15 Squadron
	Motto:	Aquila Petit Ardua.
	Meaning:	The eagle seeks the heights.

The only Sqdn based at Durban.

The only Sqdn which operates the Bk117.

The pilots of No. 15 Squadron can claim a history as `Jacks of all trades', for in their time they have done everything - from bombing a U-boat to rescuing ailing crocodiles and suppressing a naval mutiny.

June 1,1941 saw No. 15 Squadron, its identity regained, sent to Italian East Africa, where on June 1 it absorbed the surviving personnel and equipment of No. 11 Squadron during the Omo River battle and proceeded to carry on with that unit's operations. The Fairey Battles inherited from No. 11 Squadron were worn out by many months of action, and serviceability was low. Nevertheless, the squadron continued to operate until its last sortie had been flown on August 15, 1941, and it was ordered back to Pretoria, where by October it had begun conversion training to Maryland light bombers. February 1942 saw the squadron heading northwards for service again, first to Aden for a brief stay and then to Egypt, where it converted to Blenheim Mk IV bombers. In April a detachment of the squadron was stationed at the later-to-be-famous Kufra Oasis in the Western Desert for reconnaissance operations.., only to be involved in a tragedy that was all the most ghastly for being accidental. Three Blenheims flying on a mission in early May became lost over the featureless desert and eventually force-landed, only one man surviving.

In July 1942 the squadron was re-equipped with Blenheim Mk Vs (Bisleys), and on August 8 started shipping patrols from the unit's new base at Mariut (the Kufra detachment remained in situ until November, 1942, however). In their new role the squadron's Bisleys attacked German coastal communications on land and sea. On October 26, 1942, the squadron joined forces with RAF Beauforts and Beaufighters on a shipping strike against a vital Axis convoy steaming from German-held Tobruk with supplies for the Afrikakorps, which was then engaged in the Battle of El Alamein. Among the ships was the 9 000-ton tanker Proserpina, carrying desperately-needed fuel for the German forces. The Allied forces fell on the convoy, No. 15 Squadron losing  three of its Bisleys but seriously damaging the Proserpina, which was subsequently sunk by the RAP. Three of the squadron's pilots were later decorated with the DFC for their part in the attack. By January 1943 the squadron had moved to Cyprus to fly anti-submarine patrols, and on February 17 a No. 15 Squadron Bisley, while escorting a convoy near Apollon ¡a, witnessed a depth-charge attack by the Royal Navy destroyer HMS Paladin. The Paladin's efforts forced a Type VIIC submarine, U-205, to the surface, and it was promptly bombed by the Bisley. At this final blow the U-boat surrendered and was taken in tow by HMS Paladin, though the submarine sank six hours later. By May 1943 the squadron had extended its range of operations to include the Palestinian coast, and in July handed in its trusty Bisleys to be re-equipped with Baltimore lIlA light bombers. Thus equipped, it continued with its convoy escort duties, anti-submarine patrols and shipping reconnaissance missions. There were also occasional bombing raids against Crete and targets in the Aegean Sea, in the course of which small Baltimore formations engaged Luftwaffe fighters several times. These activities carried on well into 1944, by which time the Baltimore Mk IIIAs had made way for Mk Vs. April of that year saw the squadron engaged in the most unusual of all its wartime tasks - making dummy runs over a Greek cruiser at Port Said to quell disturbances among its ship's company.

In August 1944 the squadron moved to Italy for bombing operations in support of the 84th Army, but late in the year took part in some shipping sorties when again a number of missions were flown over the Balkans. No. 15 Squadron - equipped by now with Baltimore Mk Vs - stayed on in Italy for some months after the end of the war in Europe in May 1945. Many other wartime SAAF squadrons had been disbanded by now, and on August 15,1945 it was No. 15 Squadron's turn. While in transit for home, although still on Italian soil, the squadron was disbanded and was not seen again till 1968.

On February 19 that year it was re-formed at Swartkop air base near Pretoria, as a regular SAAF unit flying the newly-acquired Super Frelon, the air force's largest helicopter. Detachments of Super Frelons soon performed a range of tasks and duties in various parts of the country. In Pretoria in May 1968 two were used to lift air-raid sirens onto their mountings. Soon afterwards the squadron took part in Operation Sibasa, a large-scale military exercise in the northern Transvaal. In the years that followed, the squadron took part in other exercises and carried out flood-relief work in several areas. A distinctly unusual task fell to its lot in 1970, when one of  No. 15 Squadron's machines was used to rescue moribund crocodiles from St Lucia Lake on the Natal coast after the lake had become unduly saline - the strangest mission since its low-flying Baltimore Vs had dampened the ardour of the mutinous Greek sailors at Port Said.

After several years at Swartkop, the unit and it's Super Frelons were transferred to AFB Durban. The Super Frelons were retired in 1990, but the unit continued to operate Alouette IIIs and Pumas. In 1995, the Puma was replaced with the Oryx and the BK117 replaced the Alouette III. It is the only Sqdn that operate BK117. All Oryx helicopters of this unit is permanently fitted with flotation gear and saw service in the recent Mozambique floods. Due to budget cuts, it's the only unit that operate out of AFB Durban.