Formed in 1935 under the name
Southern Rhodesia Staff Corps Air Unit as a territorial unit, the first regular servicemen with the unit went to Britain for ground crew training in 1936. Its first pilots were awarded their flying wings on 13 May 1938. The reservists were called up early August 1939 and were posted to
Kenya by 28 August. On 19 September 1939, two weeks after the
United Kingdom declared war against Germany, the Air Unit officially became the
Southern Rhodesia Air Force (
SRAF), and Air Unit flights become Number 1 Squadron SRAF. In 1939, the Southern Rhodesia government amalgamated the SRAF with the civilian airline Rhodesia and Nyasaland Airways (RANA). The ex-RANA aircraft formed the Communication Squadron, which operated internal services within Southern Rhodesia, plus services to
South Africa and
Mozambique. By January 1940, with Britain at war with
Nazi Germany,
Royal Air Force (RAF) Air Vice-Marshal Sir
Arthur 'Bomber' Harris was desperate for trained aircrew and turned for help to Southern Rhodesia (where Harris had enlisted in 1914). Harris was frustrated by delays launching
Commonwealth Air Training Plan stations in Canada, Australia,
New Zealand and South Africa. Southern Rhodesian Prime Minister
Godfrey Huggins (1933–53) recognised an opportunity not just to aid Britain and the Allies, but also to boost the domestic economy. The Rhodesian Air Training Group (RATG) installed aviation infrastructure, trained 10,000 Commonwealth and Allied airmen 1940–45 (seven percent of the total) and provided the stimulus for manufacturing that had been lacking in the 1920s and 1930s. Southern Rhodesia's textile, metallurgy, chemical and food processing industries expanded rapidly. The SRAF was absorbed into the RAF proper in April 1940 and redesignated
No. 237 (Rhodesia) Squadron RAF. This squadron, initially equipped with
Hawker Harts, participated in the
East African campaign against the
Italians. On 1 June 1941, the Southern Rhodesian Women's Auxiliary Air Services came into being. British
No. 44 Squadron RAF and
No. 266 Squadron RAF were also assigned the name "(Rhodesia)" because of the large number of Rhodesian airmen and crew in these units. Rhodesians fought in many of the theatres of
World War II, including future prime minister
Ian Smith who, after being shot down over Italy behind enemy lines, was able to avoid capture and return to
Allied lines. Rhodesian airmen suffered 20 percent fatalities, becoming emblematic of a "nation in arms" ideal that peppered settler nationalism and erupted fully in the 1960s. The RAF remained until 1954, indirectly assisting Rhodesian aviation, and many airmen returned with young families as settlers.
Post World War II The SRAF was re-established in 1947 and two years later, Huggins appointed a 32-year-old South African-born Rhodesian
Spitfire pilot,
Ted Jacklin, as air officer commanding tasked to build an air force in the expectation that British African territories would begin moving towards independence, and air power would be vital for land-locked Southern Rhodesia. The threadbare SRAF bought, borrowed or salvaged a collection of vintage aircraft, including six
Tiger Moths, six
Harvard trainers, an
Anson freighter and a handful of
de Havilland Dragon Rapide transport aircraft, before purchasing a squadron of 22 Mk22 war surplus Spitfires from the RAF which were then flown to Southern Rhodesia. Huggins was anxious to maintain the strong wartime links established with the RAF, not only for access to training and new technology but also because of his growing concern over the expansionist ideas of the newly established
apartheid Afrikaner nationalist regime in South Africa. The booming Rhodesian economy allowed more money to be allocated for new aircraft, training and aerodrome facilities, and growing co-operation with the RAF in the 1950s saw the SRAF operating in Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland, Kenya,
Cyprus,
Egypt, Jordan,
Iraq, Oman and
South Yemen. Huggins maintained his enthusiasm for air power when he became the first prime minister (1953–56) of the semi-independent
Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland also known as the Central African Federation (CAF) comprising Southern Rhodesia, Northern Rhodesia and Nyasaland. The CAF was viewed as an experiment, a democratic multiracial alternative to
apartheid South Africa, and it was widely expected that the new federal state would become independent within a decade. The SRAF became a 'federal' body and received its first jets, 16
de Havilland Vampire FB9 aircraft. On 15 October 1954 the federal air arm was officially designated as the "Royal Rhodesian Air Force" (RRAF). In a well-received move aimed to distinguish the RRAF from the
South African Air Force, khaki uniforms and army ranks were abandoned in favour of those utilised by other Commonwealth air forces such as the
RAF,
RCAF,
RAAF and
RNZAF. In the late 1950s, 16
Canberra B2 and T4 bombers were purchased, as well as
Provost T52 trainers,
Douglas Dakota and
Canadair DC-4M Argonaut transports. In 1962,
Hawker Hunter fighter aircraft were obtained, and the
Vampire FB9 and T55s were reallocated to advanced training and ground attack roles. The first
Aérospatiale Alouette III helicopters also arrived around this time, equipping Number 7 Squadron. Despite efforts to broker a consensus, black and white Rhodesians complained that the pace of reform was too slow or too fast and by 1961, it became clear that the Federation was doomed. Following the dissolution of the CAF in 1963, the British government granted independence to Northern Rhodesia (Zambia) and Nyasaland (Malawi) but refused Southern Rhodesia independence until more progress was made towards
multiracial democracy. White settler opinion hardened and Ian Smith's Rhodesian Front government issued a
Unilateral Declaration of Independence in 1965. Chief of the Air Staff Air Vice Marshal "Raf" Mulock-Bentley was representing Rhodesia in Washington, D.C., and resigned immediately. Bentley's reluctant successor, former
Royal Australian Air Force pilot
Harold Hawkins had come to Rhodesia with the RATG in 1944 and joined the SRAF in 1947. Hawkins accepted command of the RRAF in the increasingly forlorn hope that the rebellion could be resolved peacefully through negotiation. Although Southern Rhodesia acquired the lion's share of the Federation's aircraft, the imposition of international economic sanctions in 1965 saw the country abandoned by many aircraft equipment suppliers and maintenance contractors. RRAF aircraft maintenance crews had stockpiled essential items, but the Air Staff knew that metal fatigue, spare parts shortages and the need for new electronic equipment would begin to erode the RRAF's capabilities. In 1968, Air Vice Marshal Hawkins failed to convince Prime Minister Ian Smith that the '
HMS Fearless' settlement threatened by British Prime Minister
Harold Wilson was the best result that Rhodesia could expect. Hawkins resigned his command but accepted the post of Rhodesia's diplomatic representative in Pretoria. in 1962. When the
Rhodesian Bush War intensified after 1972, the age of the aircraft, the shortage of spares and a deteriorating air safety record would become a growing concern for the Air Staff. The abrupt realignment of allies saw Rhodesia increasingly dependent upon South African support. In contrast to the
British South Africa Police and the Rhodesian Army, security force airmen possessed skills in demand by other governments and civilian airlines and the RhAF struggled to retain, recruit and instruct technicians. == Insignia ==