1 Squadron SAAF was an air force squadron of the South African Air Force and was formed at Air Force Station Swartkop in February 1920, equipped with
De Havilland DH.9
The Airco DH.9 (from de Havilland 9) – also known after 1920 as the de Havilland DH.9 – was a British single-engined biplane bomber developed and deployed during the First World War.
The DH.9 was a development of Airco's earlier successfu ...
's part of the
Imperial Gift
The Imperial Gift was the donation of aircraft from British surplus stocks after the First World War to the Dominions: Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and the Empire of India. On 29 May 1919, the British Cabinet agreed to give 100 ...
donation to South Africa by Britain. On 31 August 1939 the squadron was re-designated as 1 Bomber/Fighter Squadron and this was then changed to 11 (Bomber) Squadron in December 1939. The squadron was resurrected in February 1940 by the renumbering of 6 Squadron, equipped with four Hurricane Mk 1's and six Furies.
1 Squadron saw active service in East Africa in 1940, the Western Desert, Malta, Sicily and ended their war service in Italy in 1945. In 1950 the squadron's Spitfires were replaced with Vampires and these in turn were replaced by Sabre Mk6's in 1956. In 1976 the squadron received Mirage F1AZ attack aircraft and it was disbanded when the F1AZ's were retired on 25 November 1997.
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History
Establishment
There had been no official squadron designations in the South African Air Force (SAAF) from its inception in 1920 until the early 1938 when 1 and 2 Transvaal Air Squadrons were formed as training units based at Waterkloof Air Station which had been opened earlier that year. Each squadron comprised 18 aircraft, divided into 3 flights each, plus a headquarters or administrative flight per squadron. Each flight was structured to form the working nucleus of a squadron. A flight of SE5's was to be the cadre of a fighting/ground strafing squadron; Avro 504Ks of a training and artillery spotter squadron, and DH9s were to form the cadre of a long-distance communication, photographic, bombing, and reconnaissance squadron.[Brown (1970) pp.21-22]
World War II
On 31 August 1939, 1 Transvaal Air Squadron was re-designated as 1 (Fighter-Bomber) Squadron, and the original aircraft were replaced with Hawker Hart
The Hawker Hart is a British two-seater biplane light bomber aircraft that saw service with the Royal Air Force (RAF). It was designed during the 1920s by Sydney Camm and manufactured by Hawker Aircraft. The Hart was a prominent British aircraf ...
ebeest.[ It took until May 1940 for the squadron to be trained and brought up to strength, by when it had been equipped with four ]Hurricanes
A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...
and six Furies
The Erinyes ( ; sing. Erinys ; grc, Ἐρινύες, pl. of ), also known as the Furies, and the Eumenides, were female chthonic deities of vengeance in ancient Greek religion and mythology. A formulaic oath in the ''Iliad'' invokes the ...
and was officially titled "1 (Fighter) Squadron," commanded by Maj. N.G. Niblock-Stuart. The squadron was the first SAAF squadron to deploy in support of the Allied war effort, when a group of pilots and support staff were ferried to Egypt on 13 May 1940 by 50 Squadron.[Brown (1970) pp.33-34] Once they had arrived in Egypt, they were equipped with 18 Gloster Gladiators.[Becker (1991) p.67]
At the same time, the squadrons Hurricanes were ferried north from Pretoria on 22 and 24 May, accompanied by a Ju86[These Ju86's had been purchased from Germany as passenger aircraft for South African Airways. At the outbreak of war, they were transferred to the SAAF and modified to permit them to be used as bombers by the addition of external bomb racks. (Brown (1990) p.54)] carrying the maintenance crews and arrived in Nairobi at the end of May.[ The squadron's Fury aircraft were flown from Pretoria to Durban for crating and were then shipped to Mombasa on SS Takliwa, embarking on 26 May and arriving in East Africa on 1 June 1940 where the Furies were un-crated and re-assembled.] By early June the pilots from Egypt had married up with their aircraft in East Africa and were declared operational.[
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East Africa
The squadron's first operational mission was an attack on the Italian ''Regia Aeronautica
The Italian Royal Air Force (''Regia Aeronautica Italiana'') was the name of the air force of the Kingdom of Italy. It was established as a service independent of the Royal Italian Army from 1923 until 1946. In 1946, the monarchy was abolis ...
'' air base at Yavello in Abyssinia
The Ethiopian Empire (), also formerly known by the exonym Abyssinia, or just simply known as Ethiopia (; Amharic and Tigrinya: ኢትዮጵያ , , Oromo: Itoophiyaa, Somali: Itoobiya, Afar: ''Itiyoophiyaa''), was an empire that historica ...
