60 Squadron SAAF is a squadron of the

South African Air Force The South African Air Force (SAAF) is the air warfare branch of South African National Defence Force, with its headquarters in Pretoria. The South African Air Force was established on 1 February 1920. The Air Force saw service in World War II a ...

. It is a transport, aerial refuelling and EW^{( electronic warfare)}/ELINT^{(electronic intelligence)} squadron. It was first formed at

Nairobi Nairobi is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Kenya. The city lies in the south-central part of Kenya, at an elevation of . The name is derived from the Maasai language, Maasai phrase , which translates to 'place of cool waters', a ...

in December 1940. In 1943, the 60th Squadron was a part of the North African Photo Reconnaissance Wing, which later became the Mediterranean Allied Photo Reconnaissance Wing. In several flights during 1944

Mosquitos Mosquitoes, the Culicidae, are a family of small flies consisting of 3,600 species. The word ''mosquito'' (formed by '' mosca'' and diminutive ''-ito'') is Spanish and Portuguese for ''little fly''. Mosquitoes have a slender segmented body, ...

took many of the later discussed pictures of the Auschwitz-Birkenau camps, in which the Holocaust was visible but was not recognized. During its first years the squadron flew the

British Aircraft Double Eagle The British Aircraft B.A.IV Double Eagle was a British twin-engined six-seater monoplane designed and built by the British Aircraft Manufacturing Company of London Air Park, Hanworth, England. Design and development The Double Eagle was a tw ...

Martin Maryland The Martin Model 167 Maryland was an American light bomber Martin Maryland
Milit ...

de Havilland Mosquito The de Havilland DH.98 Mosquito is a British twin-engined, multirole combat aircraft, introduced during the World War II, Second World War. Unusual in that its airframe was constructed mostly of wood, it was nicknamed the "Wooden Wonder", or " ...

, and the

Lockheed Ventura The Lockheed Ventura is a twin-engine medium bomber and patrol bomber of World War II. The Ventura first entered combat in Europe as a bomber with the RAF in late 1942. Designated PV-1 by the United States Navy (US Navy), it entered combat in ...

. The squadron was reequipped with

Boeing 707 The Boeing 707 is an early American long-range Narrow-body aircraft, narrow-body airliner, the first jetliner developed and produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes. Developed from the Boeing 367-80 prototype, the initial first flew on Decembe ...

s in 1986. While it was based for a long period at

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 means "water ravine" in Afrikaans and in Dutch. Despite the name, this base i ...

Pretoria Pretoria ( ; ) is the Capital of South Africa, administrative capital of South Africa, serving as the seat of the Executive (government), executive branch of government, and as the host to all foreign embassies to the country. Pretoria strad ...

, due to ongoing runway and taxiway repairs at that base, the squadron operated temporarily for a period out of

Johannesburg International Airport O. R. Tambo International Airport is an international airport serving the twin cities of Johannesburg and the main capital of South Africa, Pretoria. It is situated in Kempton Park, Gauteng, Kempton Park, Gauteng. It serves as the primary air ...

. Operations wound down with the last operational Boeing 707 flight flown on 10 July 2007 to Bujumbura, Kinshasa and Kindu. The squadron appears to be in limbo, with conversion to the

Airbus A400M Atlas The Airbus A400M AtlasNamed after the Greek mythological figure. is a European four-engine turboprop military transport aircraft. It was designed by Airbus Military, now Airbus Defence and Space, as a tactical airlifter with strategic capa ...

cancelled. left, 60 Sqn Mosquito PR-16 reconnaissance aircraft 1943

References

Squadrons of the South African Air Force Disbanded military units and formations in Pretoria Military units and formations established in 1940 {{SouthAfrica-mil-stub