Supermarine Spitfire. African Users. Part Three. South Africa.

 

The Supermarine Spitfire equipped various squadrons of the South African Air Force (SAAF) during World War 2 and some time after. The following units employed it at some point in their service:

• No.1 Squadron SAAF replaced their Hawker Hurricanes for the Supermarine Spitfire Mk.V in November 1942 after the Battle of El Alamein. They saw action during April 1943 when the Luftwaffe was trying to supply their troops in Tunisia by ferrying supplies with the enormous Messerschmitt Me.323. 
  In an action that took place on 22nd April, the No.1 Squadron SAAF, together with other squadrons of the SAAF, claimed 16 Me.323 downed and two Italian fighters. 
  They served through the Sicilian campaign, southern Italy and Anzio. They were present at the Battle of Rome too, claiming 16 enemy aircraft.  
  They remained in Italy for the rest of the war, operating as a fighter squadron but also flying occasional ground attack sorties. In June 1945 they were intended to transition to the North American P-51 Mustang, however by that time most of the squadron's personnel was returning home and eventually, very few P-51 were delivered.
  After the war the squadron was put under No.7 Wing SAAF and was based at AFB Waterkloof, where they flew a mixture of North American Harvard and some Spitfire Mk.IX featuring a bubble canopy. 
  By 1954 the Spitfires were retired and replaced by the Canadair Sabre Mk.6. 
  
  
• No. 2 Squadron SAAF: From July 1943 until March 1944, this unit operated the Spitfire Mk.Vc during the Italian campaign. From February 1944 until July 1945 they also operated the Spitfire Mk.IXc and served through both Italian and Balkan aerial campaigns. After the war, in December 1948, it was reformed at Waterkloof by being equipped with the bubble-canopy variant of the Spitfire Mk.IX, in order to move over to the North American P-51D Mustang. 
  
  
• No.4 Squadron SAAF: Just like the previous unit, this one replaced their Kittyhawks with Spitfires in July 1943. In august it was rebased to Sicily and then, in September, to the Italian southern mainland, where it performed mainly aerial and ground attack roles, changing their base various times until the end of the conflict. The unit was disbanded in October 1945 while still in Italy. 
  It was reformed again in 1951 as part of the Active Citizen Force, when it flew a blend of Harvards and Spitfire Mk.IX, until it was disbanded again in October 1958.
  It's worth pointing out that this unit employed a special two-seater ad-hoc variant of    the Spitfire intended to be used as a squadron hack during the Italian campaign. 
  
  
• No.3 Squadron SAAF: This squadron received the Spitfire Mk.V while based at Aden, where they also performed coastal patrols over North African shores. In August 1944 it was re-equipped with the Spitfire Mk.IX and was sent to Italy, where it remained until the end of the war, providing ground support. Shortly after the war, it was disbanded.

• No.40 Squadron SAAF: This unit replaced their Curtiss Kittyhawk with Spitfires Vb at the end of February 1943. This variant was equipped with various photographic cameras for tactical reconnaissance duties. 
  Operating from Malta in June 1943 they took part in various recon flights over Sicily in preparation for Operation Husky, the Allied invasion of Sicily, after which, they served through the Italian campaign, before being re-equipped with the Spitfire Mk.IXc. For the remaining of the year 'A' Flight operated in the Italian Adriatic area, while the remaining of the squadron remained in Egypt, where they were rebased in order to be re-equipped with the Spitfire Mk.IX. In mid January 1944 the whole was reunited again, albeit not for a long time.
  'A' Flight took part on the Allied advance over Rome during June-July 1944, as they were attached to the US 5th Army. One detachment was sent to Corsica to take part in the invasion of the Italian island of Elba, an important objective in preparation of Operation Anvil, the invasion of southern France. On 25th August the squadron was re-attached to the British 8th Army and they took part on the assault on the Gothic Line suffering heavy casualties at the Battles of Gemmano and Rimini. I autumn they were rebased to Forli. 
  A detachment of this unit, flying Spitfire Mk.Vbs saw action against Greek ELAs forces during the early days of the Greek Civil War.
  After the war the unit was disbanded.
  
  
• No. 60 Squadron SAAF: Apparently one detachment of this unit employed some reconnaissance Spitfires after the war, based at Swartkop. 
  
  
• Air Operations School: Employed some bubble-canopied Spitfire Mk.IXs as advanced trainers.

Sources:

1st https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_African_Air_Force

2nd https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1_Squadron_SAAF

3rd https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3_Squadron_SAAF

4th https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/40_Squadron_SAAF

5th https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/60_Squadron_SAAF

6th https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2_Squadron_SAAF

7th https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/4_Squadron_SAAF

8th https://www.saairforce.co.za/the-airforce/squadrons/1/2-squadron

9th https://www.saairforce.co.za/the-airforce/squadrons/21/4-squadron

10th https://www.saairforce.co.za/the-airforce/squadrons/20/3-squadron

11th https://www.saairforce.co.za/the-airforce/squadrons/12/60-squadron

12th https://www.saairforce.co.za/the-airforce/squadrons/91/air-force-command-and-control-school

de Havilland Vampire. Part Four. More African Users.

