ALBERT DENDUYVER Albert, Charles, Louis Denduyver 1884-1912/1913?

Albert Denduyver Courtesy of Jean-Pierre Lauwers

BIOGRAPHICAL NOTES by Jean-Pierre Lauwers November 10, 2002      Albert Denduyver, or Denduijver, was born in Handzame, Belgium, on August 7, 1884. His full name was Albert,Charles,Louis Denduyver   SERVICE WITH COUNT d'OULTREMONT      Albert was in the service of a Count d'Oultremont, identified by a local historian as being from Ghent. (I haven't found any member of the d'Oultremont clan as being from there. Most of them, those living in Belgium at the time, were from Brussels or Wallonia!)      Albert was his personal sports car driver. The count told him that he would buy him a plane, if he dared to fly it. His answer was an enthusiastic "Yes!"      So Albert Denduyver went to the flying school at st-Job in 't Goor, to take flying lessons on orders of the count! He obtained the flying license n°43 on September 16, 1911! Victor de Jonckheere had n° 44 , granted on the same day. They knew each other quite well!

 

DE VLIEGWEEK VAN ZARREN IN 1911 The aviationweek in Zarren in 1911. Text and photos from the collection of Jos Demaree

Already before World War 1, the village Zarren in West-Flanders (Belgium) made acqaintance (?) with' flying machines' in their pioneephase by the organisation of an aviationweek. The pastoral silence of Zarren, only disturbed by the noise of a passing steam-train, would be disturbed for the first time by the noise of an areo-plane.      At this time, two young men regularly took the train to Gent at the small station of Zarren. It were Jerome Deboutte (1883-1950), eldest son of mayor Alfons Deboutte, student in architecture in Gent an a certain André Denduyver, a farmer's son from the nearby village Werken. He was chauffeur of the sportscar of the young count d'Oultrement from Gent.      This article tell the fascinating story of Albert Denduyver and the first air show in Zarren in 1911. It is described in great detail and also includes several other contemporary reports of the event. It was translated by Jos Demaree and is accompanied by seven beautiful and unique photographs which were taken on the occasion. If you are interested in reading the whole story, just click on the title above.

 

Lokeren Air Meet, Oct. 10, 1911 Copy of original postcard Courtesy of Jean-Pierre Lauwers

LOKOREN AIR MEET, 1911      The postcard reproduced above, commemorates the City of Lokeren aviation event held on October 1910! On it you will see a photo of Albert and of his Farman III plane. (In the Zarren Village history book, no photo of himself is to be found, just his "Farman III" plane only!) Nowhere I could trace an article on that "City of Lokeren 1910" event! I haven't any idea if it even took place, or was cancelled for some reason? The postcard from my own collection is the only surviving one to my knowledge! What says the I am unaware of any existing copy of the "Zarren history book." He had planned to go with the count to the USA, in the hopes of making a lot of money over there, with giving flight demonstrations...but he crashed with his plane... The way it is written in Dutch (!) it is translated as "he made a deathly crash!" There was no mention of the year or the place! (Pity!)

LOKOREN AIR MEET - SUPPLEMENT Remarks from Jean-Pierre Lauwers      I have been unable to determine if Albert Denduyver was the only aviator to attend this meet, or if it even too place. It might have been cancelled due to bad weather. So far my search for more information has been fruitless. I haven't even been able to determine whether other aviators or airplanes were schduled to take part in it!

DENDUYVER GOES TO AMERICA, Probably      But just as Victor de Jonckheere, he is as long to find into my "Yearbooks of the Belgian Aéro-Club, with his address! As we know, V. De Jonckheere moved to the USA (Philadelphia) in 1912, It's reasonable to assume that Albert Denduyver also sailed to the USA around 1912 too! It is noted that they both knew each other, perhaps they became friends and both were enrolled in the flight school at the same time. However, there is no evidence that they had sailed together to the USA, or for that matter separately at another time!!! But there is an important clue in the fact that neither of them renewed their "membership" in the Aé.C.B for 1913 or thereafter!   ALBERT DENDUYVER KILLED IN THE USA, Probably      So, the "year", Albert Denduyver sailed to the USA was very probably 1912! Than he was killed there "probably" (?) the same year, or perhaps very early in 1913!      The "Count d' Oultremont, in whose service he was, returned to Belgium, and is reported to have been in charge of a Belgian Army School camp of Camp d'Auvours (France) during WWI!      There is no trace to be found of "Albert Denduyver" in Belgium after the year 1911! I am trying to contact the author of the "Zarren Village history book" to learn some more details!, (if he has them?), but's it's like searching for a needle in a haystack. In order to find the location where Albert is buried, it would be helpful if we knew the place and year of his death.   Noël Denduyver Seeks Information      Noël Denduyver, a descendent of Albert, is searching for information about his ancestor. He is working on building a geneology tree for his family. (He had no photo of Albert Denduyver when I contacted him. He had posted a request on the Forum of BAHA, so I started research to find out more myself about!)

 

BELGIAN AVIATION HISTORY ASSOCIATION      Anyone interested in the rich history of aviation in Belgium, must visit the website of the Belgian Aviation History Association. It is replete with fascinating stories, photographs and many links to other related sites. To access it just click on: BAHA.

 

The date of his death is unclear..   Editor's Note: If you have any information on this pioneer aviator please contact me. E-mail to Ralph Cooper

 

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