Sailor Malan: Freedom Fighter! 

I'm South African/British dial citizen, and you're right, Sailor Malan hasn't been given the recognition he deserves in the country of his birth. I admire him particularly for his stance against apartheid. He fought against fascism in the air, and after the war in the country of his birth. He stands out because he was an ace, but he wasn't the only Afrikaner to volunteer, there were many. I had the privilege of knowing Topper van der Spuy, a SAF Spitfire pilot who saw action in North Africa, and in the Korean war. Topper (his call sign) was an Afrikaner who hailed from the Marico district, and was a character who, if you had met, would never forget. He could easily have stepped straight out of a Herman Charles Bosman novel, a writer who made the Marico district famous in South Africa. The Afrikaner has a complex history with Britain. The primary school I attended was sited over a former British concentration camp which incarcerated Boer women and children, and had an adjacent memorial for those who had perished in the camp. It's a memory that's hard to shake and with strong emotions. In my mothers childhood the local cinema was a site of conflict, where fights caused by who would, and would't stand at the playing of God save the King, were routine. It was more temperate when I was a child, I had friends who were direct descendants of camp survivors, and they would still remind me of it from time to time. My own family carries some of this complex history with them. My mother grew up in the house where the Treaty of Vereeniging was negotiated (the treaty that formally ended the Boer War). The house sadly no longer exists. My uncle, my mothers oldest brother, lied about his age to volunteer for the war. He was bomber crew in SAF 21 Squadron, and a casualty of the war. His resting place is in the commonwealth cemetery in Anzio. The age on his headstone is 19, but he was a year younger. His rank is noted as WO 2nd class. Thank you for keeping Gysbert Malan's memory alive. He deserves to be remembered for the hero that he was.

I'm a 76 year old white South African who, having been fascinated by aircraft, particularly WW2 aircraft since my very early years, has been aware of this great man's contribution to the war effort and to the up-ending of apartheid in this country. Thanks for your much appreciated work in unearthing the truth about this good man.

Thank you Dilip for helping to bring the great man's story to a wider public.

I am a 77 year lady, also grew up with the stories of this wonderful man, also stories of Victor Smith... Wings over Africa. Which inspired me to get my ppl Thank you for this

Another fantastic narration of a great man, thank you Dilip. I did a drawing of sailor a while back that was seen by his family on-line and I discovered that his grandson and his family live only 1km away from where I now live. Your book is a fitting tribute to a remarkable man who as you have said yourself has been mostly forgotten by the country of his birth.

My father was one of the many South African servicemen who had fought against the Nazis only to find that they had taken over his country in the stolen election of 1948 when most of the electorate had voted against their apartheid policy. Like many others he was part of the Torch Commando, the first anti-apartheid mass movement. Sailor Malan was a hero who deserves to be honoured.

I always wondered what became of Malan after the war, but this is the first time that I've found anyone talking about that. Very interesting material that enhances our understanding of the man he was. If only we had more like him in our current era. Thank you!

Hello Dilip. As a non-South African born living through the final years of apartheid I have to say that you needed to live there to understand that what replaced that system is definitely not better. It does depend on your race as to how the past is viewed, but the state of things there now is shameful. On another note I became a close friend of Sqn Ldr Dennis Adams of 611 and 41 squadrons in his final years and was his guest at BP on 15th September 1990 where I was fortunate enough to actually speak to Her Majesty as she walked among the veterans in the forecourt. Dennis also introduced me to Gerald Stapleton at the Kloof Country Club Durban, the occasion being the signing of local artist Tiro Vorster’s print of the “Sailor” in action. This print was signed by all five Bof B veterans living in South Africa at the time. Loved hearing Dennis’ stories but feel I still did not ask enough questions.

I'm a 75 year old white South African male. I grew up with the stories of Sailor Malan and other South African WW2 heroes. Two of my uncle's as well as my wife's father served with the South African forces in North Africa. Many of the men in my parents' circle of friends and acquaintances. When I as a war veteran be involved in veterans organisations met and became friends with some old WW2 vets Listening to them sharing their experiences was an honour and important education. The last WW2 vet in my circle of friends passed away 5 yearsago

Please come to the Port Elizabeth airforce museum where there are many cabinets dedicated to Sailor.

Thank you Dilip. Very interesting. Highly appreciated.

I am a 60 yr old Afrikaner and I knew about Sailor Malan - my parents told me about him and I looked for books and anecdotes about him everywhere - it is true that he was vilified but as a Boer, I loved his tale. I was not brought up in a racist home. In fact, the first time I really became aware of apartheid was when I left school .... We grew up in a very sheltered environment. Now, 30 years after apartheid and with the majority of South Africans not having lived through it, its quite astonishing how it is still thrown in our faces. Imagine discriminatory laws against 9% of your population? I still love South Africa and its people though and wouldn't want to live anywhere else.

Excellent you have done this. I was very much aware of his antiapartheid stance through someone I know who knew him in the fifties. I look forward to reading your book. In the pic that you showed of Sailer speaking to the black audience … the man down in front of him looks very much like that other BofB veteran Stapleton … sorry i cant remember his first name but he was South African and always wore that magnificent handlebar moustache

what a watch,totally wonderful

Fantastic as always Dilip.

Finally!! Thank you!😊

Great piece as usual.

Greetings from South Africa. I am a 66 year old Afrikaner. Supposedly "white", but really of mixed ancestry. Some Khoi and slave DNA, like most Afrikaners. Only have a 334 year ancestral history in South Africa. Now treated as a visitor.

This man is my hero, always has been and always will be. I feel ashamed about how our stupid government treated this man and his history. That book looks great. Will it be available in South Africa?

excellent clip THANK YOU STACKS‼️ 👊🔥 🪖

He died quite young 53 Wonder what he would think of south africa now!

Sailor had a big farm outside of Kimberley in 1950s ZAR

It was said in the ww2 that Malan was the Kings favourite Afrikaner.

Hi Dilip, Jonathan was sort of my uncle and my son is named after him. how can we get in contact? Kind regards Louw

As a 54 year old white South African, I struggled to find Sailors story here in SA. As a kid I read about his exploits during the war, and then he seemed to disappear. The National Party came to power in 1948 bearing a right-wing message of intolerance like their hero, Hitler. The narrative became that ONLY the afrikaaner fought against the Khakis, or English. Yet looking at the concentration camp gravestones you find German, Norwegian, Dutch, English, Scottish, Irish, American, Russian, and Jewish names amongst other European nations alongside Boer names. The ANC did the same with their black African whitewash, ignoring the real reason they won: Western support for sanctions against Apartheid. What embarrassed the ANC even more, was that WHITES protested Apartheid by marching a year before they did! 10 000 white WWII veterans and their families, totalling over 70 000 whites, marched with the Torch Commando. I only found this out years after Apartheid ended in 1994 FROM FOREIGN sources! The NP hated that an Afrikaaner stood against them, and the ANC won't honour him because he's not black! Both political parties forgot that we stand on the shoulders of giants! Well, we've moved from Apartheid to Black hate, but I doubt Europe is ever going to sanction SA for that. (They're scared of being called racist.) Roger Bushell was also South African, and got written out of history too in the epic movie, The Great Escape... in fact a lot of South Africa's pre-Apartheid history was summarily dismissed by Western historians after Apartheid became THE cause to hate. Had someone thought ahead and spread the story of Sailor Malan's anti-Apartheid activism amongst our English-speaking tribe, I would NOT have served in the South African Defence Force under Apartheid. So the West is complicit in ignoring Sailor Malan too.