User:Dodger67/Sandbox/South Africa's Imperial Gift

South Africa was one of the beneficiaries of the Imperial Gift; the donation of aircraft from post-First World War British surplus stocks to the Dominions. The other beneficiaries of the scheme were Canada, Australia, New Zealand and India. The British government decided to give 100 aircraft to each of these countries. Additional replacements for aircraft donated by these countries to Britain during the war were sponsored by various British organisations. These aircraft and related equipment and materials enabled the establishment of the South African Air Force.

Background
Following the First World War, the Royal Air Force (RAF) had large stocks of surplus aircraft, estimated at over 20,000 aircraft, many still in production at the end of the war. Sir Hugh Trenchard, Chief of the Air Staff, argued for the establishment of air forces in the Dominions. Trenchard further argued that a coordinated uniform approach to organising and equipping these air forces was essential to facilitate the air component of the defence of the empire. This proposal was taken up by the Secretary of State for Air, John Edward Bernard Seely, who described it as being "an opportunity of giving assistance to Dominions which will be valued by them and which should be of great use in the general interest of the defence of the Empire by Air." British Cabinet approved the proposal on 29 May 1919, though it chose to widen it by offering aircraft to the colonial governments as well as those of the dominions. These governments were notified of the offer on 4 June.

General Jan Smuts, prime minister of South Africa and a member of the Imperial War Cabinet met with Lt.Col. Pierre van Ryneveld at the Savoy Hotel in London. Smuts appointed van Ryneveld "Director of Air Services" with effect from 1 February 1920, informed him of the Imperial Gift and ordered him to select suitable aircraft and related materials to establish an air force for South Africa. Smuts had earlier headed the Cabinet Select Committee that had reorganised British military aviation into the world's first independent air force.

The South African Air Force is established
South Africa was the second country after Britain to establish an air force independent from army or naval control on 1 February 1920. The South African Air Force's share of the Imperial Gift was:
 * 48 x Airco/de Haviland DH.9
 * 30 x Avro 504
 * 22 x Royal Aircraft Factory SE.5a
 * 10 x Airco/de Haviland DH.4

The 10 DH.4s were war loss replacements sponsored by the Over-Seas Club of London. An additional DH.9 was donated by the city of Birmingham. Two Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2s left over from Allister Miller's wartime recruitment campaign and handed over to the Union Defence Force in October 1919, completed the SAAF's initial fleet. There is, however, no record of either B.E.2 being used after 1919.

The ancillary equipment and materials included in the donation was: 20 steel hangars, 30 portable wood and canvas Bessonneau hangars, radio and photographic equipment, complete engine and airframe workshops with tools, trucks, tenders, trailers, 50,000 gallons of engine oils and 20,000 gallons of paints, varnishes and dope. The total value of the donation was estimated at £2,000,000. Some of the steel hangars are still in use almost a century later, housing some of the SAAF Museum exhibits at Swartkops AFB.

An offer of four Type Zero airships was turned down due to doubts about their usability above 6,000 feet and the expense of replacing the envelopes, which were estimated to have a useful life of only three months due to rapid deterioration in the harsh South African sunshine.

The first batch of aircraft arrived in South Africa in September 1919 at the Artillery Depot at Roberts Heights, Pretoria where an Air Depot was established on 1 January 1920. The combined facility was then known as the Aircraft and Artillery Depot.

Two Avro 504s were sold for £1563-11s-8d to the South African Aerial Transport Company in 1920.

A 23.5 morgen (20.1 hectare) piece of land two miles east of Roberts heights was acquired for an aerodrome and named Zwartkop after a nearby hill. No. 1 Flight was formed at Zwartkop Air Force Station on 26 April 1920, equipped with DH-9s. After the formation of a second flight, 1 Squadron was established in early 1922.

Avro 504 service history
The Avro 504 became the SAAF's basic trainer and remained in service until 1931.

SE.5a service history
The SE.5a aircraft delivered to South Africa had the following RAF serials: D8478, D8483, D8485, D8492, D8493, D8496, D8497, D8499, D8500, built by Vickers Limited; E3167 built by Martinsyde; F7773 – F7779 and F7781 – F7785 by Wolseley Motors. They received SAAF serial numbers 301–322.

All had the 200 hp Wolseley W4a Viper engine, a licenced version of a Hispano-Suiza V-8 model. At first, one aircraft of each type was assembled, in the case of the SE.5a, E3167 was selected. Its first flight in the SAAF was on 21 July 1919. Two more were subsequently assembled and the rest were left in storage until 1926. E3167 was destroyed in an accident on 27 February 1922. By October 1925 the type was being used for advanced training, saving hours on the other types, thus by the end of June 1926, three were in service, 10 under construction or overhaul, eight more scheduled for assembly and one had been written off.

After more than a decade of service, three survivors; 306 with engine 4484, 320 with engine 4210, and 322 with engine 3798, were offered for sale together with three more working engines and 16 that were repairable; various spares were also offered. None of the offers tendered were accepted. Number 320 was subsequently given to the Durban Technical College. By March 1944, it was at Howard College, which sent it to the newly established South African War Museum in 1946, where it currently is the only known SE.5a in the country. A single additional Wolseley Viper engine (3763) is known to be privately owned. It had been used in F7782 (RAF number), 318 and 305.

Number 320 was repainted by the museum from its standard SAAF all-over silver finish to resemble a Royal Flying Corps aircraft, D6856, used by the top South African ace of the First World War, Captain Andrew Beauchamp-Proctor, VC from 8 to 27 August 1918, a period in which he scored 14 of his total of 54 victories.

Airco DH.4 service history
The DH.4s served until 1930. Four examples were upgraded to DH.9J standard, two became DH.9J M'pala I with 385 hp Armstrong Siddeley Jaguar III radial engines, another two with 450 hp Bristol Jupiter IV radial engines were designated DH.9J M'pala II. A few DH9s also received the same upgrades.

Airco DH.9 service history
The DH.9 began its service as the SAAF's "all purpose" combat aircraft and remained in service until 1937. Two airframes were upgraded to DH.9J standard with 450 hp Bristol Jupiter IV radial engines and then designated DH.9J M'pala II. Five received the DH.9J airframe upgrades with the 200 hp Wolseley Viper V-8 engine (the same engine as the SE.5a) these were designated D.H.9J Mantis.