88 THE AVIATION HISTORIAN Issue No 21
civilised aspect, and large farms could be seen
dotted about every ten or 20 miles [15–30km].
After an hour’s flying, when we were ten
miles south of Nylstroom [now Modimolle],
we were met by an escort of the South African
Air Force (SAAF), consisting of three flights of
five Westland Wapitis each, and one Vickers
twin-engined general purpose machine. The 23
aeroplanes flying in their own formations passed
over the fine city of Pretoria, to Zwartkopf
aerodrome, some three miles [5km] distant on
Roberts Heights [now Thaba Tshwane], the
SAAF’s HQ, and where a large military garrison
is also maintained.
There must have been thousands of people
waiting on the tarmac as we landed at 1230hr.
We paraded before General Pierre van Ryneveld
[the first to fly from London to Cape Town,
in stages, accompanied by Sir Quintin Brand,
in 1920], who welcomed us officially. Then I
wandered off to talk to some SAAF officers.
They were as friendly and hospitable a crowd as
I have ever met in an RAF mess, possibly more
so. Not once did I receive the impression that
we were strangers or foreigners; we were just
one of them, in spite of the fact that they were
bilingual, mixing English and Afrikaans in the
most bewildering manner.
On March 13, after a few days seeing the sights
of Pretoria, I got up early, as one of the South
Africans I had met, Lt Sandenburg — “Sandy”
— had promised me a “flip” in a SAAF machine
before breakfast. So we dashed down to the
aerodrome and, having signed an indemnity
certificate, I climbed into an Armstrong Siddeley
Jaguar-engined de Havilland [Airco] D.H.9, and
away we went. First he showed me the old Boer
forts on top of the kopjes all around Pretoria,
then we went to have a look at the largest tree
in the world, about ten miles away; reportedly
2,000 people can stand under its branches and be
completely hidden. It looks like a small hill.
Next we flew to a small reservoir 20 miles
away and did some low flying over water, then
returned to Pretoria at about 100ft [30m] with
the speedometer registering around 85 or 90
[measurement not specified! — Ed.], and I took a
photograph of the wonderful Union Buildings,
with their semi-elliptical façade and terraced
gardens. This was the finish unfortunately, as
there was no dual control so I couldn’t fly the
machine, but I thoroughly enjoyed those 45min
of exhilarating flying. I thought Sandy was a
damn good pilot, but in addition all officers
of the SAAF have to qualify in some branch
of the Army, so they know a good deal more
about soldiering than we do, but less about the
technical side of aeroplanes.
At 1010hr on March 14 we took off from
Zwartkopf aerodrome to fly back to Pietersburg.ABOVE Victoria No 2 over Pretoria, the administrative capital of the Union of South Africa, where the tour arrived
to great fanfare on March 8, 1934. The city was looking its best, as the squadron’to great fanfare on March 8, 1934. The city was looking its best, as the squadron’to great fanfare on March 8, 1934. The city was looking its best, as the squadron’s arrival in Pretoria coincided s arrival in Pretoria coincided
with a visit by HRH The Prince George, a keen advocate of aviation, who was on an official tour of South Africa.