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Thursday, November 1, 2012

A History of Aviation in South Africa - Part 2


Continued…
by Nico Henning

The Golden Age

Many Aviation records were broken in the 1930’s. Aircraft became more and more sophisticated and could travel longer distances at a time which gave spark to the birth of airlines. Ordinary civilians could now travel long distances in shorter times. This was the era when Aviation really came to light and more popular under the public in almost every populated continent on the globe. But peace was hanging on a thread with war looming in Europe.

The establishment of the South African Airways

In 1929, Maj. Allister Miller founded Union Airways in Port Elizabeth after receiving a contract from the Union government to fly mail from Cape Town to the major cities at the time. They started transporting passengers in September 1929 between Cape Town and East London. Their fleet consisted of five de Havilland D.H.60 Gipsy Moths, two de Havilland D.H.80 Puss Moths and a single Fokker Super Universal. The airlines lost six aircraft to accidents from 1929 to 1933 and the public became sceptical of the reliability of Union Airways and Aviation as a whole. This forced Miller to sell the company to the South African Government in 1934 and the first flight under the new name, South African Airways, was undertaken on 1 February 1934.

An SAA de Havilland D.H. 60 Gipsy Moth (ZS-ABI) taken over by SAA from Union Airways. Photo: SAA Museum Society.

Three very comfortable and reliable Junkers Ju 52/3M aircraft built to carry 14 passengers and 4 crew members each were acquired in late 1934 to help recover the trust of the public. Three services per week between Durban and Johannesburg were introduced as well as a weekly service from Durban to Cape Town via East London, Port Elizabeth and George/Mossel Bay (depending on weather).

The Junkers Ju 52/3M (ZS-AFD). The SAA Museum Society has one of these aircraft (CASA 352L, Spanish licensed built Ju 52/3M) in their fleet. Photo: SAA Museum Society.

All went well for SAA and the company took over South West African Airways in 1935. They moved from Port Elizabeth to Rand Airport in Johannesburg where they started operating from on 1 July 1935 with a new one-day service between Johannesburg and Cape Town via Durban, East London and Port Elizabeth as well as a weekly service between Johannesburg and Cape Town via Kimberley and Beaufort West. A fourth Ju 52/3M was added to the fleet in April 1936 when SAA took over a service between Johannesburg and Cape Town from the British Imperial Airways.

SAA expanded rapidly in 1936 and 1937 with the acquisition of ten Junkers Ju 52/3Ms, 18 Junkers Ju 36s and four Airspeed Envoys. The three older Ju52/3Ms were sold upon delivery of the new aircraft. In June 1937, one of the brand new Ju 32/3Ms was written-off in a crash at Rand Airport, Johannesburg. The aircraft crashed shortly after take-off and one person was fatally injured. This was the first accident for SAA and was followed by another fatal accident of an airmail Junkers W34 at George airfield killing both crew members.

The Junkers W34 (ZS-AEC) that crashed at George, still in Union Airways colours. Photo: SA Museum Society.

In June and July of 1937 SAA began its first regional service across the borders of the Union of South Africa to Lusaka via Petersburg, Bulawayo and Livingstone as well as a service from Johannesburg to Kisumu on Lake Victoria. The expansion of regional services continued until it was interrupted with the outbreak of World War II when most SAA services were suspended and all aircraft and staff transferred to the South African Air Force.


The South African Aviation Industry and World War II

The Union of South Africa declared war against Germany and the Axis forces on 4 September 1939, three days after Germany invaded Poland. South African Airways services were suspended and all available aircraft and crew transferred to the South African Air Force. Still the Air Force was no match for the technologically advanced Axis forces. Sir Pierre van Ryneveld approved the Peace Expansion Scheme in October 1939 under which the Union of South Africa received 720 aircraft from Great Britain to be used in the war.

This strengthened the SAAF somewhat and three squadrons were deployed to East Africa in 1940 together with British forces to oppose Mussolini’s forces. They made a great contribution to the defeat of the Italian forces in East Africa. In May 1942 the SAAF supported the Royal Air Force with ground support and reconnaissance missions in the British invasion of Malagasy (now Madagascar).

The SAAF’s finest hour in WWII came in North Africa. After the defeat of the Italians in East Africa they retreated to the North in 1942 backed up by the Nazis. The SAAF assisted the British operations and had the latest available aircraft at the time. Twenty-six South African Air Force squadrons contributed in this campaign consisting of more than a third of the allied air forces in the region and played a major role in the defeat of the axis forces in North Africa.

The SAAF’s most common fighter aircraft during the war in North Africa: the Hawker Hurricane Mk.II.
 The Hurricane in this photo is part of a beautiful exhibition of World War II aircraft at the South African Museum of National Military History, in Saxonwold, Johannesburg.

When the axis were driven out of Africa and into Italy, SAAF squadrons supported British and American ground forces in the invasion of Sicily operating from Malta. Some SAAF squadrons joined the Balklands Air Force in Yugoslavia while 60 Squadron contributed to reconnaissance missions over the whole of the Mediterranean theatre.
The SAAF formed part of the allied fighting machine up until they reached Germany in 1945. 334 000 South African soldiers volunteered for service with the South African Forces in WWII from which 9000 never returned home. Many volunteered for service with other allied forces with great success.