1 Squadron SAAF
| 1 Squadron | |
|---|---|
Mirage F1AZ refuelling from a B707 tanker
|
|
| Active | February 1920 to 25 November 1997 |
| Country |
  South Africa
|
| Branch | South African Air Force |
| Role | Fighter / Attack Squadron |
| Garrison/HQ | AFB Hoedspruit when disbanded. |
| Nickname(s) | The Billy Boys |
| Motto(s) | Prima (First) |
| Insignia | |
| Squadron Badge |  |
| Squadron Identification Code | AX 1939-1945 |
1 Squadron SAAF was an air force squadron of the South African Air Force and was formed at Air Force Station Swartkop in February 1920, equipped with De Havilland DH.9's part of the Imperial Gift donation to South Africa by Britain. On 31 August 1939 the squadron was re-designated as 1 Bomber/Fighter Squadron and this was then changed to 11 (Bomber) Squadron in December 1939. The squadron was resurrected in February 1940 by the renumbering of 6 Squadron, equipped with four Hurricane Mk 1's and six Furies.
1 Squadron saw active service in East Africa in 1940, the Western Desert, Malta, Sicily and ended their war service in Italy in 1945. In 1950 the squadron's Spitfires were replaced with Vampires and these in turn were replaced by Sabre Mk6's in 1956. In 1976 the squadron received Mirage F1AZ attack aircraft and it was disbanded when the F1AZ's were retired on 25 November 1997.
There had been no official squadron designations in the South African Air Force (SAAF) from its inception in 1920 until the early 1938 when 1 and 2 Transvaal Air Squadrons were formed as training units based at Waterkloof Air Station which had been opened earlier that year. Each squadron comprised 18 aircraft, divided into 3 flights each, plus a headquarters or administrative flight per squadron. Each flight was structured to form the working nucleus of a squadron. A flight of SE5's was to be the cadre of a fighting/ground strafing squadron; Avro 504Ks of a training and artillery spotter squadron, and DH9s were to form the cadre of a long-distance communication, photographic, bombing, and reconnaissance squadron.
On 31 August 1939, 1 Transvaal Air Squadron was re-designated as 1 (Fighter-Bomber) Squadron, and the original aircraft were replaced with Hawker Hartebeest. It took until May 1940 for the squadron to be trained and brought up to strength, by when it had been equipped with four Hurricanes and six Furies and was officially titled "1 (Fighter) Squadron," commanded by Maj. N.G. Niblock-Stuart. The Squadron was the first SAAF squadron to deploy in support of the Allied war effort, when a group of pilots and support staff were ferried to Egypt on 13 May 1940 by 50 Squadron. Once they had arrived in Egypt, they were equipped with 18 Gloster Gladiators.
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