I believe Germany also needs reconciling with the rest of the world after what Adolf Hitler did, but; I am not aware of a day given for this purpose. There are few countries that have a similar holiday, it is not alike Thanksgiving or day of reunification it is a day to reconcile our differences. It is a plea for justice, peace and non-racialism, and perhaps can include non-sexist and why not even include anti-namism.
The rainbow with its separate unique colours are at the same time unique and separate but part of one rainbow, which is why South Africa became known as the Rainbow nation. Part of celebrating reconciliation is to remember the incredible men and women who fought and risked their lives to fight against Apartheid, one such man was Adolph Malan who was not only Anti-Apartheid but an ace pilot in the Royal Air Force and fought in the Battle of Britain.
Adolph was a good-looking boy but only did average academically. When he was 14, he dreamed of joining the navy and thus boarded the ship Botha to receive his training. He recalled of his time in the navy as one of much bullying an hazing from senior officers. After his training, he spent a few years on the sea and much of his time was in port in New York. When he visited home in the 1930s, his family commented on his American accent and his new friend - his tobacco pipe.
Adolph did not like the system of the navy saying there was a lack of human relations between officers and cadets. He left the navy and tried to join the Airforce, technically he was too old but, his experience in the Navy might serve useful for the airforce. He was not a good pilot at first but at least a fantastic shot.
When Adolph joined the RAF they nicknamed him ‘Admiral’ because of his time in the navy, however, later a royal navy officer heard of the nickname and ‘reduced’ his nickname to Sailor, which stuck for the rest of his career.
A large part of why Adolph was such a great Ace was the 10 rules he created for himself of being a fighter pilot, many others adopted these rules and it was often posted on the walls of many aerodromes.
- Wait until you see the whites of his eyes. Fire short bursts of one to two seconds only when your sights are definitely "ON".
- Whilst shooting think of nothing else, brace the whole of your body: have both hands on the stick: concentrate on your ring sight.
- Always keep a sharp lookout. "Keep your finger out".
- Height gives you the initiative.
- Always turn and face the attack.
- Make your decisions promptly. It is better to act quickly even though your tactics are not the best.
- Never fly straight and level for more than 30 seconds in the combat area.
- When diving to attack always leave a proportion of your formation above to act as a top guard.
- INITIATIVE, AGGRESSION, AIR DISCIPLINE, and TEAMWORK are words that MEAN something in Air Fighting.
- Go in quickly – Punch hard – Get out!
A 1969 film on the Battle of Britain has actor Robert Shaw playing a character loosely based on Adolph Malan.
Adolph continued to fight against injustices when world war II was over. He joined politics in South Africa to fight against the National Party which he saw as fascistic, he spoke against the National party that suggested a new form of governance through Apartheid. He became the leader of a group known as the Torch Commandos which at one stage had 250,000 members, they gathered at night with torch lights to rally against Apartheid. Adolph hoped to pilot the people of South Africa away from the Nationalist party. Again Adolph went up against his namesake, but this time not against another Adolph but against another Malan. D.F. Malan head of the Nationalist Party and a distant cousin. Adolph Malan wrote to a friend after the 1948 victory of the Nationalist Party that
“South Africa was now in danger of ‘losing its ticket’ to remaining in the company of the civilised nations of our world, the ‘humane’ world of ‘decent values’ that had prevailed in 1945.”
Adolph the ‘Sailor’ appealed to address poverty in black communities and thought it would be more beneficial to deal with economic empowerment rather than political power. This is a turn South Africa has only recently focused on 50 years after Adolph’s suggestions. Adolph and the Torch Commando’s hoped to sway the vote of South Africans against the Nationalist party which strongly resembled Nazi ideology. With nearly 200,000 war veterans part of the Torch Commandos they hoped to stop the Nationalist Party. The Torch Commandos had many members within the military and armed forces, but, the Nationalist Party made it difficult for them to keep their jobs and support the Torch commandos. Adolph and his Torch Commandos lead the first protests against the Nationalist Government. The Torch Commandos were publicly against the government with their banners and stickers stating “this government must go”.
Towards the end of the 'sailors’ life, Adolph had Parkinson’s disease which may have resulted from PTSD and his time as a fighter pilot. On the 17th of September 1963, Adolph died. The Nationalist government dropped the pilot in that they did not allow for a military funeral, and the government did not allow Adolph’s military friends to wear their uniform. The obituary left out the fact that he was the leader of the Torch Commando's, fearing Afrikaner youth will see him as a role model and follow in his anti-apartheid thinking.
While Adolph killed people as a fighter pilot he did so as part of his duty as a pilot, and not only did he save Britain but by fighting a longside other nations, brought amout unity. Unfortunately, the South Africa that he loved left the commonwealth during Apartheid, but, rejoined the moment apartheid was over. Adolph was known not only as a handsome man but an honest man that did not give in to bullying of others. His colleagues only had good things to say of him and is a man that deserves to be remembered for the Battle of Britain and for his vehement fighting against Apartheid.
A Spitfire airplane since Adolph was an Ace pilot. The instructional video is in the link and in honour of his nicname "Sailor" a floating ship
https://samilhistory.com/2017/07/30/the-torch-commando-led-south-africas-first-mass-anti-apartheid-protests-not-the-anc/
https://samilhistory.com/tag/torch-commando/
https://samilhistory.com/2016/11/06/sailor-malan-ww2-fighter-ace-anti-apartheid-freedom-fighter/
Books
- 'Sailor’ Malan: Battle Of Britain Legend: Adolph G. Malan by Philip Kaplan
- Imperial War Museum 10 rules for air fighting
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWlVHrTvqes
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DuBf5z2gLb4