6 Squadron SAAF

6 Squadron was a South African Air Force unit first formed just before World War II. It was disbanded and re-created a number of times, until finally disbanded in October 1990.

6 Squadron
Impala Mk1 as flown by the Squadron at the time of disbanding
Active1939-1940
1942-1943
1952-1959
1961-1990
Country
BranchSouth African Air Force
RoleMaritime Patrol (WWII)
Motto(s)"Pasop" (Beware)
Insignia
Squadron crest

The squadron was formed in Cape Town in April 1939 and was equipped with Westland Wapiti IIIs. Initial duties at the outbreak of war was that of anti-submarine coastal patrols from Youngsfield as part of Coastal Command SAAF.[1] In February 1940, the unit was moved to Waterkloof and renumbered 1 Squadron. On 26 February 1942 it was re-formed again at Swartkop with the Curtiss Mohawk IV and moved to Stanger on the east coast and then to Eerste River in the Cape, flying Wapitis, Fairey Battles and Hawker Hartbees. The squadron was again disbanded on 31 July 1943 when the threat of a Japanese invasion of Madagascar had been circumvented by the Allied invasion of the island.[2]

On 5 July 1952 the squadron was reformed as a citizen force unit, flying Harvards from Port Elizabeth but was again disbanded in 1959. It was resurrected in May 1961, again flying Harvards; from 1973 to 1976 the squadron flew a single Cessna 185. In March 1975 it began receiving Impala Mk Is which remained as the operational aircraft fit until the unit's final disbandment in October 1990.[2]

Aircraft Operated
Aircraft flown by 6 Squadron
Note: Aircraft type photographs may not necessarily represent aircraft of the same mark or actual aircraft belonging to the squadron.
  • Westland Wapiti
    1939-1940, 1942-1943
  • Curtiss Mohawk IV
    1942-1943
  • Fairey Battle
    1942-1943
  • Hawker Hartbees
    1942-1943
  • North American T-6 Harvard
    1952-1959, 1961-1973
  • Cessna 185
    1973-1976
  • Atlas Impala Mk.I
    1975-1990
gollark: ++Delete <@319753218592866315> (killing kittenenes)
gollark: Replace kittens with kitten IDs in a backing database for kitten storage.
gollark: I do like how some languages (many languages) do immutable strings.
gollark: In some languages strings are "interned".
gollark: It is probably sometimes, although honestly you could probably just use enums?

References
Footnotes
    Citations
    1. Martin and Orpen, (1979) p.275
    2. "South African Air Force (Unofficial)". 6 Squadron. Retrieved 8 September 2011.
    References
    • Martin, H.J. (Lt-Gen); Orpen, N.D. (1979). South Africa at War: Military and Industrial Organisation and Operations in connection with the conduct of War: 1939-1945 (South African Forces World War II: Volume VII). Cape Town: Purnell. p. 282. ISBN 0-86843-025-0.


    This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.