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Hawker Hurricane Mk.I, L1708, Waterkloof Air Station, South Africa, March 1939.
In November 1936, it was confirmed by the UK Air Ministry that seven Hurricanes would be released from RAF production, to the SAAF, at a cost of £8000 each. These three Mk1’s (L1708, L1710 and L1711) were finally delivered by sea to Durban in February 1939. After being taken to Stamford Hill Aerodrome, they were assembled by SAAF ground crews who had been brought down from Pretoria. The Hurricane’s were powered by the Rolls Royce Merlin II engine and had the Watts two-bladed propellers. After assembly all three Hurricanes were test flown on the 6th March 1939, by Maj. J.E.O. Marais, Maj. S.A. Melville, and Capt. R.H. Preller. L1710 was flown to Waterkloof by Maj. R.H. Preller on the 7th March 1939. He covered the distance in 1 hour and 13 minutes, at an average speed of 265 mph, and at an average height of 15,000ft. The age of the “super-fighter” in the SAAF had finally arrived. They were delivered in the standard RAF colour scheme of dark earth/dark green with silver undersides, and retained the RAF serials until April 1939, whereby they were given the SAAF serial numbers 271, 272 and 273 respectively. A further three (L1874, L1875 and L1876) arrived at Durban in June 1939. These three new aircraft received the SAAF serial numbers of 274, 275 and 276 respectively.
Hurricane 276 crashed at Zwartkops Air Station on the 12th June 1939, now leaving the SAAF with a total of five operational Hurricanes. The second SAAF Hurricane incident, occurred on the 28th July 1939, when the undercarriage of 273 collapsed at Waterkloof Air Station. On his first Hurricane solo flight, 2/Lt. S.A. Pharoh had failed to lock the undercarriage in the down position. The aircraft was however, subsequently repaired.
At the outbreak of war in September 1939, it was decided to strengthen the Union’s coastal defences and the five Hurricanes (271, 272, 273, 274 and 275) were transferred to Cape Town as part of the Coastal Defence Unit. They were to be based at the Cape Air Training School (CATS) at Young’s Field in Wynberg, and operated by the newly formed N° 6 squadron. En route to Cape Town, after refueling at Beaufort West, a minor snag prevented 2/Lt. Ray F. Armstrong from departing in 272, and the remaining four aircraft departed without him. Arriving over Cape Town on the 5th September 1939, 2/Lt. Derrick Tyler, flying 275, suffered engine failure. He attempted a downwind landing at Youngsfield, but unfortunately overshot the short airfield strip and crashed. He was killed and the Hurricane, which had flown only 28 hours since production, was completely destroyed in the resulting fire. The following day, with the snag on 272 repaired, 2/Lt. Ray Armstrong departed Beaufort West. On the take-off run, he hit a sandy patch, and then a ditch, and the aircraft nosed over. 272 which had flown only 49 hours and 55 minutes since production, was railed back to the Aircraft and Artillery Depot for repairs. The repairs would take eleven months to complete, and 272 would only fly again in August 1940. This attrition had left the SAAF with only three operational Hurricanes.
The seventh Hurricane Mk1 (L1909) 277, and the last of the initial order of seven, was delivered during September 1939. She was also allocated to N°6 squadron, and joined the three Hurricanes stationed at Youngsfield. On the 14th September 1939, trials were undertaken at Youngsfield, to determine if the airfield was indeed suitable for Hurricane operations. These trials, carried out by Maj. J.E.O. Marais and 2/Lt. Boyle, deemed the airfield too dangerous for further use. At the same time it was discovered that all the Rolls Royce engined aircraft were suffering engine problems, due to a lack of air filters. This resulted in lubrication problems and accelerated wear on the engines. The engines needed complete overhauling and were thus removed from the aircraft, and railed to the Air Depot. By the 6th October 1939, all the aircraft attached to N°6 squadron were engineless.
The aircraft remained in Cape Town, minus engines, until May 1940, where-after they were railed to Waterkloof, where their engines were again installed, and the four aircraft (271, 273, 274, and 277) were delivered to N°1 squadron. N°1 squadron pilots, Capt. Elmo “Saint” Truter, Capt. E. Biden, Capt. Servaas van Breda Theron, and 2/Lt. Brian Griffiths, flew them to Nairobi, Kenya on the 22nd May 1940, where they were to take part in the SAAF’s East African campaign.