, on 17 June 1940. The task of the two Hurricanes was to escort three Junkers Ju 86
The Junkers Ju 86 was a German monoplane bomber and civilian airliner designed in the early 1930s, and employed by various air forces on both sides during World War II. The civilian model Ju 86B could carry ten passengers. Two were delivered to S ...
bombers from 12 Sqn in the attack on the airfield. The attack destroyed airport infrastructure as well as six Caproni Ca 133's on the ground. But a couple of Fiat CR.32s from 412ª ''Squadriglia'' had scrambled as soon as the South Africans had been spotted. The two Italian pilots severely damaged one of the Ju 86s, then shot down one of the Hurricanes[2nd Lt B.L. Griffiths, who was to be the first operational casualty of the squadron.] Capt St E. Truter, in the second Hurricane, reacted: he attacked and chased away the CR.32 flown by ''Tenente'' Aldo Meoli, that flipped over when it landed.[Sutherland and Canwell 2009, p. 38.ruter ]
The squadron's Hurricanes, Gladiators and Hartbeest aircraft continued to provide fighter cover but by late 1940 the Hartbeest were proving to be no longer a match for the Italian Fiat CR.42 Falco
The Fiat CR.42 ''Falco'' ("Falcon", plural: ''Falchi'') is a single-seat sesquiplane fighter developed and produced by Italian aircraft manufacturer Fiat Aviazione. It served primarily in the Italian in the 1930s and during the Second World Wa ...
s and one flight consisting of Hartbeest and Gladiators was split off from the squadron to form the nucleus of 2 Fighter Bomber Squadron. The squadron then continued operating with the remaining Gladiators and Hurricanes from airfields in Abyssinia and Sudan
Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...
until the fall of Addis Ababa
Addis Ababa (; am, አዲስ አበባ, , new flower ; also known as , lit. "natural spring" in Oromo), is the capital and largest city of Ethiopia. It is also served as major administrative center of the Oromia Region. In the 2007 census, t ...
on 5 April 1941. Although the East African campaign continued until November 1941, the absence of Italian fighters permitted the squadron to be moved to the Middle East on 8 April 1941.
From June 1940 to April 1941 the squadron operated from Kenya
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, Abyssinia, Sudan (Azzoza and Port Sudan) and Eritrea
Eritrea ( ; ti, ኤርትራ, Ertra, ; ar, إرتريا, ʾIritriyā), officially the State of Eritrea, is a country in the Horn of Africa region of Eastern Africa, with its capital and largest city at Asmara. It is bordered by Ethiopia ...
.
Western Desert
The squadron arrived in April 1941 and scored its first kill on 16 May when Lt. Talbot shot down a Ju 87. The first large-scale deployment was in support of ''Operation Brevity
Operation Brevity was a limited offensive conducted in mid-May 1941, during the Western Desert Campaign of the Second World War. Conceived by the commander-in-chief of the British Middle East Command, General Archibald Wavell, Brevity was int ...
'' and later in support of ''Operation Battleaxe
Operation Battleaxe (15–17 June 1941) was a British Army offensive during the Second World War to raise the Siege of Tobruk and re-capture eastern Cyrenaica from German and Italian forces. It was the first time during the war that a significa ...
'' when Lt. Talbot – the squadron's highest scoring ace, with 10 kills at that stage – was shot down and killed. By this stage, the squadron was only flying Hurricanes. During ''Operation Crusader
Operation Crusader (18 November – 30 December 1941) was a military operation of the Western Desert Campaign during the Second World War by the British Eighth Army (United Kingdom), Eighth Army (with Commonwealth, Indian and Allied contingents) ...
'' the squadron forced down a German Bf109F, capturing it intact – for which they were congratulated by Air Chief Marshal Tedder for capturing the first of this type of aircraft.
By the time of Operation Crusader
Operation Crusader (18 November – 30 December 1941) was a military operation of the Western Desert Campaign during the Second World War by the British Eighth Army (United Kingdom), Eighth Army (with Commonwealth, Indian and Allied contingents) ...
the squadron was part of No. 258 Wing RAF
The numero sign or numero symbol, №, (also represented as Nº, No, No. or no.), is a Typography, typographic abbreviation of the word ''number''(''s'') indicating ordinal number, ordinal numeration, especially in names and titles. For exampl ...
, under the direct command of Air Headquarters Western Desert.
On 3 July 1942, the squadron was intercepting a German raid on the Alamein area while No. 272 Squadron RAF was providing them with top cover. The formation came across 15 Junkers Ju 87
The Junkers Ju 87 or Stuka (from ''Sturzkampfflugzeug'', "dive bomber") was a German dive bomber and ground-attack aircraft. Designed by Hermann Pohlmann, it first flew in 1935. The Ju 87 made its combat debut in 1937 with the Luftwaffe's Con ...
s escorted by 7 Bf109s; 274 Sqn attacked the Bf109s whilst 1 Sqn went after the Ju 87s. In what was later to become known as the "1 Squadron Stuka Party" the squadron destroyed 14 Ju 87s, damaged two and shot down one of the Bf109s for the loss of just one aircraft (Lt Ray Connell, who crash landed at Burgh-el-Arab after a rear gunner destroyed his oil pump) in a forty-five-minute engagement.
During the second Battle of El Alamein, the squadron was tasked with protecting the allied armour in their advance across the start line during the break-out phase, where squadron Hurricanes destroyed a number of Ju 87 Stukas during this phase of the battle. After the Battle of Alamein, the squadron received Spitfires as replacements for their Hawker Hurricanes.
