World War Two Diaries of ACFP Geldenhuys

This book by is about my fathers' South African Air Force service during World War Two 1939 - 1945.He married my mother, Mathia Martha Lotter just before the war broke out - and they had the first three of four children born during the war years. The fourth child, born in Luanshya, Northern Rhodesia, did not survive.It must have been very soon after his marriage that he joined the military, like his father Johannes Albertus and eldest brother Hendry Jacobus Geldenhuys. When he was born, he was burdened with my grandmother's family names - Abram Carl Frederick Preller Geldenhuys.Abram Carl Frederick Preller Geldenhuys was born Bothaville, Orange Free State, South Africa, 2 August 1916 and died Pretoria, Transvaal, SA, 13 February 1972 - aged 551/2 years.His parents were Johannes Albertus Geldenhuys and Anna Elizabeth Preller - who were grain farmers on Rustpan, the family farm in the Bothaville district, on the road to Kroonstad.He was the youngest of five children, and according to family tradition, was named after his maternal grandfather. His eldest brother was named after his paternal grandfather - Hendrik Jacobus Geldenhuys. His older sisters were named Anna Elizabeth (Bess), Lilla and Mienie.They were initially farmed schooled and finished their Schooling at Bothaville - where my father matriculated.My grandfather had fought against the British in the Anglo-Boer War. My father was born during the First World War - best known in South Africa as the war of "Boer teen Boer en Broer teen Broer" - Farmer against farmer and brother against brother. It will be recalled that Germany was very sympathetic to the South Africans during the Anglo-Boer War 1899 - 1902; thus a sizeable proportion of the population was very reluctant to take up arms to attack German South West Africa as required by the Allies. However, young ACFP was totally oblivion to the ramifications of the First World War.