General A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

Rudolph Christiaan Hiemstra (10 March 191226 July 2007) was a

South African Air Force The South African Air Force (SAAF) is the air warfare branch of South African National Defence Force, with its headquarters in Pretoria. The South African Air Force was established on 1 February 1920. The Air Force saw service in World War II a ...

commander who served as Commandant General of the South African Defence Force.

Military career

Hiemstra joined the

in 1931. He did not serve in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

because of his political opposition to South Africa's involvement in the war and sympathy for Nazi Germany, and was transferred to the

civil service The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil service personnel hired rather than elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leadership. A civil service offic ...

, from which he returned to the defence force when the

National Party National Party or Nationalist Party may refer to: Active parties * National Party of Australia, commonly known as ''The Nationals'' * Bangladesh: ** Bangladesh Nationalist Party ** Jatiya Party (Ershad) a.k.a. ''National Party (Ershad)'' * Californ ...

government came to power in 1948. Hiemstra was

Military Attaché A military attaché or defence attaché (DA),Defence Attachés
''Geneva C ...

in Sweden, France and the United Kingdom. Among other appointments, he was

officer commanding The commanding officer (CO) or commander, or sometimes, if the incumbent is a general officer, commanding general (CG), is the officer in command of a military unit. The commanding officer has ultimate authority over the unit, and is usually giv ...

2 Squadron SAAF 2 Squadron is a squadron in the South African Air Force which was formed in 1940. The squadron has a long history, having been involved in every single combat action in which the SAAF has taken part. During the Second World War it made a name fo ...

, ''The Flying Cheetahs''. Hiemstra served as Adjutant General, interrupted by his attendance at the Imperial Defence College, as Inspector General from 1959 to 1960, as Deputy Commandant General from 1961 to 1965, and as Commandant General of the South African Defence Force from 1965 to 1972. In 1966, the Commandant General was appointed Secretary for Defence over and above his appointment as head of the South African Defence Force. In May 1967, the dual title of Commandant General and Secretary for Defence was dispensed with by the elimination of the title "Secretary for Defence". The Commandant General, as permanent head of the Department of Defence as well as of the South African Defence Force filled the post of Commandant General, which post embraced the functions signified by the former dual title. At the same time the rank of Commandant General, instituted in September 1956, was changed to that of

general A general officer is an Officer (armed forces), officer of high rank in the army, armies, and in some nations' air force, air and space forces, marines or naval infantry. In some usages, the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colone ...

Awards and decorations

In 1960, Hiemstra was awarded the Star of South Africa for exceptional services. He was also awarded the Southern Cross Medal and appointed a Knight of the Order of Prince Henry from Portugal. * * * * *

Death

Hiemstra died on 26 July 2007, aged 95, in 1 Military Hospital in

Pretoria Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...

. He was survived by six children, sixteen grandchildren and four great grandchildren. Among his influential brothers were Dr Louis W. Hiemstra, who made his in mark in the field of

journalism Journalism is the production and distribution of reports on the interaction of events, facts, ideas, and people that are the "news of the day" and that informs society to at least some degree of accuracy. The word, a noun, applies to the journ ...

, and

Judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

Victor Hiemstra of Pretoria.

Notes

References

, - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Hiemstra, Rudolph 1912 births 2007 deaths Afrikaner people South African people of German descent South African Air Force generals South African Nazis South African anti–World War II activists