Official Newsletter of the Pretoria Branch of SAAFA SAAFA celebrate Col Joe s 90 th Birthday By Henry van Reenen August 2012 A surprise party for Col. Joe Meiring s 90 th birthday at AFB Swartkop brought friends together and memories back. Many of his 21 (VIP) Squadron members of 30 years ago turned up. The greatest honour, love, and respect any man can hope to receive. To those that attended none of you probably realised the immense joy and appreciation this event brought to Col Joe. He has not been this much alive since having a stroke. Nor has he smiled so much in years. A very heartfelt word of thanks to each of you in turn. You were all very special people. Some milestones in Col Joe s life are portrayed below Col Joe Meiring was a farmer s son and born on 6 July 6 1922. He went to Verkeerdevlei Primary school before Matriculating at Grey College. Jannie Smuts, a personal friend of his father, needed pilots and Col Joe decided to join. Before he left, his father handed him 5 with the following message and don t you waste any of it He joins the SAAF on 3 March 1940 and receive basic training at 75 Air School Lyttleton before starting basic flying training at Baragwanath Flying School on Tiger Moths. This was followed by Advanced Flying Training at Kroonstad on Tiger Moths before receiving his Wings at AFB Waterkloof in March 1941. From there he was posted to AFB Pietersburg and did his conversion on Miles Master, a single engine low-wing advanced trainer. WWII was in full swing and he left in August 1941 to Cairo (El Masa SAAF Base Camp). From there he travelled to the Middle East before returning in September 1941 to 7 Squadron in Cairo to fly Hurricanes and served in 134 Squadron RAF Hurricane 2D Tank Busters during El Alamein. After a 3 month trip in Burma flying Thunderbolt aircraft on ground strike and bombing operations he returned to Union of South Africa in 1942 to complete an Instructor s Course at CFS Tempe. Qualifying as Instructor on the T6 Harvard he was transferred to AFS Waterkloof at 2 Squadron on Spitfire aircraft. During 1947 he qualified as Radio Operator. In 1948 at AFS Tempe be became a Training Officer and Instructor on B34 Ventura for the ACF pilots. He was transferred in August 1951 to AFS Langebaanweg where he did OTU on Spitfires before departing for Korea to fly Mustang aircraft till February 1952. After a year s service at AFHQ, he did his Staff Course at RAF Cranbourne in the UK before returning to AFS Ysterplaat flying Venturas at 17 and 22 Squadrons. From 1957 to 1964 he flew Shackletons (35 Squadron) before becoming Assistant Air Transport Officer at AFHQ. From January 1967 at 28 Squadron he became the V.I.P. Viscount Commander. In 1969 he converted to Hawker Sidley H.S. 125, Viscount and Falcon 50/90 aircraft. All his flying log-books were impounded circa 94 and never returned. We salute Col, Joe Meiring a great Pilot 1 of 5
HS 125 VIP Transport Ventura - AFB Swartkop P51 Mustang - Korea Brokkies / Snippets Some Aircraft flown by Col Joe Meiring Stills from the gun-camera film taken by Maj. Johann Rankin's Mirage F.1CZ on 6 November 1981, where he scored his first "MIG-kill". A second kill scored by Maj. Johann Rankin, on 5 October 1982. Amazingly, despite the MIG obviously going up in a huge ball of flame, specific Cuban sources deny the loss, stating the pilot "landed safely" back in the base Impalas flying low over 140 Squadron (Radar) at Ondangwa. 140 Sqn had two roles. The first is defensive, to monitor the airspace for intruders. The other is offensive. That is when the radar becomes the eyes of the fighter pilot allowing him to see further. The further you can see, the better your chances of victory are, you need that edge, and it was the function of 140 Sqn to give the pilot that edge. For many pilots a memorable view, either coming from the States and spiralling down, or to provide top cover for the landing or taking off on a mission. 2 of 5
WOW!!! SOME STATS ARE MIND BOGGLING contribution by Les Weyer FACTS AND STATISTICS: No matter how one looks at it, these are incredible statistics. Aside from the figures on aircraft, consider this statement from the article: On average 6600 American service men died per MONTH, during WWII (about 220 a day). Most Americans who were not adults during WWII have no understanding of the magnitude of it. This listing of some of the aircraft facts gives a bit of insight to it. 276,000 aircraft manufactured in the US. 43,000 planes lost overseas, including 23,000 in combat. 14,000 lost in the continental U.S. THE NUMBERS GAME: B-17 production (12,731) wingtip to wingtip would extend 250 miles. 1,000B - 17s carried 2.5 million gallons of high octane fuel and required 10,000 airmen to fly and fight them. 9.7 billion gallons of gasoline consumed, 1942-1945. 107.8 million hours flown, 1943-1945. 459.7 billion rounds of aircraft ammo fired overseas, 1942-1945. 7.9 million bombs dropped overseas, 1943-1945. 2.3 million combat sorties, 1941-1945 (one sortie = one take-off). 299,230 aircraft accepted, 1940-1945. 808,471 aircraft engines accepted, 1940-1945. 799,972 propellers accepted, 1940-1945. (Sources: Rene Francillon, Japanese Aircraft of the Pacific war; Cajus Bekker, The Luftwaffe Diaries; Ray Wagner, American Combat Planes; Wikipedia.) EXPERIENCE LEVEL: Uncle Sam sent many of his sons to war with absolute minimums of training. Some fighter pilots entered combat in 1942 with less than one hour in their assigned aircraft. The 357th Fighter Group (often known as The Yoxford Boys) went to England in late 1943 having trained on P-39s. The group never saw a Mustang until shortly before its first combat mission. A high-time P-51 pilot had 30 hours in type. Many had fewer than five hours. Some had one hour. With arrival of new aircraft, many combat units transitioned in combat. The attitude was, "They all have a stick and a throttle. Go fly `em." When the famed 4th Fighter Group converted from P-47s to P-51s in February 1944, there was no time to stand down for an orderly transition. The Group commander, Col. Donald Blakeslee, said, "You can learn to fly `51s on the way to the target. 3 of 5