In November 1936, it was confirmed by the UK Air Ministry that seven Hurricanes would be released from RAF production, to the SAAF, at a cost of £8000 each. These three Mk1’s (L1708, L1710 and L1711) were finally delivered by sea to Durban in February 1939. After being taken to Stamford Hill Aerodrome, they were assembled by SAAF ground crews who had been brought down from Pretoria. The Hurricane’s were powered by the Rolls Royce Merlin II engine and had the Watts two-bladed propellers. After assembly all three Hurricanes were test flown on the 6th March 1939, by Maj. J.E.O. Marais, Maj. S.A. Melville, and Capt. R.H. Preller. L1710 was flown to Waterkloof by Maj. R.H. Preller on the 7th March 1939. He covered the distance in 1 hour and 13 minutes, at an average speed of 265 mph, and at an average height of 15,000ft. The age of the “super-fighter” in the SAAF had finally arrived. They were delivered in the standard RAF colour scheme of dark earth/dark green with silver undersides, and retained the RAF serials until April 1939, whereby they were given the SAAF serial numbers 271, 272 and 273 respectively. A further three (L1874, L1875 and L1876) arrived at Durban in June 1939. These three new aircraft received the SAAF serial numbers of 274, 275 and 276 respectively.
Hurricane 276 crashed at Zwartkops Air Station on the 12th June 1939, now leaving the SAAF with a total of five operational Hurricanes. The second SAAF Hurricane incident, occurred on the 28th July 1939, when the undercarriage of 273 collapsed at Waterkloof Air Station. On his first Hurricane solo flight, 2/Lt. S.A. Pharoh had failed to lock the undercarriage in the down position. The aircraft was however, subsequently repaired.
At the outbreak of war in September 1939, it was decided to strengthen the Union’s coastal defences and the five Hurricanes (271, 272, 273, 274 and 275) were transferred to Cape Town as part of the Coastal Defence Unit. They were to be based at the Cape Air Training School (CATS) at Young’s Field in Wynberg, and operated by the newly formed N° 6 squadron. En route to Cape Town, after refueling at Beaufort West, a minor snag prevented 2/Lt. Ray F. Armstrong from departing in 272, and the remaining four aircraft departed without him. Arriving over Cape Town on the 5th September 1939, 2/Lt. Derrick Tyler, flying 275, suffered engine failure. He attempted a downwind landing at Youngsfield, but unfortunately overshot the short airfield strip and crashed. He was killed and the Hurricane, which had flown only 28 hours since production, was completely destroyed in the resulting fire. The following day, with the snag on 272 repaired, 2/Lt. Ray Armstrong departed Beaufort West. On the take-off run, he hit a sandy patch, and then a ditch, and the aircraft nosed over. 272 which had flown only 49 hours and 55 minutes since production, was railed back to the Aircraft and Artillery Depot for repairs. The repairs would take eleven months to complete, and 272 would only fly again in August 1940. This attrition had left the SAAF with only three operational Hurricanes.
The seventh Hurricane Mk1 (L1909) 277, and the last of the initial order of seven, was delivered during September 1939. She was also allocated to N°6 squadron, and joined the three Hurricanes stationed at Youngsfield. On the 14th September 1939, trials were undertaken at Youngsfield, to determine if the airfield was indeed suitable for Hurricane operations. These trials, carried out by Maj. J.E.O. Marais and 2/Lt. Boyle, deemed the airfield too dangerous for further use. At the same time it was discovered that all the Rolls Royce engined aircraft were suffering engine problems, due to a lack of air filters. This resulted in lubrication problems and accelerated wear on the engines. The engines needed complete overhauling and were thus removed from the aircraft, and railed to the Air Depot. By the 6th October 1939, all the aircraft attached to N°6 squadron were engineless.
The aircraft remained in Cape Town, minus engines, until May 1940, where-after they were railed to Waterkloof, where their engines were again installed, and the four aircraft (271, 273, 274, and 277) were delivered to N°1 squadron. N°1 squadron pilots, Capt. Elmo “Saint” Truter, Capt. E. Biden, Capt. Servaas van Breda Theron, and 2/Lt. Brian Griffiths, flew them to Nairobi, Kenya on the 22nd May 1940, where they were to take part in the SAAF’s East African campaign.
