Namibia Article

The Namibian Campaign (1914 - 1915). In French and English (available at Amazon: 5 euros).

Please note that I am not English speaking (I am French). I tried to translate this website to make it understandable to a non-French speaking audience. I present, in advance, my apologies for the many  errors in the English language. Thank you not to hesitate to report them to me in order to improve.

This article is available online (for free) on my website. If you wish to support my research, it is also available in paper format on Amazon (5 euros), bilingual French / English version.

The article contains about 20 pages of text and a large dozen of photographs, partly from the SAAF Museum and the Scientific Society.
Swakopmund.

While the Namibia Campaign (or Deutsch-Südwestafrika) appears to be an anecdotal event of the First World War (both air and land), it is one of the few examples of the use of aviation in Africa during that conflict and helps to illustrate the difficulties faced by airmen in this hostile environment. While the Germans were relatively active, making intensive use of their two aircraft during most of the Campaign through genuine maintenance feats, the South Africans were not absent as a result of this German experience, and they made sure to reactivate the South African Aviation Corps. The impact of the latter remains, however, of the most minor since the aircraft only arrive in the last few months, while technical problems prevent the use of more than two aircraft (Henry Farman HF.27) at the same time.
The study of the Namibia Campaign also highlights the political reflections of Greater South Africa emerging under the leadership of Prime Minister Louis Botha and his deputy Jan Smuts.

 

A Few Pages

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