List of British Commonwealth Air Training Plan facilities in South Africa
This article contains a list of the facilities of the Joint Air Training Scheme which was a major programme for training South African Air Force, Royal Air Force and Allied air crews during World War II.[1]
An Elementary Flying Training School (EFTS) gave a recruit 50 hours of basic aviation instruction on a simple trainer like the
bombing and gunnery. In South Africa, the Elementary Flying Training School and Service Flying Training School were renamed Air Schools.[1]
Training schools
Air School | Base | Major types of aircraft | Training | Established | Opened | Disbanded | Motto | Unit publication | Comment |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 Air School | Baragwanath | Tiger Moth | Elementary flying | 11 Nov 1940 (ex 1 EFTS) |
30 Apr 1944 | 29 Feb 1944 | ”Start Well, Finish Well" | ||
2 Air School | Randfontein | Tiger Moth | Elementary flying | 11 Nov 1940 (ex 2 EFTS) |
2 Oct 1944 | ”Knowledge is Light" | |||
3 Air School | Wonderboom | Tiger Moth | Elementary flying | 11 Nov 1940 (ex 3 EFTS) |
16 Feb 1941 | 25 Sep 1944 | ”Tertius Primus Erit" | ||
4 Air School | Benoni
|
Tiger Moth | Elementary flying | 11 Nov 1940 (ex 4 EFTS) |
1 Sep 1941 | 24 Jun 1945 | ”Vier sal eerste wees" | ”Big Ben" | |
5 Air School | Witbank | Tiger Moth | Elementary flying | 11 Nov 1940 (ex 5 EFTS) |
13 Oct 1941 | 15 Dec 1944 | ”Wings for Victory" | ”Tiger Rag" | |
6 Air School | Potchefstroom | Tiger Moth | Elementary flying | 11 Nov 1940 (ex 6 EFTS) |
4 Aug 1941 | 6 Aug 1946 | ”Eendrag en Vryheid" | ”Hotchpotch" | |
7 Air School | Kroonstad | Tiger Moth | Elementary flying | 22 Dec 1941 | Jul 1942 | 16 Jan 1945 | ”Nil Sine Labore" | ”The Dust Sheet | Buildings taken over by SA Army |
21 Air School | Kimberley | Hind, Hart, Oxford | Service flying | 11 Nov 1940 | 30 Apr 1941 | 1 Feb 1945 | ”Pro Patria" | ”21" | Now Kimberley Airport |
22 Air School | Vereeniging | Hind, Hart | Service flying | 11 Nov 1940 (ex 2 SFTS) |
”Ad Unum Ad Astra" | ”Clamp" | |||
23 Air School | Zwartkop Air Station | Hind, Hart | Service flying | 11 Nov 1940 (ex 3 SFTS) |
”Superna Petimus" | ”Tale-Spin" | |||
24 Air School | Nigel (Dunnottar) | Master, Oxford, Harvard, [1]Hart | Service flying | 11 Nov 1940 | 29 Jul 1941[1] | 03 Sep 1946[1] | ”Per Artem Ad Astra" | Now Dunnottar Military Base. (-26.347741, 28.459463) | |
25 Air School | Standerton | Hind, Hart, Master, Harvard | Service flying | 11 Nov 1940 (ex 5 SFTS) |
”Ex Unite Ad Victoria" | ||||
26 Air School | Pietersburg
|
Hind, Hart | Service flying | 11 Nov 1940 | ”Nemo Mortalium Omnibus Hors Sarit" | ||||
27 Air School | Bloemspruit | Hind, Hart | Service flying | 11 Nov 1940 | ”Finis Coronat Opus" | Now Bloemfontein Airport
| |||
41 Air School | Collondale, East London
|
Hart variants, Battle, Northrop Nomad, Oxford, Anson | Service flying, Bombing & gunnery | Now East London Airport | |||||
42 Air School | Port Elizabeth
|
Battle, Northrop Nomad, Oxford, Anson, Harvard | Service flying | Located on the south side of Port Elizabeth Airport. Part preserved as SAAF museum branch, remainder used by Army | |||||
43 Air School | Port Alfred | Oxford, Anson, Harvard | Service flying | Still in use for civil flying training as 43 Air School | |||||
44 Air School | Grahamstown
|
Oxford, Anson, Battle | Navigation & bombing | 11 Nov 1940 | 12 Jan 1942 | "All for the Same Cause" | Taken over by SA Army, now 6 SA Inf Bn | ||
45 Air School | Oudtshoorn | Oxford, Anson, Battle | Air Observer (Type B) | 11 Nov 1940 | 20 Aug 1945 | "Primus Inter Pares" | "Sprog" | Civil airfield & SA Army | |
47 Air School | Queenstown
|
Anson, Oxford | Air Observer (Type B) | 11 Nov 1940 (ex 7 AONS) |
30 Apr 1941 | 7 Apr 1945 | "The Signal" | Civil airfield & SA Army | |
48 Air School | Woodbrook, East London
|
Tiger Moth, Tutor | Elementary navigation | 14 July 1942 | 1 Sep 1942 | 1 May 1945 | "Sic itur ad astra" and "Bobaas" | "B.O.N." | Now industrial area and Army base |
61 Air School | George
|
Anson | General Reconnaissance | 11 Nov 1940 (ex 1 S of GR) |
30 Apr 1941 | 14 Jun 1945 | "Duff Gen" | Civil airfield until replaced by George Airport | |
