Air Force Base Swartkop is

South Africa's South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

oldest

air force An air force – in the broadest sense – is the national military branch that primarily conducts aerial warfare. More specifically, it is the branch of a nation's armed services that is responsible for aerial warfare as distinct from an a ...

base and houses the

South African Air Force Museum The South African Air Force Museum houses exhibits and restores material related to the history of the South African Air Force. The museum is divided into three locations, AFB Swartkop outside Pretoria, AFB Ysterplaat in Cape Town and at the Por ...

. It is managed as part of

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 ...

and houses one of the three branches of the

. The name of the air force base, ''Swartkop'' means ''Black hill'' in

Afrikaans Afrikaans (, ) is a West Germanic language that evolved in the Dutch Cape Colony from the Dutch vernacular of Holland proper (i.e., the Hollandic dialect) used by Dutch, French, and German settlers and their enslaved people. Afrikaans gra ...

. AFB Swartkop is located in the town

Centurion A centurion (; la, centurio , . la, centuriones, label=none; grc-gre, κεντυρίων, kentyríōn, or ) was a position in the Roman army during classical antiquity, nominally the commander of a century (), a military unit of around 80 ...

(previously Verwoerdburg) in the

Gauteng Province Gauteng ( ) is one of the nine provinces of South Africa. The name in Sotho-Tswana languages means 'place of gold'. Situated on the Highveld, Gauteng is the smallest province by land area in South Africa. Although Gauteng accounts for only 1. ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring countri ...

, between

Pretoria Pretoria () is South Africa's administrative capital, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to South Africa. Pretoria straddles the Apies River and extends ...

and

Midrand Midrand is a former municipality in central Gauteng, South Africa. It is situated in-between Centurion and Sandton and now forms part of the City of Johannesburg Metropolitan Municipality. History Midrand was established as a municipality in 198 ...

(

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu and xh, eGoli ), colloquially known as Jozi, Joburg, or "The City of Gold", is the largest city in South Africa, classified as a megacity, and is one of the 100 largest urban areas in the world. According to Demo ...

), which is a part of the

City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality The City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality (also known as the City of Tshwane) () is the metropolitan municipality that forms the local government of northern Gauteng Province, South Africa. The Metropolitan area is centred on the city of Pr ...

History

Air Force Station (AFS) Zwartkop was established in April 1921 after a private farm named Zwartkop was acquired by the Government in 1920. The Dutch spelling of Zwartkop was retained for the Air Force Station that was subsequently established there. On 1 April 1949, the Dutch spelling was dropped in favour of the Afrikaans spelling and resulted in Air Force Station Swartkop. The Air Force Station was upgraded to an Air Force Base on 1 February 1968. The name of the base reverted to the original "Zwartkop" in 2012. The SAAF claims Swartkop is the second oldest air station in the world and the oldest operational air station in the world. Over the years many distinguished Squadrons have been based at Swartkop. This includes 26 Squadron SAAF which was formed there on 24 August 1942. The Chief of the South African Air Force opened the relocated

at AFB Swartkop in 1993. The Air Force Base reverted to Air Force Station status in 1999. This decision was made by the South African Air Force to vacate the base and leave behind the

located there and to keep the Airfield as an extension of

Air Force Base 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 ...

. The SAAF Museum Historic Flight has also moved to the airfield. As of December 2013 the South African Air Force still hasn't vacated all operational units on the base. The

currently occupies the northern side of the base while 17 Squadron is housed at the southern side of the base.

South African Air Force Memorial

The South African Air Force Memorial is located at Swartkop. It contains a roll of honour of SAAF personnel who have been killed on duty as well as a memorial to personnel of all nations that died during the

British Commonwealth Air Training Plan The British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP), or Empire Air Training Scheme (EATS) often referred to as simply "The Plan", was a massive, joint military aircrew training program created by the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia and New Zea ...

in South Africa.

Gallery

Image:SAAF Mirage F1CZ at AFB Swartkop.jpg, A SAAF

Mirage F1 The Dassault Mirage F1 is a French fighter and attack aircraft designed and manufactured by Dassault Aviation. It was developed as a successor to the popular Mirage III family. During the 1960s, Dassault commenced development of what would b ...

on static display as part of the

. Image:SAAF-Cheetah-001.jpg, Cheetah C at the

. Image:South_African_Air_Force_Mustang_in_AFB_Swartkop.jpg, SAAF

North American Mustang The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in April 1940 by a team headed by James H ...

at the

. Image:SAAF_Buccaneer_on_static_display_with_munitions_and_radar.jpg, SAAF

Blackburn Buccaneer The Blackburn Buccaneer is a British carrier-capable attack aircraft designed in the 1950s for the Royal Navy (RN). Designed and initially produced by Blackburn Aircraft at Brough, it was later officially known as the Hawker Siddeley Buccanee ...

on static display with munition loadout and its Blue Parrot radar system.

References

External links

AFB Swartkop
on saairforce.co.za
Swartkop SAAF Museum website
{{authority control Swartkop Swartkop Transport in Gauteng City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality

History

South African Air Force Memorial

Gallery

See also

References

External links