Built as part of a batch of 20 (MM22546-22565) by SIAI in June-July 1940, MM22551, alias 'Kewpie' (A Kewpie is a pet name for a girl, as in Kewpie doll) was captured at Addis Ababa in 1941. Rebuilt using captured parts by the ground crew of 41 Squadron SAAF. It was test-flown by Maj. R H Preller on 13th May 1941, then flown to South Africa by Preller on 11th June 1941. Whilst over Rhodesia he got lost in foul weather and ran out of fuel, crash landing near Gwanda. The damaged S79 was taken by rail to Pretoria, where it was again repaired. Kewpie was given SAAF number 24. Towards the end of the war it was sent up to the Middle East. On landing at Ndala in Northern Rhodesia the brakes failed and it crashed again and was written off on 28/7/43. What was left of it was given to the RAF at Nairobi. To confuse the issue there was a second SAAF SM79, no.25, which has a more involved history. Rebuilt at Addis Ababa, it then joined the East African Communications flight as K36. It went to SA in April 1942. No 25 appeared with 5 Transport Wing during the occupation of Madagascar 1942/3, buzzed about Africa for a while, then crashed at Addis in 1943. It is presumed this is K36, but it may have been another SM79.

Dimensione Cielo No.4 and Regia Aeronautica Vol.1 (p.51) both show a photo of an SM79 with a collapsed port undercarriage being inspected at Addis Ababa. (Though Dim. Cielo says the onlookers are English, Regia Aeronautica identifies them as South Africans.) This machine of 6 Sqa, 44 Gruppo, coded 6 - 6, is shown in colour profile on p.250 of Courage Alone and it is this machine that was subseqently repaired, so 'Kewpie' & 6-6 are in fact the same machine. The colour scheme in R.A. ownership was Tan with Green Mottle & Light Grey undersides. The usual theatre markings of large St Andrew's crosses (similar to Spanish Civil War markings) were carried. These were painted over in South African hands, the Littorio was retained on the fuselage engine cowling though.

Kewpie by William Marshall.

Madam Bambalero by William Marshall.
 

• Aircraft of the SAAF, Potgieter & Steenkamp.
• SAAF at War, Bouwer, Louw.
  

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