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. 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 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 of
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 (
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
26 Squadron SAAF is a disbanded squadron of the South African Air Force. The squadron was based at Takoradi, Gold Coast (now Ghana) on the West Coast of Africa during World War II. They flew Vickers Wellingtons on anti-submarine and convoy escort ...
which was formed there on 24 August 1942.
The Chief of the South African Air Force opened the relocated
South African Air Force Museum 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
South African Air Force Museum located there and to keep the Airfield as an extension of
Air Force Base Waterkloof. 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
South African Air Force Museum 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
![SAAF-Memorial-001](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e4/SAAF-Memorial-001.jpg)
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 on static display as part of the South African Air Force Museum.
Image:SAAF-Cheetah-001.jpg, Cheetah C at the South African Air Force Museum.
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 South African Air Force Museum.
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.
See also
*
South African Air Force
*
South African Air Force Museum
*
The Havard club of South Africa
''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
References
External links
AFB Swartkopon saairforce.co.za
Swartkop SAAF Museum website
{{authority control
Swartkop
Swartkop
Transport in Gauteng
City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality