My Dad's history

I have decided to finally publish my Dad's memoirs, I do regret that I didn't get him to type more while he still could! Please add to these if you know him at all!

Charles Andrew de Wet 

Very shortly after his birth on 31 December 1920 (or possibly even during his mothers’ pregnancy) Charles’ parents marriage broke up. Charles was christened ‘Charles Andrew’ by Ds. L E Brandt in the school hall of May Consolidated Mines Germiston. -P.N. Janse van Rensburg and Aletta Wentzel officiated as witnesses at the ceremony. 

In view of the breakdown of her marriage, Charles’ mother, Hester Catherina de Wet, was forced (after a vain struggle of about 18 months) to safeguard her children by placing all of them into childrens’ homes that were run by an organisation which was acceptable to her.

It should be noted that in those times divorce was severely frowned upon and that women who were caught up in these circumstances, were considered a disgrace to their family and, at most times by others, even as ‘shameful and wicked’. The worshipers in her church were particularly staunch in their views in this regard; and, in truth, it may be said that it is more than likely that she may even have shared these views had she herself not been an unhappy ’victim’ of these circumstances.

The organisation approved by the childrens’ mother was the Salvation Army ‘a world-wide Christian evangelical, social-service, and social-reform organisation, originating in 1865 in London (England). It has military titles for its officials; is renowned for its brass bands; and, at that time, for its weekly journal, the ‘War Cry’. The Salvation Army was (and still is) particularly qualified at caring for children whose parents had fallen on hard times and who were thus unable to provide their offspring with the essential quality fosterage. 

Except for Charles and his third eldest sister Judith, the Salvation Army were able to accommodate all six other children: - the two oldest sisters; in their Driehoek home for girls, and the four remaining boys –at their ‘Driefontein Social Farm’. In 1923 these boys were transferred to ‘Firlands’, the Salvation Army’s newly built Boys’ Home in Linden.

Charles, who had barely been weaned from his mother, was placed in the Louis Botha home for children, in Pretoria until approximately 1926, when he was considered old enough to join his brothers in the Salvation Army home for boys in Linden - his mother having graciously turned down an offer submitted by an influential Pretoria family to adopt her child a year earlier.

Some interesting historic notes on the name of CHARLES:
The name of seven Holy Roman Emperors.

• Charles I Charlemagne -Charles the Great; (c742 - 814), king of the Francs, founder of the Holy Roman Empire and, in legend, hero of the Chansons de Gest. In 771, on the death of his co- ruler, his brother Carleman, Charlemagne became the sole ruler of the Francs and began to extend the kingdom. In response to an appeal by Pope Adrian I, he waged a successful campaign against Lombardy in 773 - 74. Bavaria was annexed in 788, and the Saxons and Avars (on the Danube) were subjugated and Christianised after some 30 years of war. In 800 Charlemagne was crowned emperor by Pope Leo III. From his court at Aachen he not only controlled an efficient administrative system, but also fostered the Carolingian cultural renaissance, which spread through much of present- day France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Holland and Belgium.
• Charles II Charles the Bald (823 – 877) reigned as the king of the Francs from 843 and as Holy Roman Emperor from 875. Numerous revolts and invasions troubled his reign. It was the last great reign of his dynasty and culturally the last flowering of the Carolingian renaissance.
• Charles III the Simple ( 879 – 929), grandson of Charles II. 
• Charles IV the Fair (1294 – 1328), king of France, reigned from 1322.
• Charles V the Wise (1337 – 1380), king of France, reigned as regent 1356 – 64 and as king from 1364 –1380. Frail and poor in health, he nevertheless put down th Jacquerie uprising and various plots by his nobles. He regularized taxation and the increased revenue to build up his armies. He declared war upon England in 1369 and before his death his armies, under the great commander du Guesclin,had regained most French territory occupied by the English. 
• Charles VI the Mad (1368 – 1442), reigned as king of France from 1380 to 1422. He began a disastrous reign at the age of 12. Subject to frequent and severe fits of madness, he allowed corrupt advisers to reign in his stead. England overran most of the north of France once more and Charles was forced to name Henry V of England as his heir (1420).
• Charles VII (1403 – 1461), reigned as king of France from 1422 to 1461. The early part of his reign was marked by his unwillingness to challenge the English occupation of France, even to the extent of allowing Joan of Arc to be burned as an heretic. With the influence of new advisers and the end of Burgundian alliance with England, Charles introduced tax reforms, rebuilt his army and regained all occupied territory – except Calais. 
• Charles VIII (1470 - 1498), reigned as king of France from 1483 to 1498. 
• Charles IX (1550 – 1574), who reigned as king of France 1560 – 74 was dominated by his mother Catherine de Medicis, who instigated the St. Bartholomew’s Day massacre*.
  *The killing of French Hugenots which began in Paris on 24^th August, 1572. Jealous of the influence of the Hugenot de Coligny on her son king Charles IX, Catherine de Medicis plotted to assassinate him. When this failed Catherine, fearing Hugenot reaction, persuaded Charles to order the deaths of all leading Hugenots. On the morning St Bartholomew’s Day thousands were slaughtered. Despite Government orders to stop, the murders continued in the provinces until October. 
• Charles X (1757 – 1836), reigned 1824-30. He returned to France from exile after the restoration of the monarchy, becoming king on the death of his brother Louis XVIII. He was exiled again after the 1830 revolution, largely provoked by his autocratic rule. 

