Jan SMUTS had asked her to join up. On 28 June 1940, the first group of 120 women were taken into full-time service. Five months later there were 800 SAWAAFs proudly wearing the orange flash, signifying they had volunteered for overseas service. Doreen died in Howick, South Africa, on 26 August 2008 at age 91. According to her son, Simon, she died of natural causes.

All SAWAAFs did a three-week basic training course at Valhalla under the command of the SAWAAF Sergeant-Major (Mrs) EDWARDS. The SAWAAF technical personnel did their 1-year advanced training course at the Pretoria Technical College, while other training was done at 73 Air School in Wonderboom. The first female Physical Training Instructors graduated from the Military College in August 1941. Women who were appointed as non-commissioned officers (NCOs) did their NCO course at 100 Air School in Voortrekkerhoogte.

By June 1942 there were 34 SAWAAF camps in South Africa. SAWAAF pilots flew communication and ferry flights and served as duty pilots and second pilots in the SAAF shuttle service. Special legislation enabled SAWAAFs to be employed on combat duty, serving at ack-ack sites on instruments to direct the guns and as searchlight operators.

In December 1940 the first detachment of SAWAAFs were sent up North with Muriel HORRELL in charge. They went to Mombassa in a troopship and from there by train to Nairobi, where a camp was established in a grey stone building. Soon this became too small and they moved to another camp of wooden huts. In September 1940 the SAWAAFs were sent to the Middle East, where their housed in a hotel in Cairo.

During the war, the women performed 75 different types of work. These included metal workers, welders, wood workers, fitters and turners, inspectors, armament instructors, stores, clerical, cooks, despatch riders, signals, Link Trainer instructors, lorry drivers, meteorological assistants and observers, developing and printing photos, parachute packers, P.T. instructors, shorthand typists, and wireless operators.

By 1941, there were 36 A licence pilots in the SAWAAF, of which Doreen was one.

In 1942 a major re-organization occurred within the SAWAAF. Their administrative functions were amalgamated with those of the SAAF. The SAWAAF directorate remained, but with only a few senior officers serving, their function being to direct the policy of the SAWAAF and to maintain the general welfare and well-being of all the SAWAAFs on full-time service.

After the war, Maj. EGERTON-BIRD was placed in charge of the Women's Dispersal Section of the Directorate of Demobilization. By the end of December 1945, 1955 women had been demobilized. In January 1946 alone, 626 women had been through the dispersal camps. The last SAWAAF camp closed on 01 April 1947.

Assistance was provided to enable women to cope with the transition from war to peace. This consisted of grants for educational and vocational training, vocational guidance officers assisting women to choose training suitable to their capabilities, the provision of courses both full-time and part-time (two of the most popular were shorthand-typing and nursing), and assistance for those who wished to establish businesses. All the discharge benefits available to men were also provided for those women with equivalent service. Women who had been artisans during the war found it difficult as there weren't sufficient factories in the country to absorb them.

While the majority of women returned to civilian life, a number of the women went into the Women's Auxiliary Defence Corps and were used in the SAAF. An amendment to the Defence Act was made in 1947, allowing women to serve in the military on a voluntary basis, but only in non-combatant roles, with effect from 03 June 1947. The Women's Defence Corps (WDC) was then established on 28 November 1947.

In 1948, with a new government in power, the Minister of Defence, F.C. ERASMUS, asked for a report on women serving in the Permanent Force. According to the statistics provided in the report, the SAAF had four officers and 30 other ranks in the WDC. In April 1949, women were no longer able to drive military vehicles. The following month, the Minister decided that recruiting women for the WDC Permanent Force was to cease. Only female military nursing personnel and medical officers were retained.

Women were kept out of the Forces until October 1972 when the Minister of Defence granted permission for the appointment of women in the Permanent Force again. The first three women to join the SAAF in 1974 as Permanent Force members were trained at the Civil Defence College in George. On 19 January 1974, 33 women began their basic training at the Air Defence School in Waterkloof. On 21 February 1995, an all-women's parade was held at the SAAF Gymnasium in Valhalla to celebrate 21 years of women's service in the Permanent Force.

In 1996, the SAAF recruited the first six women for pilot training. By October 2004, 15 women had received their wings and 13 were still pilots in the SAAF.

All women who served in the South African Air Force, at any time, have much to thank Doreen for.

Phyllis Doreen HOOPER was born in Johannesburg and attended Boksburg Convent School before completing her education under private tuition. She became interested in flying when, aged nine years old, her parents took her to see a "flying machine" in Barberton owned by Alan COBHAM. People could write their names on the plane's fabric, and Doreen wrote hers.

On the 03 July 1935, soon after her 18th birthday, she started flying lessons with the Johannesburg Light Plane Club, at Baragwanath. She learnt to fly in a Gipsy Moth (ZS-ADW) and her instructor was Captain Stan HALSE who was a RFC pilot in WWI. After two weeks and 9 hours of flying, she earned her A licence and decided to make aviation her career.

In 1936 she took second place in the Vereeniging-Durban-Vereeniging air race, flying a Gipsy II Moth. On 30 October 1936 she obtained her B licence, becoming the first female commercial pilot in South Africa. This was followed by employment with African Flying Services at Rand Airport. In February 1937 she went to England from where she took part in the Oases Race in Egypt. She flew with Captain V. BUDGE in a miles Hawk and finished 23rd in a field of 40.

In 1938, with Mr. CALDERBANK as co-pilot, and flying a Leopard Moth, she placed 8th in the Governor-General's air race. The same year, she placed 2nd in the Round the Reef air race, again in a Gipsy II Moth.

By July 1937 she was studying for her Instructor's rating and working for the Johannesburg Light Plane Club. She obtained her Instructor's rating on 20 January 1938, becoming the first female instructor in South Africa. A few months later she re-joined African Flying Services, now based at Grand Central. Her wire-haired terrier, Starkey, was a common sight at Grand Central and had about 70 flying hours to his credit!

At the outbreak of WWII, she had more than 2000 flying hours. In October 1943 Lt.-Col. Doreen DUNNING resigned on a point of principle affecting her work. Maj. Muriel HORRELL took over her duties. After Lt.-Col. DUNNING had telegraphed news of her resignation to Maj. EGERTON-BIRD, then stationed in Port Elizabeth, the Major flew to Pretoria to speak to Prime Minister SMUTS. A short while later, the Prime Minister made a public apology to Lt.-Col. DUNNING in the Press.

Doreen was chairwoman of the SAWAAA. She married Edwin Keith DUNNING, who was born in Nigel. He died in Natal in 1968. The couple had four children - Richard Edwin Harris, Simon Edward, Judith and Diana.