59, but the
required repairs were carried out in record time, in order to get the aircraft back into service. On 8 August 1963 the aircraft had been engaged in joint exercises with the RAF and was on a return flight to Cape
Town. In gusting winds and severe icing conditions down to 3,000ft (l,000m), 1718 struck high ground before crashing into the Wemmershoek mountain range outside the town of Worcester, some 60
mile (96km) east of its destination. The crash occurred about 25.8 km (16 miles from the nearest town, Worcester, in the Stettynskloof valley between Paarl and Stellenbosch.
All thirteen crew members were killed in the tragedy, that was hard to accept by the squadron for some time. The aircraft had made a total of 777 flying hours during the six years since its acceptance by the SAAF
On the other side of the coin, two years later 1722 took part in an impressive display of search and rescue. Eight Buccaneer S.50s were in loose formation on their delivery flight to the SAAF when one, SAAF No.419, had a flame-out in both engines at high altitude, about 500 miles (800km) south of the Canary Islands. The two crew members,Captains Jooste and de Kerk, ejected while Major A. M. Muller, who was leading the formation, relayed their position. 1722 was scrambled, and only a couple of hours into the mission picked up the 'blips' from the downed airmen's SARAH beacons.
Coloured flares were fired by both the Shackleton crew and the survivors in the Atlantic, to verify visual contact by all concerned.Another MRJ, 1721, was drafted into what was no longer a search, but a rescue
operation and two sets of Lindholme Gear were dropped to the Buccaneer crew.
The Dutch liner Randfontein was in the area and 1722 guided it to the rescue location, where a successful transfer from life raft to luxury was made. 1722, captained by Major Pat Conway, had flown nearly eighteen
hours on the AR mission, which had been undertaken as a text-book operation.
In 1971, the treacherous currents around the Cape of Good Hope claimed another victim. The 70,000 ton oil tanker Wafra ran aground on rocks off Cape Agulhas, the most southerly tip of the African continent.
With its 60,000-ton cargo of crude oil threatening to cause an ecological disaster for the area's wildlife, not to mention the renowned holiday resorts that were located around that part of the country, an ocean-going tug was called in to tow the stricken vessel off the rocks. Good seamanship by the tug's crew got the Wafra
clear of the reef with very little oil spillage and the tanker was towed some 200 miles (300km) out to sea. As the vessel was unsalvageable in her existing state and there was no chance of transferring her cargo to another tanker, the SAAF was briefed to sink her, with the added instruction that, if possible, the ship's internal structure was not to be ruptured, so that she could take her cargo with her when she sank.
No. 24 Squadron's Buccaneer S.50s, armed with a pair of Nord AS-30 air-to ground missiles under each wing, carried out two sorties against the vessel, under the guidance of No. 35 Squadron, but the tanker remained intact. Consequently,MR.3s were called into action and a salvo of depth charges dropped alongside the Wafra had the desired effect. She sank onto the Agulhas Plateau, 2,300ft (700m) below the turbulent meeting place of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans, complete with her crude oil.
At least two SAAF MRJs are known to have returned to the UK. 1719 arrived on 25 February 1963 for a six-week training exercise with Coastal Command and it arrived back at D. F Malan on 1 April. The
following year, 1722 touched down at BalIykelly on 28 June, for a four-week course at the JASS, returning to Cape Town on 30 July 1964.
After the loss of 1718, the seven surviving MR.3s were all progressively modified to Phase III standard by Hawker Siddeley CWPs, except that the Armstrong Siddeley Viper jet boost (JATO) engines was never installed in any of the South African aircraft. The bases used by No. 35 squadron were deemed to be large
enough to get even a fully laden MRJ ai