ZS-AGJ  Junkers Ju 86                                                   (c/n   ???)

                                 

                                     South Africa always had a very pro-German slant towards its fleet, pre WW II.   Note only did
                                     South African Airways fly a dozen or so Ju 86s (one of the largest civil fleets of these machines)
                                     but the South African Air Force (which never had a "Royal" appendage) also had a squadron
                                     (18) of the bomber version of this rather graceful machine.  ZS-AGJ seen above, which carried
                                     the name "General David Baird" went to the SAAF's 15th Sqn in 1940. 
                                     * Even in the period when I was in South Africa (1948/49) the country was not particularly
                                     pro-Commonwealth.  As interchange Air Cadets we were told (warned, might be a better
                                     word) to be especially alert to South African officers, insofar as failing to salute them, would,
                                     we were assured, lead to a major international incident!.  Well, maybe not that bad, but they
                                     were, in today's vernacular, definitely "up-tight" about it.