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.
