Ysterplaat Celebrates 70 Years
The SAAF Museum has opened a small exhibition to celebrate the 70th Anniversary of the formal inception of AFB Ysterplaat. The airbase situated close the city centre of Cape Town has been associated with aviation since 1915 when civilian pilots began using the grass airfield known as Brooklyn.

Although the South African Air Force's relationship with the airfield goes back to when the airforce started what was then known as the SAAF Diamond Mail Service in 1925, it was only in 1940 that the Government acquired the use of the surrounding land in order to enlarge the airfield. What was later to be known as AFB Ysterplaat was opened on 24 October 1941 in order to support the Air Depots whose job it was to assemble airframes for the war effort. Despite its small size, Ysterplaat has survived and grown into what is described as the airforce’s “Maritime Centre of Excellence”.

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