The RAF is 100 years old

By John Walton

The Royal Air Force / RAF is 100 on 1st April 2018.

Question: Why is this of special interest to Southern Africans?

Answer: Jannie the fox

Let us firstly remember the sacrifices and efforts of Southern African air aces, heroes and personnel. South Africa is right to be proud of its record as part of, and allied with, the RAF.

World War I

Andrew Frederick Weatherby (Anthony) Beauchamp-Proctor was awarded the following:

• VC (Victoria Cross)
• DSO (Distinguished Service Order)
• MC (Military Cross)
• Bar (Medal Bar)
• DFC (Distinguished Flying Cross UK),
• Top scoring SA pilot with 54 kills
• 8th place amongst the top scoring pilots of all nations in the conflict

World War II

Adolph Gysbert “Sailor” Malan was awarded the following:

• DSO & Bar
• DFC & Bar
• Ttop scoring ace at the end of the Battle of Britain,  along with 34 other “aces” from Southern Africa

Roger Joyce Bushell

We could not omit Squadron Leader Roger Joyce Bushell, a South African-born RAF pilot. He is remembered as the organiser of the mass-escape from Stalag Luft III, a prisoner-of-war camp in Germany in 1944.

Captured during the escape, Bushell was shot by a firing squad along with 49 other re-captured prisoners. Bushell was the basis for the character “Roger Bartlett” in the film ‘The Great Escape’. Richard Attenborough played his role. Ian McShane played Bushell in ‘The Great Escape II: The Untold Story’. Due to the political situation at the time of the film’s release, his South African origins where not made public.

Korea

South Africa was one of the combatant nations and was again fighting alongside the RAF, and the RAAF. No 2 Squadron SAAF, was attached to the 18th Fighter-Bomber Wing U.S. Air Force for the duration of the war. At the conclusion of the war the Commanding Officer of the 18th Fighter-Bomber Wing, issued a directive:

“In memory of our gallant South African comrades, it is hereby established, as a new policy that at all Retreat Ceremonies held by this Wing, the playing of our National Anthem shall be preceded by playing the introductory bars of the South African National Anthem, ‘Die Stem van Suid-Afrika’. All personnel of this Wing will render the same honours to this Anthem as our own.”

A high honour indeed.

We digress…

What does the 100th anniversary of the Royal Air Force have to do with South Africa?

The answer: 

Field Marshal Jan Christian Smuts PC (Privy Council of the UK), OM (Order of Merit), CH (Companion of Honour), DTD (Dekoratie voor Trouwe Dienst), ED (Efficiency Decoration South Africa), KC (King’s Counsel), FRS (Fellow of the Royal Society) – a.f.a Jannie the Fox.

Amongst his many other accomplishment Field Marshal Jan Smuts, (24th May 1870 – Died 11th September 1950) was an international statesman. He had a clear vision. He was years ahead of his time and was generally misunderstood.

In fact, he had been named a traitor to the Afrikaner cause for his views on apartheid. Smuts ran for Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa opposing Apartheid — and lost.

Jan Smuts’ Story Begins

Born was birn into a well-respected Afrikaans farming family in the Cape Provence. He was destined to work on the farm as tradition expected of the second son. However, with the death of his elder brother, Michiel, he was allowed to go away to study and take his brothers place as the heir. Schooled in South Africa, he had his higher educated at Cambridge with the help of the Ebden scholarship for overseas study.

On finishing his degree, he returned to Cape Town to practice law. His outspoken character did not make him many friends in the profession, and he took up journalism and politics.

He served on the side of the Boers with distinction and was partly the cause of the British, unable to clinch a decisive victory, having to offer a cease fire.

Smuts in World War I

During the First World War, he led the armies of South Africa against Germany, capturing German South-West Africa and commanding the British Army in East Africa.

From 1917 to 1919, he was also one of the members of the British Imperial War Cabinet. It was whilst here that he was instrumental in the founding of what became the Royal Air Force (RAF).

He gained the rank of  Field Marshal in the British Army in 1941, and served in the Imperial War Cabinet under Winston Churchill. He was the only man to sign both of the peace treaties, ending the First and Second World Wars.

One of his greatest international accomplishments was the establishment of the League of Nations, the exact design and implementation of which relied upon Smuts. He later urged the formation of a new international organisation for peace: the UN. Smuts wrote the first draft of the preamble to the United Nations Charter, and was the only person to sign the charters of both the League of Nations and the UN.

Smuts Becomes Prime Minister

He was also the second Prime Minister of South Africa as he was in office for consecutive terms from the 5th September 1939 to the 4th June 1948

As Prime Minister, he opposed the majority of Afrikaners who wished to continue and further the de facto Apartheid of the inter-war years. After the Second World War, he established and supported the Fagan Commission, which advocated the abandonment of all segregation in South Africa. However, Smuts lost the 1948 general election. This was just before he could implement the suggestion. When he died in 1950, ‘de jure’ Apartheid was implemented.

A statue of him in London’s Parliament Square, where he stands alongside statues of Nelson Mandela and Sir Winston Churchill, recognises his many achievements.

His honours in order:

• Her Majesty’s Most Honourable Privy Council
• The Order of Merit
• The Order of the Companions of Honour
• The Dekoratie voor Trouwe Dienst
• The Efficiency Decoration
• Queen’s Counsel (Not to be confused with PC above)
• The President, Council and Fellows of the Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge