Contemporary history experiences of Kallie de Beer: Stories of my grandpa and- mother about the Anglo Boer War. The family link to the diamond related and seventh adventist church de Beers. Farms in the Free State's little towns and trips abroad. Research in contemporary history of South African diplomacy and the change of the former South African Army into a peacekeeping force in Africa and additional academic research in casu open distance e-learning.

Thursday, February 07, 2008

SA AIRFORCE GYMNASIUM 1964

posted by Kallie (Karel Johannes) de Beer at 1:14 AM | 0 comments

DOMAIN NAME: KALLIE DE BEER

There are 1,500 people in the U.S. with the first name Kallie.
Statistically the 4019th most popular first name. (tied with 1145 other first names)
More than 99.9 percent of people with the first name Kallie are female.

There are 510 people in the U.S. with the last name De beer.
Statistically the 48525th most popular last name. (tied with 4686 other last names)


There are 0 people in the U.S. named Kallie De beer.
While both names you entered were found in our database, neither was common enough to make it likely that someone in the U.S. has that name.

posted by Kallie (Karel Johannes) de Beer at 1:14 AM | 0 comments

MY ARMY DAYS AND BEYOND...

In my day and age (1963-), young South African men were either recruited or called up at random for military service from the age of 16 years old. I was selected and enlisted with the SA Airforce Gymnasium in 1964. The photo's in my next Blog show some fellow gym mates and other places of interest. I was first trained as an Operations Intelligence clerk. After our military service I got involved with military intelligence, especially international affairs. Subsequent to my interest in the military, I visted our missions abroad, such as in Portugal, France and Washington DC. My current interest is still to get United Nations Institute for Training and Research Peacekeeping Operations Correspondence Instruction (UNITAR POCI) accredited for African militia with South African Higher Education Institutions (HEIS).

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posted by Kallie (Karel Johannes) de Beer at 12:22 AM | 0 comments

Wednesday, February 06, 2008

PHOTO OF DE BEER GRAVE YARD

Dirk De Beer, on the photo next to the Johannes Nicolaas De Beer (and wife's) grave on the farm Smitskraal told me the story how the De Beer family originally got the farm and later lost it due to uncertain reasons...Today, it belongs to a successful potato- and entrepreneurial farmer, Mr John Easby. Dirk sold his two farms nearby Smitskraal to his two sons, Stanley and Colin De Beer. They respectively operate two huge estates while Dirk, now 72, sort of retired on a part of their farms on the banks of the Vaal river near Christiana. Dirk's brother is also buried in this grave yard. Dirk's sister, Jackie, who lives in Christiana is employed by Colin while their younger brother settled in East London in the Eastern Cape.

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posted by Kallie (Karel Johannes) de Beer at 4:58 AM | 0 comments

DE BEERS DIAMOND PHOTOS




Dirk De Beer, standing next to the grave of Johannes Nicolaas De Beer. The inscription on the tombstone reads: Graveyard of Johannes Nicolaas De Beer. Born 6 December 1830. Died 20 June 1883. Owner of the farm Vooruitzicht on which diamonds were discovered in 1871 and on which Kimberley is situated..."

posted by Kallie (Karel Johannes) de Beer at 3:46 AM | 0 comments

GRAVE OF "DIAMOND" DE BEER

I have heard the story from my grandfather, Karel Johannes De Beer, when I was a litlle boy that we are relatives of the De Beer on who's farm diamonds were discovered and on which the city of Kimberley was built. Although he was raised in the little Free State town of Petrusburg, next to the railway line to Kimberley, my grandfather may have visited his family as a child. He was also baptized in Kimberley. Since then, I always had this intererst about the wellknown "Diamond De Beer" family name. However, untill very recently and after a lot of research on the De Beer family, I could never found the grave of Johannes Nicolaas De Beer on who's farm, Vooruitzicht, diamonds were discovered. Even the the Rhodes museum in Kimberley could not direct me to the grave of this very famous man. Yes, famous and wellknown all over the world since his name perpetuated along with the international DeBeers Diamond Company. ( Cf Google search:"Only the name perpetuated").
Eventually a certain Gerrit Wessels of Boshof, a small town in the Free State on route from Kimberley to Bloemfontein where I live, took notice of my interest and enquiries about Johannes Nicolaas De Beer's grave, and who may be buried in the Boshof district. Fortunately his mother was related to that part of the De Beer family and subsequently put me into cell phone contact with the original De Beers who still farm near the farm, Smitskraal, where the famous De Beer is buried. I was invited by one of his great grandsons, Dirk De Beer, to show me the grave.
Dirk took a photograph of me next to the tombstone which the DeBeers Diamond Company placed on his and his wife's grave. My search has ended. The photo's in my next Blog tell its own story...

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posted by Kallie (Karel Johannes) de Beer at 3:01 AM | 8 comments