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No. 7 Wing (SAAF) was a South African Airforce fighter-bomber air wing during World War II. The Wing served in the Western Desert and Italian campaigns. By the end of the North African campaign in May 1943, SAAF No 7 Wing, comprising 2, 4 & 5 Squadrons, was considered the best dive bomber formation in the world.[1]

Organisation and squadrons

7 Wing was initially a RAF Wing. In December 1942, 2, 4 and 5 Squadrons SAAF were placed in reserve and on 6 December 1942 they were assigned to 7 Wing SAAF under the command of Lt.Col. D.H. Loftus. It was the first time South African squadrons had operated together as a unified wing.[2] The wing badge was a leaping Sprignbok on a green and yellow shield and was painted on the rudder of wing aircraft. In 1943 and 1944, the wing supported partisan operations in Yugoslavia. By Christmas 1944, the Wing was based at Forli near Bologna where it remained until the end of the war.[3] It comprised the below squadrons during its existence:

No. 7 Wing SAAF organisation: 1941 - 1945
Date Assigned Squadrons Wing Commander Higher formation
October 1942
(Initially 7 Wing RAF) 		Lt. Col. D.H. Loftus[7] No. 212 Group RAF[4]
February 1943 Lt. Col. D.H. Loftus[7]
Lt. Col. J.D. Human[7] 		No. 212 Group RAF[4]
July 1944 Lt. Col. Johnny D. Human[3]
Col. D.D. Moodie[3] 		Desert Airforce[9]
May 1945 Lt. Col. A C Bosman[11] Mediterranean Allied Tactical Airforce[10]

Citations

  1. ^ "SAAF Squadrons – present and past" (PDF).
  2. ^ Brown 1974, pp. 306.
  3. ^ a b c Fortune Favours the Bold: An African Aviation Odyssey. Xlibris Corporation. 28 January 2009. ISBN 9781462813902.
  4. ^ a b c d e f Shores 1972, pp. 74.
  5. ^ a b c d Shores & Ring 1969, pp. 248.
  6. ^ "No. 274 Squadron (RAF) during the Second World War".
  7. ^ a b c Brown 1974, pp. 401.
  8. ^ a b c Brown 1974, pp. 331.
  9. ^ a b c d Shores 1973, pp. 18.
  10. ^ a b c d e Shores 1973, pp. 108.
  11. ^ "Photographs: Royal Air Force: Italy, The Balkans and South East Europe, 1942-1945". Imperial War Museum.

References

  • Brown, James Ambrose (1974). Eagles Strike: The Campaigns of the South African Air Force in Egypt, Cyrenaica, Libya, Tunisia, Tripolitania and Madagascar, 1941–1943. South African Forces World War II. Vol. 4. Cape Town: Purnell. ISBN 978-0-360-00196-1. LCCN 73076809. OCLC 1501871. Archived at HathiTrust Digital Library. [1]
  • Shores, Christopher F. (1972). Pictorial history of the Mediterranean Air War: Volume I: RAF 1940-43. London: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-0382-3.
  • Shores, Christopher F. (1973). Pictorial history of the Mediterranean Air War: Volume II: RAF 1943-45. London: Ian Allan. ISBN 0-7110-0433-1.
  • Shores, Christopher F.; Ring, Hans (1969). Fighters over the desert: Air battles in the Western Desert - June 1940 to December 1942. New York: Arco Publishing Company Inc.

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