List of British Commonwealth Air Training Plan facilities in Southern Rhodesia
This article contains a list of the Southern Rhodesian facilities forming part of Joint Air Training Scheme which was a major programme for training South African Air Force, Royal Air Force and Allied air crews during World War II.[1] However, RAF Training units would still be based in this country until a decade after the war had finished
A war-time Elementary Flying Training School (EFTS) gave a recruit 50 hours of basic aviation instruction on a simple trainer like the Tiger Moth. Pilots who showed promise went on to training at a Service Flying Training School (SFTS). The Service Flying Training School provided advanced training for pilots, including fighter and multi-engined aircraft. Other trainees went on to different specialties, such as wireless, navigation or bombing and air gunnery.[1]
During WW II
These are the units that formed the Rhodesia Air Training Group.[2]
| Unit Name/No. | Base | Major types of aircraft | Role | Opened | Disbanded | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 25 | Belvedere, Salisbury | Tiger Moth, Cornell & Harvard | EFTS | 24 May 1940 | 16 November 1945[3] | |
| No. 20 | Cranborne, Salisbury | Harvard 1, 2, 2a, 3 and Oxford | SFTS | 10 July 1940[3] | 7 September 1945[3] | |
| No. 27 | Induna, Bulawayo | Tiger Moth & Cornell | EFTS | 28 January 1940[3] | 21 September 1945[3] | |
| No. 23 | Heany, Bulawayo | Oxford | SFTS | 8 July 1941[3] | 30 September 1945[3] | |
| No. 21 | Kumalo, Bulawayo | Oxford | SFTS | 8 October 1940[3] | 18 May 1945[3] | |
| Sauerdale, Bulawayo | Tiger Moth | EFTS | Planned, but base found to be unsuitable | |||
| No. 26 | Guinea Fowl, Gwelo | Tiger Moth & Cornell | EFTS | August 1940 | 14 August 1945[3] | |
| No. 22 | Thornhill, Gwelo | Harvard 1, 2, 2a, 3 | SFTS | 25 March 1941[3] | 30 September 1945[3] | |
| No. 24 Bombing, Gunnery and Navigation | Moffat, Gwelo | Battle, Oxford and Anson | BGTS | 12 May 1943[4] | 13 April 1945 [4] | |
| No. 24 Combined Air Observation School | Moffat, Gwelo | Battle, Oxford and Anson | BGTS | 3 August 1941 [4] | 12 May 1943 [3] | Split into 24 BGTS & 29 EANS |
| No. 29 Elementary Navigation School[4] | Moffat, Gwelo | Battle, Oxford and Anson | ANS | 12 May 1943[3] | 13 April 1945[4] | |
| No. 28 | Mount Hampden | Tiger Moth, Cornell & Harvard | EFTS | 1 April 1941 | 30 October 1945[3] | Motto: Pana Maziñana ano Bururuka - Here Fledglings Take Wing |
| No. 31 | Cranborne | Harvard (for Comms) | ARU | 1 August 1941[3] | ||
| No. 32 | Heany | Harvard (for Comms) | ARU | 1 August 1941[3] | ||
| Rhodesian Central Flying School | Norton | All types used in Group | CFS | 3 Sep 1941[3] | 20 May 1942[3] | Renamed 33 FIS |
| No. 33 | Norton | All types used in Group | FIS | 20 May 1942[3] | 9 May 1944[3] | Renamed CFS (SR) |
| Central Flying School (Southern Rhodesia) | Norton | All types used in Group | CFS | 9 May 1944[3] | 9 October 1945[3] | |
| Communications Flight | Belvedere | Tiger Moths, Cornells & Harvards | Comms Flt | 14 May 1940[3] | 1 January 1946[3] | SRAF unit |
Training aircraft
Glossary
- ANS — Air Navigation School
- ARU — Aircraft Repair Unit
- BGTS — Bombing and Gunnery Training School
- CFS — Central Flying School
- EFTS — Elementary Flying Training School
- FIS — Flying Instructors School
- SFTS — Service Flying Training School
- SRAF — Southern Rhodesia Air Force
After World War II
| Unit Name/No. | Base | Major types of aircraft | Role | Opened | Disbanded | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| No. 4 | RAF Heany | Tiger Moth, Harvard, Anson & Chipmunk | FTS | 1 February 1947[3] | 26 January 1954[3] | |
| No. 5 | RAF Thornhill | Tiger Moth, Harvard & Anson | FTS | 23 April 1947[3] | 4 January 1948[3] | Renamed 3 ANS |
| No. 5 | RAF Thornhill | Tiger Moth & Chipmunk | FTS | 22 January 1951[3] | 30 December 1953[3] | Reformed, later reabsorbing 3 ANS |
| No. 3 | RAF Thornhill | Anson | ANS | 5 January 1948[3] | 28 September 1951[3] | |
| No. 394 | RAF Heany | MU | 1 September 1947[3] | 31 March 1954[3] | ||
| No. 395 | RAF Bulawayo | MU | 1 September 1947[3] | 31 March 1954[3] | ||
| RATG Communications Squadron | RAF Kumalo | Ansons, Chipmunks & Harvards | Comms | 1 September 1947[3] | 31 March 1954[3] |
Training aircraft
Glossary
- ANS — Air Navigation School
- FTS — Flying Training School
- MU — Maintenance Unit
- RATG — Rhodesian Air Training Group
See also
- List of British Commonwealth Air Training Plan facilities in Australia
- List of British Commonwealth Air Training Plan facilities in Canada
- List of British Commonwealth Air Training Plan facilities in South Africa
- Aircrew brevet
- Ernest Lucas Guest
- Charles Warburton Meredith
References
- 1 2 Becker, Dave (1989). Yellow Wings: The Story Of The Joint Air Training Scheme In World War 2. Pretoria: The SAAF Museum. p. 102.
- ↑ Bishop, C. Nepean (20 November 1953). "The Fledglings of Rhodesia: An Instructor's Recollections of a Unit in the Empire Air Training Scheme". Flight. LXIV (2339): 668–670. Retrieved 13 February 2016.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 36 37 38 39 "Rhodesia & The RAF". Retrieved 29 February 2016.
- 1 2 3 4 5 "The Story of Royal Air Force Station, Moffat". Our Rhodesian Heritage. 29 March 2010. Retrieved 13 February 2016.
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