P. K. Van Der Byl - Family and Early Life

Family and Early Life

Van der Byl was born in Cape Town, Western Cape, South Africa, the son of Major Pieter Voltelyn Graeme van der Byl, a member of Jan Smuts' South African cabinet during the Second World War, and wife Joy Fleming. Like his father, van der Byl was educated at the Diocesan College in Rondebosch but his studies were interrupted by war in 1941. He served with the South African Army during the Second World War and was briefly attached to the British 7th Queen's Own Hussars; he saw active service in the Middle East, Italy and Austria.

After being demobilised, van der Byl studied law at Pembroke College, Cambridge where his aristocratic manner stood out. "P. K." was always elegantly dressed and coiffured, and acquired the nickname "the Piccadilly Dutchman". He obtained a Third-class degree in his Part II Law examinations in 1947, and went on from Cambridge to study at the Harvard University Graduate School of Business Administration from 1947 to 1948 (although he did not obtain a degree at the latter). He also studied at the University of Witwatersrand in South Africa.

One of the most conspicuous features of van der Byl was his manner of speech: although his ancestry was Cape Dutch and his early life was in Cape Town, South Africa, he had what were described (by the pro-Rhodesian Chris Whitehead) as "what he thought was an aristocratic English nasal drawl and imperial English mannerisms". Whitehead was of the opinion that van der Byl had "adopted" this accent, in common with others who heard him. This personal characteristic was intensely irritating to many people including South African government ministers, but van der Byl's aristocratic mannerisms appeared uncontentious to many Rhodesian whites. They believed that his "nasal drawl" was the product of his time as an officer in the Hussars and his Cambridge education: William Higham described him as "a popular Minister of Defence who, despite his British upper crust accent – undoubtedly honed during his swashbuckling career as an officer in the hussars – hailed from a noble Cape family."