page_title: History of the South African Air Force
section_title: Western Desert and North Africa
hierarchical_section_title: History of the South African Air Force / World War II / Western Desert and North Africa
caption_attribution_description: English: Douglas Boston aircraft of No 24 Squadron, South African Air Force lined up at Zuara, Tripolitania. The nearest is AL683/'V'.
context_page_description: The History of the South African Air Force spans the First World War, Rand Rebellion of 1922, the Second World War, the Korean War, the South African Border War, and varied peacekeeping operations since 1994. Its battle honours include German South West Africa 1914–15, German East Africa 1915–1918, East Africa: 1939–1941, Middle East: 1941–43, Madagascar 1942, Italy 1943–1945, the Balkans 1943–1945, and Korea 1950–1953.
context_section_description: The SAAF fighter, bomber and reconnaissance squadrons played a key role in the Western Desert and North African campaigns from 1941 to 1943. A memorable feat was the SAAF Boston bombers of 12 and 24 Squadrons who dropped hundreds of tons of bombs on the Afrika Korps as it was pushing the Eighth Army back towards Egypt during the "Gazala Gallop" in early 1942. The SAAF bombers were also instrumental in continually harassing the German forces retreating towards the Tunisian border after the Battle of Alamein whilst the South African fighters of 223 Wing contributed towards the Allied Desert Air Force attaining air superiority over the Axis air forces by the beginning of 1942. Between April 1941 and May 1943, the eleven SAAF squadrons flew 33 991 sorties and destroyed 342 enemy aircraft.
  Conditions were however not ideal and pilots and crew were required to operate under critical conditions at times. Pilots were frequently sent home to the Union after gaining experience and did not return for many months, after which conditions in the desert had changed significantly and they were required to regain experience on different aircraft, different tactics and operations from different bases. There were cases where experienced fighter pilots were sent back to the Western Desert as bomber pilots for their second tour – compounding the lack of continuity and experience. The South Africans did however command the respect of their German adversaries: "I personally had a firm conviction that the Australian squadrons fought less stubbornly than the English and the South Africans. Of the French we heard only rumours, and of the Poles – I believe that our aversion was reciprocal." Rudolf Sinner, II/JG27, 1942.
  The South Africans had the distinction of dropping the first and last bombs in the African conflict – the first being on 11 June 1940 on Moyale in Abyssinia and the last being on the Italian 1st Army in Tunisia. The SAAF also produced a number of SAAF WWII air aces in the process, including John Frost, Sailor Malan, Gerald Stapleton and Marmaduke Pattle.
caption: Douglas Boston of 24 Squadron SAAF at Zuara, Tripolitania, Libya, 1943
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