The South African Air Force's contribution to Allied victory in W.W. II is indeed incalculable. Perhaps no unit typified the SAAF's fighting spirit more than No. 2 Squadron.
While their exploits today are the stuff of legend, quite forgotten is how they got their start. Initially, they were equipped with Curtiss Tomahawk Is which were imported directly from the U.S.A. Disappointed by the light armament, the South Africans improved this by swapping out the inboard .30 cal. wing guns for 21.3 m.m. Bofors auto-cannon.
The up-gunned Tomahawks were assigned to No. 2 Fighter Sqn. who were soon shipped off to North Africa. Feeling quite ready to take on all and sundry, the pilots of no. 2 Sqn. SAAF looked forward to getting their new birds into the war.
Initially painted in U.S. equivalent colors for the RAF temperate land scheme, new desert camouflage guidelines were ordered to all units under RAF command in AMO A.514/41 which directed that Green be replaced with a tan shade known as Middle Stone.
AMO A.514/41 was sent by radio to No. 2 Sqn. SAAF and the transmission quality was far from ideal.
The message was garbled and fraught with static. The poor SAAF radio operator was on his own sussing out what it said.
After puzzling over just what in the heck the RAF meant by "Field" Stone, No. 2 Sqn. ground crew came up with an answer in the form of some captured German Feldgrau paint stocks that had been mis-labeled with an inaccurate translation.
Thus in August 1941 so adorned did the No. 2 Sqn. SAAF take to the air against the Axis.
While the darker scheme complimented the orange in the South African markings nicely, it stuck out like a sore thumb against the sandy desert. This is the opposite of what good camouflage is supposed to achieve.
However, being visible wasn't going to temper No. 2 Sqn.'s aggressiveness by a long shot. They threw their Tomahawks with abandon across the North African sky, decimating the enemy with fire from their 21.3 m.m. Bofors cannon in screaming diving attacks.
Eventually Axis pilots learned it was best to avoid the gaudy South Africans and turned tail immediately upon sight of that fearsome "Field" Stone camo.
This caused problems. On Sept. 18th,
Schtukaschturmstaffel XCVII's 38 Stukas all retreated in a blind panic upon mis-identifying freshly arrived J/G LXVII's Me-109s. The Messerschmitts wore only factory Feldgrau as they hadn't had time to be given the standard Luftwaffe desert scheme of incomprehensible
Reichs Luft Ministrei or RLM numbers yet.
RAF High Command tried to end No. 2 Sqn.'s confusion, but by the time they could get the top bananas in theatre, what was on paper a liability turned out to be a combat advantage.
No. 2 Sqn. SAAF managed to rack up an impressive slate of victories as well as a loss rate of 50 to 1 which was, ironically, Las Vegas odds against Allied victory as 1941 drew to a close.
This aircraft with its distinctive
Springbok nose art is a fine example of the fighting spirit of No. 2 Sqn. SAAF.
Always willing to take the war to the enemy against the greatest of odds, No. 2 Sqn. would be no small force in kicking the Axis off the African continent.
By late 1942, No. 2 Sqn. SAAF was re-equipped with more modern types as well as a
printed copy of AMO A.514/41 which doomed the initimidating "Field" Stone camo scheme to ignominy.
Utterly forgotten today, once No. 2 Sqn. SAAF's colorful Tomahawks swept the African skies before them.
No examples of these unusually painted Tomahawks exist today save for a lone piece of artwork in Ocean Spray's "South African Air Force WW II Schemes in Color". While considered purely speculative by most experts, those on the fringe keep insisting this camouflage really was.
Brian da Basher
