Air Force Base Swartkop is South Africa's 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 ar ...

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 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 g ...

. 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 le ...

(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 count ...

, between

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

and Midrand (

Johannesburg Johannesburg ( , , ; Zulu language, 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#List of megacities, megacity, and is List of urban areas by p ...

), which is a part of the City of Tshwane Metropolitan Municipality.

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

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. Desp ...

. 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 Z ...

in South Africa.

Gallery

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

Mirage F1 The Dassault Mirage F1 is a French Fighter aircraft, fighter and attack aircraft Aircraft design process, designed and manufactured by Dassault Aviation. It was developed as a successor to the popular Dassault Mirage III, Mirage III family. Du ...

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 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 Buccane ...

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