 

The de Havilland Vampire is a British jet fighter aircraft developed and manufactured by the de Havilland Aircraft Company that was used by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and some other users around the globe, among them, the following ones:

• South Africa: Ten Vampire FB.5 were ordered by the South African Air Force (SAAF) in 1949. They were built at English Electric Company's factory at Preston, Lancashire and were shipped in two batches of five, the first in January 1950 and the second one in June. The ones of the first batch were sent unassembled and were re-assembled at Ysterplaat , Cape Town, on 8th February. Shortly later a training programme was launched to train SAAF pilots in jet flying. 
  Ten additional FB.52s were delivered in 1951 and, in order to provide additional training, six T.55 (the export variant of the T.11) were ordered and arrived in May 1952. These were of the early sub-variant with framed canopy and no ejection seats. Twenty-one additional standard T.55 were ordered, built at Chester, Cheshire, and delivered between February 1954 and June 1955.
  In order to re-equip No.2 Squadron on its return from Korea, 30 new Vampire FB.Mk.9 were ordered in 1953. Anyway, with the arrival of the Canadair Sabres in 1956, most Vampires were withdrawn from service and put into storage, to be finally scrapped in 1967. Apparently 36 of them were sold to the neighboring Rhodesia.
  Two T.55 were still operational serving as test beds for electronic equipment at the Test Flight and Development Centre in Waterkloof  until February 1985.
• Somalia: The Somalian Air Force operated one ex-Iraqi T.55 trainer in 1964. 
• Zimbabwe: The Air Force of Zimbabwe operated some Vampire FB.Mk.9 and T.55 inherited from the Rhodesian Air Force. They served with No.2 Squadron, based at Gweru Thornhill and, since they were obsolete, they were replaced during the 1980s by the BAE Systems Hawk. 

Sources:

1st https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_de_Havilland_Vampire_operators

2nd https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/De_Havilland_Vampire

3rd Hall Park Books - Warpaint 27 - De Havilland Vampire

Airspeed AS.65 Consul, part two, various African Users

The Airspeed AS.65 was a British twin-engined light airliner that was designed by converting surplus AS.10 Oxford trainers into civilian use. Although it was, theoretically, for civilian use, many military, and paramilitary air forces throughout the world employed it. They type saw use in the African continent, specially in the following countries, territories and dependencies:

• Belgian Congo: As the Oxford turned to be a very positive aircraft for the Congolese environment, the Force Publique (the armed forces of the Belgian colony) decided to reinforce their Oxford fleet with some Consuls. As the Consul could be equipped easily with a freight door, it could fit stretchers into it, so they were mainly used as air ambulances. A total of six machines served with the Force Publique. They were acquired in 1948-1949 (some of them from the South African Natal Airlines) and by 1954-1955 or even 1956 they were all written off. Most of them were sold for scrap.
• France: According to our sources, four Consuls served with the French airline SA Aerotechnique, and one of them served with the Societe Algerienne de Transports Aeriens (Algerian Society of Air Transports). Charter airlines both of them. They served until the late 1950s when they were either sold or sold for scrap. As we couldn't find graphical evidence of the Consul serving with any of those airlines, the drawing should be considered as speculative.
• Colony and Protectorate of Kenya: The Kenyan-based airline East African Airways Corporation bought a single Consul from the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) in May 1954. It operated from Nairobi until 12th November 1955 when it suffered a wood and glue failure and was therefore retired to be scrapped in that same city two years later, in 1957.
• Union of South Africa: Many Consuls served with various South African airlines like Commercial Air Services, Natal Airlines or Silver Flights. Some of them were acquired from the Belgian Congo and some others straight from converted Oxfords. Either way, by mid 1950s or even later, they all were scrapped or sold.
• Tanganyka territory: The Tanganykan airline United Air Services operated three Consuls which were delivered between 1947-1948. They were based on Dar-es-Salaam and in 1952 due to the bad ageing of the machines, two of them were scrapped. The remaining one was sold to W.A. Rollason Ltd., in Croydon, London in 1950.

Sources:

1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Airspeed_Consul

2. http://britishaviation-ptp.com/airspeed_as65.html

3. http://www.belgian-wings.be/Webpages/Navigator/Photos/MilltaryPics/post_ww2/Airspeed%20Consul/aispeed_consul.htm

4. https://www.ab-ix.co.uk/pdfs/airspeed_oxford_&_consul.pdf