Ninety years of memories of the SAAF captured in new book
Date: 2 February 2013
By Janet Szabo
A new book on the South African Air Force has captured the personal history and many of the previously untold tales and experiences of dozens of airmen who served in both war and peace-time during the Air Force's first ninety years.
At the launch of his book, "Tumult in the Clouds" at the first public flying day at the Air Force Museum at Swartkops, aviation enthusiast and journalist Dean Wingrin said he started recording the "lost and forgotten" stories about four years ago because he realised that the stories were being lost when the people passed on. Wingrin runs the unofficial website of the SAAF, www.saairforce.co.za .
He said: "These people, their stories and what they go through and the sacrifices they make should never be forgotten and should not be ignored."
"I have been humbled listening to their stories. Some of them have won medals for bravery. It was not some dry history of dates and facts written by people who weren't there," he said.
Looking back at the stories that were not included, he said: "I started collecting five years too late. The guys are getting old now. The fact that spurred me was the very first person that I interviewed, I interviewed him and a week and a half later he passed away. You can't delay writing down history."
He said if you look at the book, the print is very small. This is because he had so many stories and each one deserved to be included. He said if the book was successful, he had more than enough material for another volume.
The first-hand accounts document the Air Force's significant contribution to some of the major conflicts and struggles of the last century. These cover the Second World War, the Berlin Air Lift, the Korean War of the 1950s, through to the border wars, the transition to democracy and the more recent role in peacekeeping and humanitarian missions on the African continent.
One of the post-democracy accounts is that of General Tsoku Khumalo, a member of MK and currently Director, Force Preparation. He had an interesting route into the Air Force, learning to fly in Russia. General Khumalo said he hoped that the accounts of the different experiences would add to the knowledge of the Air Force.
Lieutenant General Denis Earp, a former chief of the SAAF and distinguished veteran of Korea, who wrote the foreword to the book, commended this project and encouraged others to record the stories of serving members in the Air Force saying: "It doesn't have to be about the obvious heroes, it's about the people of the Air Force. They all, in their own ways, are heroes". He said that is where the true history is.
On a personal note, General Earp lamented the tales that died with his uncle who had served in the South African commandos during the campaign in South West Africa in the First World War.
"Wonderful stories. Every time I visited him I would say: Please Uncle, tell us some more. Then one day he passed on. Those stories are gone. What's left in my mind is probably inaccurate. If only he had written them down."
The book also includes a lighter side to duty: a collection of squadron pub songs from all the major conflicts in which the Air Force served.
Significantly, the book was launched at the Air Force Museum, which is the custodian of the service's history and tradition, the day after the annual Air Force Day parade. The first of February marks the founding of the SAAF in 1920, making it the world second-oldest air force. Wingrin drew attention to another Air Force milestone in 2013 - the 40th anniversary of the Museum. Source: SABC
