Tragedy at Kufra
| Kufra | |
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 Kufra
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| Coordinates: 24°11′N 23°17′E / 24.183°N 23.283°ECoordinates: 24°11′N 23°17′E / 24.183°N 23.283°E |
The Kufra tragedy occurred in May 1942 during World War II, when eleven of twelve South African aircrew flying in three Bristol Blenheim Mark IV aircraft of No. 15 Squadron of the South African Air Force died of thirst and exposure, after the flight became lost following a navigational error near the oasis of Kufra in Libya and made a forced landing in the Libyan Desert.
The South African Air Force's No. 15 Squadron – equipped with Bristol Blenheim Mark IV aircraft, a fighter version of the Blenheim bomber – departed South Africa in January 1942 for service in Egypt in support of Allied forces in the North African campaign of World War II. Arriving in Egypt in February 1942, it set up operations south of Amariya, near Alexandria. Only two men in the squadron – its commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel H. H. Borckenhagen and Captain J. L. V. de Wet – had experience in desert operations.
Higher command decided that the squadron would send a detachment of aircraft to the oasis at Kufra, deep in the Libyan Desert in southeastern Libya, where they were to support Allied ground forces garrisoning Kufra with aerial reconnaissance, air defence, and attacks on any approaching Axis forces in the squadron's first combat assignment in the campaign. On 8 April 1942, 47 ground staff departed for Kufra, making a journey by train, river steamer, and ground vehicle; they arrived on 25 April. The newly promoted Major de Wet, who was placed in command of the detachment, meanwhile flew to Kufra on 11 April to make final arrangements for the detachment's arrival.
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