25 Squadron was a maritime patrol and later medium bomber squadron of the
South African Air Force during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. It was re-constituted twice between 1951 and 1990 as a medium transport squadron and was finally disbanded in October 1990.
History
Indian and Atlantic Oceans
The squadron was formed from 33 Flight at St Albans in Port Elizabeth on 1 July 1942 and was deployed as a torpedo bomber / coastal reconnaissance squadron patrolling the South African coast flying aged
Avro Anson
The Avro Anson is a British twin-engined, multi-role aircraft built by the aircraft manufacturer Avro. Large numbers of the type served in a variety of roles for the Royal Air Force (RAF), Fleet Air Arm (FAA), Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) a ...
s as part of
Coastal Command SAAF
The coast, also known as the coastline or seashore, is defined as the area where land meets the ocean, or as a line that forms the boundary between the land and the coastline. The Earth has around of coastline. Coasts are important zones in n ...
. The Ansons were gradually replaced and on 12 September 1942 the first
Lockheed Ventura Mk I was received and by end 1942 the squadron was only operating Venturas in coastal operations.
The first operational deployment was that of ''Operation Volley,'' where Venturas from
23 and 25 Squadrons were deployed to intercept German blockade runners together with
HMS ''Sirius'' and
HMS ''Phoebe'' in a 400-mile coastal belt off Agulhas between 15 and 21 September 1942.
The German submarine
''U-504'' had been attacking Allied shipping off Cape Agulhas from October 1942 and the squadron was deployed to search for the submarine together with
HMS ''Express'' and HMS ''Catterick'' – unsuccessful patrols failed to prevent the sinking of
SS ''Empire Chaucer'',
SS ''City of Johannesburg'' and US Liberty ship ''Anne Hutchinson'' (which broke in two) – the squadron did however succeed in escorting the bow portion of ''Anne Hutchinson'' under tow of the South African minesweeper
HMSAS ''David Haigh'' back to port in Port Elizabeth.
[Turner (1961), pp. 183]
Mediterranean
In May 1944 the squadron was moved to the Mediterranean with the sea party sailing from Durban on the 13 May for Port Tewfik en route to Pomigliano in Italy and the first five aircraft left
AFB Swartkop
Air Force Base Swartkop is South Africa's oldest air force base and houses the South African Air Force Museum. It is managed as part of AFB Waterkloof and houses one of the three branches of the South African Air Force Museum. The name of the a ...
on the 2 June. By September the squadron was operating from Campomarino landing ground at Biferno.
It was planned that the squadron and its Venturas would be used for anti-submarine patrols but by the time it reached the Mediterranean, there was no longer any need for additional anti-submarine squadrons and it was subsequently assigned as part of the
Balkan Air Force.
Balkans
The squadron commenced operations in the Balkans on 30 August 1944 and was converted to
Martin B-26 Marauder IIIs on 20 November 1944 flying tactical bombing missions in support of
Tito partisans in Yugoslavia. The squadron operated from Pomigliano d'Arco in Italy and remained part of the Balkan Air Force until the end of the war, when it was moved back to the Union of South Africa and disbanded on 15 July 1945.
South Africa
On 1 January 1951, the squadron was re-constituted and equipped with
Douglas C-47 Dakotas taken over from the Citizen Force
21 Squadron and operated on a part-time basis until the unit was re-numbered as
44 Squadron on 13 November 1953. It was again re-established at
AFB Ysterplaat
Air Force Base Ysterplaat is an airbase of the South African Air Force. It is located in Cape Town suburb Ysterplaat, on the southwestern coast of South Africa.
The name ''Ysterplaat'' is Afrikaans from the Dutch "Ijzerplaats", meaning "Iron P ...
in February 1968
and re-equipped with C-47s until October 1990 when it was disbanded for the last time.
Aircraft
Notes
References
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External links
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{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017
Squadrons of the South African Air Force
Disbanded military units and formations in Cape Town
Military units and formations disestablished in 1990
Military units and formations established in 1942