1914 Rebellion ("Die Rebellie") - John Illsley

This month your new committee is proud to announce a talk by John Illsley in the Drostdy Schuur at 18h00 for 18h30 on Thursday 19th June. You may recall he gave us a fascinating talk on Aviation Pioneers earlier this year & it was so well received we asked him back!

The  talk this time will be on the 1914 Rebellion ("Die Rebellie") which was an uprising led by ex-Boer generals opposed to SA's entry into World War One as part of the British empire. It is the closest South Africa has come to a Coup d'Etat! A fascinating topic that we think you will enjoy hearing about.  

John Illsley was born and educated in Johannesburg where he obtained a degree in history from the University of the Witwatersrand.

His teaching career spanned 36 years and was spent entirely at Pretoria Boys High School where was head of the History Department; founder of the school's Aeronautical Society, and the longest serving senior deputy headmaster. He is the author of In Southern Skies, a pictorial history of early aviation in Southern Africa.

He holds a private pilots licence and flies two vintage aircraft that he has restore.