62 Air School | Tempe, Bloemfontein | All types | Flying Instructor Training | 11 Nov 1940 (ex CFS) |
19/24 Feb 1945 | "Facta Nostra Vivent" | |||
63 Air School | Tempe, Bloemfontein | Ground Instruction | 11 Nov 1940 | Jan 1941 | Absorbed into 75 Air School Lyttelton | ||||
64 Air School | Tempe, Bloemfontein | Dominie, Anson | Electrical & Wireless Operator | 5 Feb 1941 | 20 Dec 1945 | "Ut Servient Discimus" | "Sparks" | ||
65 Air School | Youngsfield, Cape Town | Oxford, Anson, Wapiti | Air Armament | 11 Nov 1940 | 30 Apr 1941 | 13 Apr 1944 | Resurrected 1 Jun 1944 – 10 Sep 1945 | ||
66 Air School | Youngsfield, Cape Town | Anson, Harvard Oxford
|
Navigation & bombing | 11 Nov 1940 | 30 Apr 1941 | 1 Apr 1945 | Became SA Army base. Latterly used to house refugees from xenophobic violence. | ||
67 Air School | Zwartkop Air Station | DH Dragon, Envoy | Photography & Photographic Training | 11 Nov 1940 | Currently SAAF AFB Swartkop
| ||||
68 Air School | Voortrekkerhoogte
|
Technical Training | 11 Nov 1940 (1 STT) |
1 Oct 1962 | Currently an SAAF base | ||||
69 Air School | Germiston | Technical Training (Airframes & Engines) |
11 Nov 1940 (ex 2 STT) |
Dec 1944 | Absorbed into 68 Air School | ||||
70 Air School | Alexanderfontein, Kimberley | Technical Training | 11 Nov 1940 (ex 3 STT) |
Sep 1943 | |||||
71 Air School | Milner Park, Johannesburg | Basic Workshop Training | 11 Nov 1940 (ex 1 Basic Training Centre) |
1 Feb 1945 | "The Fledgling" | Now part of University of Witwatersrand campus
| |||
72 Air School | Port Elizabeth
|
WAAF Basic Training | 11 Nov 1940 (ex 2 Basic Training Centre) |
Situated at Park Lane junction with Park Drive, the last remaining bungalow from camp, which was home to Sea Scouts Group, has now been demolished. [2]
| |||||
73 Air School | Wonderboom, Pretoria | WAAF Technical Training | 11 Nov 1940 (ex 3 Basic Training Centre) |
||||||
75 Air School | Lyttelton, Pretoria | ||||||||
77 Air School | Pretoria | WAAF Basic Training | 15 Jul 1942 (ex WAAF Basic Training Centre) |
30 Jan 1943 | |||||
100 Air School | Voortrekkerhoogte
|
Regimental training | |||||||
11 Operational Training Unit | St Albans, Port Elizabeth
|
Kittyhawk, Hurricane
|
Fighter Operational Training | 1 July 1943 | September 1945 | "Learn and Live" | "Tale-Spin" (ex 23 Air School) | ||
29 Operational Training Unit | Nigel | Lodestar , Oxford, Anson
|
Twin engine Conversion | July 1943 | June 1944 | ||||
4 Wing | Quaggaspoort | Grunau Baby, Slingsby Kirby Cadet, Minimoa
|
Gliding Training | 1940 | 1943 | Gliding field after the war. Later became SA Police Dog School | |||
Air School 27 Squadron SAAF | Fisantekraal | Lockheed Ventura | Advanced flying | 1943 | 1951 relocated AFB Ysterplaat
|
airfield sold in 1960 to Durbanville municipality, since 1993 in private hands with two flight schools |
Training aircraft
The JATS used the following types of aircraft for training:[1]
- Airspeed AS.10 Oxford I & II
- Avro 621 Tutor
- Avro 652a Anson
- Curtiss P.40E/N Kittyhawk I, III & IV
- DH 82a Tiger Moth
- DH.89a Dominie
- Fairey Battle
- Hawker Hart (variants)
- Hawker Hurricane IIb & IIc
- Lockheed L.37 Ventura I and II
- Miles M.19 Master II
- North American Harvard I, IIa and III
- Northrop 8-A5 Nomad I
Minor aircraft types used in any significant numbers included the Curtiss H-75A-4 Mohawk IV, Hawker Hartbees, Hawker Fury, Martin167F Maryland and Westland Wapiti.[1]
Glossary
- AFB — Air Force Base
- CFS — Central Flying School
- EFTS – Elementary Flying Training School
- SAAF — South African Air Force
- SFTS – Service Flying Training School
- WAAF —Women's Auxiliary Air Force
See also
- List of British Commonwealth Air Training Plan facilities in Australia
- List of British Commonwealth Air Training Plan facilities in Canada
- List of British Commonwealth Air Training Plan facilities in Southern Rhodesia
- Aircrew brevet
References
- ^ a b c d e f g Becker, Dave (1989). Yellow Wings: The Story of the Joint Air Training Scheme in World War 2. Pretoria: The SAAF Museum. p. 102.
- ^ Markman, Ivor (2006). "St George's Park - Women's Auxiliary Air Force Camp". stgeorgespark.nmmu.ac.za. Retrieved 13 February 2016.