During April 1943, German transport aircraft were freighting supplies to the beleaguered Africa Korps
The Afrika Korps or German Africa Corps (, }; DAK) was the German expeditionary force in Africa during the North African Campaign of World War II. First sent as a holding force to shore up the Italian defense of its African colonies, the ...
in Tunisia after Allied air and sea interdiction had stopped most of their ship borne supplies coming from Italy. On the 22nd, the squadron Spitfires joined by Kittyhawks from SAAF 2, 4 and 5 Squadrons intercepted 21 huge Me323's attempting to bring in fuel (each aircraft carried 10 tons of fuel) to Tunisia. They destroyed 16 Me323's and two of their fighter escorts (one MC.202
The Macchi C.202 ''Folgore'' (Italian "thunderbolt") was an Italian fighter aircraft developed and manufactured by Macchi Aeronautica. It was operated mainly by the '' Regia Aeronautica'' (''RA''; Royal (Italian) Air Force) in and around the S ...
and one Re.2001). After this successful intercept, Goering forbade all transport flights to Africa. The decision was overturned two days later after protests from Kesselring, on condition that all future flights were made by night.
During the fighting in the Western Desert in 1941 (while operating under the 6 Squadron designation) they acquired their nickname "The Billy Boys" because whenever successful in combat, the South African pilots would shout "''Jou Bielie!''" over the radio (roughly translated into British English as "You clever chap!" and into American English as "You Hoss!").
Italy
By July 1943, 1 Sqn had ceased operations in North Africa and were then tasked with patrolling the beaches where the landings for the invasion of Sicily were to take place. After the successful landings of ''Operation Husky'' and the subsequent exploitation, the squadron moved to Sicily on 14 July. After 38 days in Sicily, the squadron again provided cover for the British landings in Italy on 3 September 1943 to be followed by them providing fighter cover at the Anzio landings on 22 January 1944. The squadron then moved to Italy and supported the assault on Rome, claiming 16 enemy aircraft destroyed during this battle. 1 Squadron remained in Italy for the rest of the war operating as a fighter squadron but also flying ground attack sorties towards the end of the Italian campaign. In June 1945 the squadron began to convert to the North American Mustangs, but by July 1945, when the squadron's personnel started to return to South Africa, only a few Mustangs had been delivered.[
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Postwar to disbandment
After the end of the war, the number of SAAF aircraft were greatly reduced, many being scrapped or sold at nominal prices. By June 1946, the squadron was assigned to 7 Wing SAAF based at AFB Waterkloof
Air Force Base Waterkloof is an airbase of the South African Air Force. It is situated on the outskirts of Pretoria, and is the SAAF's busiest airbase. The base's name, ''Waterkloof'', is Afrikaans. It means ''Water Ravine'' in English. Despite ...
, flying Harvards but still retaining the Spitfires. In 1947 the concept of the Active citizen Force was introduced whereby permanent force pilots would fly the squadron aircraft in the week and citizen force pilot officers would pilot the same Harvards and Spitfires over the weekends. Because of the Citizen Force association with the squadron, its name was changed to 1 "City of Pretoria" Squadron.
By 1954 all of the squadron's Spitfires were retired and replaced by Sabre Mk6's in 1956. Additional new aircraft types were procured and by 1957 the squadron had 16 Sabres, 12 Vampires and 12 Harvards on strength.
The squadron was later reequipped with the Impala Mk. I and then the Mirage F1AZ, operating from Hoedspruit until its disbandment on 25 November 1997. It saw combat during the South African Border War
The South African Border War, also known as the Namibian War of Independence, and sometimes denoted in South Africa as the Angolan Bush War, was a largely asymmetric conflict that occurred in Namibia (then South West Africa), Zambia, and Angol ...
in SWA/Angola.[Lord, Dick. (2008). From Fledgling to Eagle: The South African Air Force during the Border War. Johannesburg: 30° South.]
Bases and areas of operation
The squadron was deployed from the following bases / operated in the following arenas:
Aircraft
See also
* List of World War II aces from South Africa
This is a list of fighter aces in World War II from South Africa.
See also
* List of World War II aces by country.
* Military history of South Africa during World War II
* South African Air Force
Notes
*DFC - Distinguished Flying Cross
*DFM ...
Notes
Footnotes
References
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* Archived at HathiTrust Digital Library
HathiTrust Digital Library is a large-scale collaborative repository of digital content from research libraries including content digitized via Google Books and the Internet Archive digitization initiatives, as well as content digitized locally ...
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* Archived at HathiTrust, HathiTrust Digital Library
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* Archived at HathiTrust, HathiTrust Digital Library
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* Sutherland, Jon and Diane Canwell. ''Air War East Africa 1940-41: The RAF Versus the Italian Air Force''. Barnsley, South Yorkshire, UK: Pen and Sword Aviation, 2009. .
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External links
1 Squadron SAAF on Facebook
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{{SAAF navbox
Squadrons of the South African Air Force
Military units and formations of the Cold War
SAAF1
Military units and formations established in 1920
Military units and formations disestablished in 1997
1920 in South Africa
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