A future P-47 ace said, "I was sent to England to die." He was not alone. Some fighter pilots tucked their wheels in the well on their first combat mission with one previous flight in the aircraft. Meanwhile, many bomber crews were still learning their trade: Of Jimmy Doolittle's 15 pilots on the April 1942 Tokyo raid, only five had won their wings before 1941. All but one of the 16 co-pilots was less than a year out of flight school. In WWII flying safety took a back seat to combat. The AAF's worst accident rate was recorded by the A- 36 Invader version of the P-51: a staggering 274 accidents per 100,000 flying hours. Next worst were the P-39 at 245, the P-40 at 188 and the P-38 at 139. All were Allison powered. Bomber wrecks were fewer but more expensive. The B-17 and B-24 averaged 30 and 35 accidents per 100,000 flight hours, respectively - a horrific figure considering that from 1980 to 2000 the Air Force's major mishap rate was less than 2. The B-29 was even worse at 40; the world's most sophisticated, most capable and most expensive bomber was too urgently needed to stand down for mere safety reasons. The AAF set a reasonably high standard for B-29 pilots, but the desired figures were seldom attained. The original cadre of the 58th Bomb Wing was to have 400 hours of multi-engine time, but there were not enough experienced pilots to meet the criterion. Only ten present had overseas experience. Conversely, when a $2.1 billion B-2 crashed in 2008, the Air Force initiated a two-month "safety pause" rather than declare a "stand down", let alone grounding. The B-29 was no better for maintenance. Though the R3350 was known as a complicated, troublesome power-plant, no more than half the mechanics had previous experience with the Duplex Cyclone. But they made it work. NAVIGATORS: Perhaps the greatest unsung success story of AAF training was Navigators. The Army graduated some 50,000 during the War and many had never flown out of sight of land before leaving "Uncle Sugar" for a war zone. Yet the huge majority found their way across oceans and continents without getting lost or running out of fuel - a stirring tribute to the AAF's educational establishments. CADET TO COLONEL: It was possible for a flying cadet at the time of Pearl Harbour to finish the war with eagles on his shoulders. That was the record of John D. Landers, a 21-year-old Texan, who was commissioned a second lieutenant on December 12, 1941. He joined his combat squadron with 209 hours total flight time, including 2 in P-40s. He finished the war as a full colonel, commanding an 8th Air Force Group - at age 24. As the training pipeline filled up, however those low figures became exceptions. 4 of 5
By early 1944, the average AAF fighter pilot entering combat had logged at least 450 hours, usually including 250 hours in training. At the same time, many captains and first lieutenants claimed over 600 hours. BRANCH ACTIVITIES BRANCH: Annual Banquet: 12 October 2012 at Pierre van Ryneveld Hall. AFHQ Branch Annual Golf Day: 02 November 2012 at Services Golf Club. Branch Christmas Luncheon: 07 December. Venue TBA. Nuwe Redakteur: (Motto Once a Soldier always a Soldier) Sallie Pretorius het sy diensplig op 8 Januarie 1969 begin. Sy voorliefde was (en is nog altyd) die SALM. Alhoewel hy as Seiner opgeroep was, het hy besluit, tot hier toe en nie verder nie en sluit PF aan. Hy doen basies van Januarie 69 tot einde September 69 (boom toe en terug by die Gim en 68 Lugskool vir 9 maande). Hy kwalifiseer as Lug Fotograaf by SFI voordat hy gekeur word vir offisierskursus by LVAG (Gunners). Na sy offisierskursus en draai by die Akademie, neem hy deel aan Ops Savana. Slegs die begin van baie wat nog sou volg (vol van blommetjies Protea, Daisy, ens). Sy toere sluit LVAG, MRG, LMHK (Direkteur Rekenaar en Grondstelsels en Direkteur Ingenieurswese) en 4 LD in. Sy vroulief was by 89 GVS, MRG, 5 LD en later Genl Eddie Dert Hoof Direkteur Magsvoorbereiding en Steun se sekretaresse geword. Tans hou hy hom besig met tegniese skryfwerk. Vrye tyd is daar min maar as dit wel opduik spandeer hy en sy familie graag tyd in die bosveld. Hy is nie provinsialisties nie maar die Stormers lê na aan sy hart. Menige vyande is seker nou geskep, maar tot daar toe. Stuur asseblief julle wonderlike ervarings in die SALM na Jaap of my e-pos adres. Editor: Stick and Throttle Fax: 086 592 0460 Mail: pretlogistic@gmail.com/saafa.pretoria@icon.co.za We re on the web! See us at: www.saafa.co.za Note: The editor extends his thanks for all contributions. Opinions expressed in this newsletter do not necessarily reflects those of the Editor or Branch Executive Committee The Editor reserves the right to amend or reject any editorial matter submitted for publication 5 of 5