Fairey Battle K9402 was the first Fairey Battle to be delivered to the SAAF. With war looming on the horizon, and with the SAAF needing to expand and operate more modern aircraft, she was initially acquired for evaluation purposes. After the outbreak of war however, K9402 was given the serial N° 901 and used operationally by N° 11 squadron. The Battle with it's Merlin II engine, had been delivered to Cape Town by ship, early in April 1939. After being assembled, she had her first test flight in the skies over Cape Town on the 11th April 1939, before afterwards being flown by Maj. J.E.O. Marais, to Waterkloof Air Station. K9402 was delivered to South Africa in the standard RAF camouflage of the day, being dark earth, dark green upper surfaces, with black undersides. The K9402 serial was carried in white on the bottom of both wings, with the serial also appearing in black on the rear fuselage and high on the tail.