The name of an Italian ruler. 

• Charles I (1227 – 1285), king of Naples and Sicily from 1266, first of the Angevin dynasty. His last years were marked by a struggle to retain Sicily. As count of Anjou and brother of the French king, his reign laid the basis for future French claims to Italy.

The names of the Stuart kings of Scotland, England and Ireland.

• Charles I (1660 - 1649), came to the throne in 1625. His absolutist beliefs and Roman Catholic sympathies alienated the Puritan dominated parliaments. Forced to dissolve parliament in 1625, 1626 and 1629, he ruled without one until 1640, when increasing fiscal problems made him call the long parliament, which sought to curtail his powers. This precipitated the Civil War in 1647. Charles was defeated and captured in 1647. His continual duplicity in dealing with his captors led to his trial and execution. 
• Charles II (1630 – 1685), returned from exile to succeed his father in 1660 after the death of Cromwell. His pro–Roman Catholic foreign policy, reflecting his own sympathies, made him distrusted, but he was more tolerant in religeous matters than his parliaments. A shrewder man than Charles I, his political expertise and cynicism kept him much of his power. In the end he retained the Country’s affection, if only for his flamboyant private life.

The names of four kings of Spain .

• Charles I ( see Charles V, of the Holy Roman Empire)
• Charles II (1661 – 1700), last of the Spanish Hepsburgs, reigned from 1665. Feeble and degenerate, he could not produce an heir, and named Philip of Anjou, grandson of Louis XII, his successor, causing the war of the Spanish Succession.
• Charles III (1716 – 1788), reigned from 1759. A strongly abolitionist monarch, his attempts to expand Spanish interests in South America met with defeat at British hands. His enlightened domestic policy reducing the power of the Church and Inquisition and the introduction of administrative reforms, was considerably more successful.
• Charles IV (1748 – 1808), during his reign between the years 1788 – 1808 , Spain was largely ruled by his wife, Marie Luisa of Parma and her lover, Chief Minister Manuel de Godoy. Defeated by France in 1795, Charles allowed Spain to become a satellite of Napoleonic France, and was forced to abdicate in 1808.

The names of fifteen kings of Sweden.

• Charles I to Charles VIII (see kings of the Holy Roman Empire).
• Charles IX (1550 – 1611), reigned from 1607. 
• Charles X Gustavus, (1622 – 1660 ), reigned from 1654. He campaigned in Poland and Denmark, winning Sweden’s provinces from the Danes.
• Charles XI (1655 – 1697), king from 1660; established an absolute monarchy and rebuilt Sweden’s military and economic power.
• Charles XII (1682 – 1718), king from 1697, routed Russian invaders at Navra in 1700 and embarked on a series of expansionist campaigns. His death during a siege ended his autocratic monarchy and Sweden’s hopes of empire.
• Charles XIII (1748 – 1818), reigned from 1809.
• Charles XVI (1818 – 1844), ruled Sweden and Norway under this title. His birth name was Jean Baptiste Jules Bernadotte.
• Charles XV (1826 – 1844), reigned from 1859

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