SAAF ASSOCIATION

SAAFA JHB LUNCH 26 TH OCTOBER
Wing Commander Clive Mitchell’s speech at
our lunch – it was so historically interesting
that we have reproduced it as he delivered it
for those who weren’t at the lunch to read:
“ Chairman, ladies and gentlemen, it is a great
privilege for Terry and me to be here this
afternoon and I am just sorry that it has taken
almost 2 ½ years for us to be able to attend one
of your lunches. Havi ng accepted the invitation a
couple of months ago, I was slightly surprised
that Carol had not asked me to ‘say a few words’.
However, that was put right on Tuesday when
she rang me to say that the planned speaker had
had to cancel and could I step in. 3 days notice
is a luxury as the RAFOC usually ask me to step
in with just a few hours to conjure something up.
This afternoon I thought I would cover the
formative years of the world’s 2 oldest
independent air forces before moving on to
current links between the SAAF and the RAF.
Given the relatively short notice that I had, I
intend to follow the 3 Bs of public speaking; be
funny, be brief and be gone. Hopefully, I’ll hit at
least 2 of the 3 anyway!
Military aviation in Britain began in 1878
when the Royal Engineers formed a Balloon unit.
However, it was not until 1907 that a powered
army airship became operational and the first Air
Battalion was established in 1911. At first
progress was slow and by 1912 the Air Battalion
only had eleven qualified pilots compared to 263
in the French Army Air Service. Nevertheless, in
Apr 1912 the Royal Flying Corps was formed as
the military began to recognise the potential for
aircraft as observation platforms. It was in this
role that the RFC went to war in 1914 to
undertake reconnaissance and artillery
observation. Shortly before the war a separate
Naval Air Service (RNAS) was established
splitting off from the RFC, though they retained a
combined central flying school. At the
commencement of the First World War Britain
had only 113 aircraft in military service compared
to 160 in the French Aviation Service and 246 in
the German Air Service. The RFC had
experimented before the war with the arming of
aircraft but the means of doing so remained
awkward - because of the need to avoid the
propeller arc and other obstructions such as
wings and struts. In the early part of the war the
risk of injury to aircrew was therefore largely
through accidents. As air armament developed
the dangers to aircrew increased markedly and
by the end of the war the loss rate was 1 in 4
killed, a similar figure to that of the infantry losses
in the trenches. In the final days of the RFC, over
1200 aircraft were deployed in France and
available to meet the German offensive of 21
March 1918 with the support of RNAS squadrons.
From 1 April these forces combined to form the
Royal Air Force as an independent armed
service. From small beginnings the air services
had grown and by the end of the war the RAF
had a total of 290,000 men, 99 Squadrons and
1800 aircraft in France and a further 34
squadrons overseas. In addition there were 55
Home Establishment squadrons and 199 training
squadrons, with a total inventory of some 22,544
aircraft and 385 000 personnel. As Mary Hopkins
would say “those were the days my friends”! For
those of you that are interested, today the RAF
has 827 aircraft and is downsizing to 33, 500
personnel. Nevertheless, that still makes us the
largest air force in the EU and we retain some
potent capabilities. You will all be aware of the
impact that the Smuts Reports of 1917 had on
the formation of the RAF, and in fact on the
creation of independent air forces world-wide,
and I do not intend to dwell any further on those.
Instead, I will now focus on the parallel
development of the SAAF. Although military
aviation was still in its infancy at the time that the
Union Defence Force was formed, the South
African Defence Act (1912) made provision for
the establishment of the South African Aviation
Corps as part of the Active Citizen Force. In
August 1912, the Commandant-General of the
Citizen Force, Brig Gen Beyers, was sent to
Europe by General Smuts to observe and report
on the use of aircraft in military operations.
Beyers was so impressed by what he saw that
when he returned to the Union he strongly
recommended setting up a school of aviation.
The Government subsequently contracted Mr
Cecil Compton Paterson to provide flying training
to a select group of ten aviators at his flying
school near Kimberley. In April 1914, six of the
pupils were appointed as probationary lieutenants
in the Active Citizen Force and sent to England to
undergo further training at the Central Flying
School at Upavon where five of them eventually
qualified. On the outbreak of war in August 1914,
the South Africans were granted permission to
join the newly formed Royal Flying Corps and
they were to participate in the first aerial
reconnaissance and artillery spotting missions
over France during the closing months of 1914.
Best known amongst the South African pilots in
the RFC in WW1 was Capt Andrew W.
Beauchamp-Proctor the first South African Pilot
to win the Victoria Cross and who also won the
DSO, MC and Bar, DFC, Croix De Guerre and
Legion of Honour. Despite the strict economies
and retrenchments to which the Union Defence
Force was subject in the immediate post-war
years, 1 February 1920 saw the establishment of
the South African Air Force with Col Pierre van
Ryneveld appointed Director Air Services. The
establishment of the South African Air Force was
greatly facilitated by what came to be known as
the “Imperial Gift”. Essentially, the British
Government gave the South African Air Force
113 aircraft (amazingly, the same number of
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