40 Squadron
	Motto:	Exercitui Oculus
	Meaning:	The eye of the enemy

These days No. 40 Squadron flies Harvards out of Dunnottar, and the fairly sedate nature of its post-World War II training role tends to obscure the fact that it emerged from that conflict with one of  the most outstanding combat records of any SAAF unit. Formed at Waterkloof on May 30,1940, as an army co-operation squadron for tactical reconnaissance, the unit and its Hawker Hartbees started moving off to East Africa soon after the end of the month. 

There it flew tactical, photographic and armed reconnaissance missions in support of the First South African Division. In practice this entailed extensive photo-survey work and also much bombing and strafing, and the squadron was intensively engaged in ops' until May 1941, often tangling with Italian aircraft. In August 1941 the squadron returned to South Africa for re-organization prior to being moved to Egypt in November. Once in the desert, pilots were attached to Royal Air Force and Royal Australian Air Force squadrons for familiarization with 'tac R' in these new conditions.

Re-equipment began in February 1942 with the arrival of Hurricane Mkls and a few Tomahawks, and the squadron became operational the same month. Tactical reconnaissance was a risky existence. As practiced in the desert it involved flying singly or in pairs behind enemy lines, the pilots concentrating on their ground observations, even though it was axiomatic that an aviator's head was supposed never to cease swiveling around. The slow, outclassed fighters flown by No. 40 Squadron made matters worse and the equipment situation did not improve until August 1942 when the squadron began to receive the slightly better Hurricane Mk Is. Inevitably, losses were heavy. Five pilots were lost during the first half of April 1942, and many others returned to base with damage. Nevertheless, No. 40 Squadron did not fail in its duties, either then or later, although its pilots sometimes had to shoot their way out of difficult predicaments, and had some narrow escapes during the retreat to El Alamein. On one occasion the whole unit nearly went into the bag' when its airfield was almost overrun by the swiftly-advancing Afrikakorps.

Pulled back for rest and conversion to Hurricane Mk I Is in August 1942, the squadron returned to operations in time for the Battle of El Alamein in October. Now the Axis forces were retreating, and the squadron followed them up in the camera-equipped Spitfire MkVs it had received in February 1943. Then, at dawn on May 12,1943, its pilots could find no more sign of enemy movement; the North African campaign was over. It had been a long, hard-fought struggle, and No. 40 Squadron was commended for its exceptional work. There was little rest for the 'tac H' merchants of No. 40 Squadron, however. In June two flights were posted to Malta in preparation for the invasion of Sicily; on July 10, the day of the invasion, the squadron set a unit record for sorties flown that was not surpassed in all the remaining years of war.

On July 13 the squadron began operating an advanced detachment from a landing-ground in Sicily, the first Allied tactical reconnaissance unit to operate from Italian soil. By August the squadron was flying photo-reconnaissance missions for the impending invasion of Italy, and by way of variation also spent a day spotting naval gunfire for two British battleships which were engaging coastal targets. In September 1943, the invasion having taken place, the squadron sent a flight to operate from Italian soil (the rest of the unit following soon after), flying tactical and armed reconnaissance sorties in support of both the British and United States armies at such major clashes as the battle for Anzio and the fighting along the Gustav and Gothic Lines.

September was also the month in which the squadron received Spitfire Mk lXs - a far cry from the desperate days in the desert when it had had to make do with slow Hurricanes and Tomahawks. In December 1944 a detachment of the squadron was temporarily diverted to operate against communist ELAS terrorists in Greece, during the unrest which followed that country's liberation from German forces. By now the war in Europe was drawing to a close, but there was still a great deal of work for No.40 Squadron, and during March and April 1945 it recorded its busiest time ever, flying 283 missions (a total of 563 sorties). Following the German surrender in early 1945, the only unit of the once-formidable Desert Air Force which continued to operate was No. 40 Squadron. It flew 'tac H' missions till all enemy troop movement had ceased, and is thought to be the last Italian-based Allied unit to come under fire. From Italy the squadron was sent to Austria to patrol the Yugoslav border when the victorious Tito's attitude towards his former Western allies hardened. The squadron also carried out photo-survey duties, and after moving to Klagenfurt in September 1945, played host to four RAF photo-reconnaissance Spitfire PR Mk XIs on temporary secondment.

September was also the month in which the squadron received Spitfire Mk lXs - a far cry from the desperate days in the desert when it had had to make do with slow Hurricanes and Tomahawks. In December 1944 a detachment of the squadron was temporarily diverted to operate against communist ELAS terrorists in Greece, during the unrest which followed that country's liberation from German forces. By now the war in Europe was drawing to a close, but there was still a great deal of work for No.40 Squadron, and during March and April 1945 it recorded its busiest time ever, flying 283 missions (a total of 563 sorties). Following the German surrender in early 1945, the only unit of the once-formidable Desert Air Force which continued to operate was No. 40 Squadron. It flew 'tac H' missions till all enemy troop movement had ceased, and is thought to be the last Italian-based Allied unit to come under fire. From Italy the squadron was sent to Austria to patrol the Yugoslav border when the victorious Tito's attitude towards his former Western allies hardened. The squadron also carried out photo-survey duties, and after moving to Klagenfurt in September 1945, played host to four RAF photo-reconnaissance Spitfire PR Mk XIs on temporary secondment.

The unit as a Citizen Force sqdn received 'Imapala' Mk1 aircraft in 1982. The sqdn closed down during March 1985 at AFB Waterkloof. All MkIs were transferred to 4 Sqdn.

• Info from Aircraft of the SAAF, H. Potgieter, W. Steenkamp
• Additional A. Dyason.