3 Squadron SAAF was an air force squadron of the South African Air Force. It was formed in January 1939 at Air Force Base Waterkloof

AFB Waterkloof

Air Force Base Waterkloof is an airbase of the South African Air Force. It is situated on the outskirts of Pretoria, and is the SAAF's busiest airbase.The base's name, Waterkloof, is Afrikaans, it means Water Ravine in English....

 and was equipped with Hawker Hartbees I

Hawker Hart

The Hawker Hart was a British two-seater biplane light bomber of the Royal Air Force , which had a prominent role during the RAF's inter-war period. The Hart was designed during the 1920s by Sydney Camm and built by Hawker Aircraft...

 and Hurricane Mk II

Hawker Hurricane

The Hawker Hurricane is a British single-seat fighter aircraft that was designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd for the Royal Air Force...

 aircraft. The squadron was moved to Port Elizabeth in September 1939 after which it was disbanded. It was again reformed at Waterkloof 9 September 1940 with Hurricane Mk 1s.

History

The squadron was involved in fighting in East Africa

East African Campaign (World War II)

The East African Campaign was a series of battles fought in East Africa during World War II by the British Empire, the British Commonwealth of Nations and several allies against the forces of Italy from June 1940 to November 1941....

 flying Hurricanes and Gladiator

Gloster Gladiator

The Gloster Gladiator was a British-built biplane fighter. It was used by the Royal Air Force and the Royal Navy and was exported to a number of other air forces during the late 1930s. It was the RAF's last biplane fighter aircraft and was rendered obsolete by newer monoplane designs even as it...

 Mk IIs, In December 1942 the squadron was sent to the Middle East and flew fighter defence over the port of Aden with Hurricane 11c and Spitfire V aircraft, coastal patrols were also flown from North Africa. In August 1944, 3 Squadron was sent to Italy and was re-equipped with Spitfire IXs. The squadron was disbanded following the end of the Second War War.

Three Squadron was again reformed at Baragwanath Airport on 6 September 1952 as a part-time citizen force unit flying Harvards

North American T-6 Texan

The North American Aviation T-6 Texan was a single-engine advanced trainer aircraft used to train pilots of the United States Army Air Forces, United States Navy, Royal Air Force and other air forces of the British Commonwealth during World War II and into the 1950s...

, but disbanded once again in 1957. In August 1966 the squadron was reformed at AFB Waterkloof as a unit under the control of 2 Squadron, equipped with Mirage IIIEZs

Dassault Mirage III

The Mirage III is a supersonic fighter aircraft designed by Dassault Aviation during the late 1950s, and manufactured both in France and a number of other countries. It was a successful fighter aircraft, being sold to many air forces around the world and remaining in production for over a decade...

.

In February 1970 the unit received squadron colours and in the same year, was supplied with Mirage IIIDZ's and Mirage F1CZ's in April 1975 when its Mirage IIIEZ, DZ and D2Z aircraft were transferred to 85 Advanced Flying School

85 Combat Flying School SAAF

85 Combat Flying School is a unit of the South African Air Force. It is currently a jet flight-training and combat operations school. The school also has a wartime reserve role, although it has publicly been stated that the school will not be used operationally unless a very urgent need arises.*...

. The squadron continued to operate the Mirage F1CZ from Waterkloof AFB with frequent deployments to Namibia during the Border War. Three Squadron was disbanded when the Mirage F1CZs were retired on 30 September 1992.

World War II deployment

• January-December 1941: Fighter Squadron, East Africa
• 1942: South Africa
• January 1943-August 1944: Shipping Patrols, North Africa
• August 1944-September 1945: Ground attack, Italy