South Africa SAAF Musterings in Afrikaans *** (Are there no Afrikaaners to answer ?)

[jamyam]

Until 2003, most aircrew brevets were available in a bilingual format. It seems as though only English abbreviations have been used since 2003. Two musterings with only a single abbreviation are EO and ET but I wonder if these, like Load Master / Laai Meester are the same in English & Afrikaans. Using a dictionary, which can be a very dangerous thing, I can get to:

 

Elektronika Operateur for the EO Electronics Operator or Electronics Warfare Operator (Elektronika Oorlogvoering Operateur). 

 

ET (Electronics Transmitter) first appeared in the 1993-2003 series of brevets but would seem to translate into Afrikaans as ‘Elektronika Sender’. Is there an alternative translation which would fit ET in both languages?

 

The EO has been replaced by EW (Electronics Warfare Operator) in the English-only series post-2003. FA (Flight Attendant) also appears as a new English-only brevet post-2003 (possibly translated as Vlug Hangende).

 

I would be grateful if an Afrikaans speaker could point out any errors in my crude guesses and supply the official SAAF Afrikaans titles for these musterings.

[jamyam]

Let me expand my post on the English/Afrikaans meanings of SAAF Aircrew brevets and then frame my question another way. My understanding is as follows, although I am always happy to learn and to be corrected:

Dual language brevets were first introduced in 1941 with:

AG / LK – Air Gunner / Lug Kanonier (Red initials in white wreath halfwing)

This was followed by:

RO / M – Radio Operator / Markonis (in 1942)

FE / B – Flight Engineer / Boord Tegnikus (post-war)

LF / AP – Lug Fotograaf / Air Photographer (post-war, interestingly with Afrikaans first & also ensigned by a crown)

A new series was introduced in 1961, which can roughly be described as white or gold lettering on a blue ground with white wreath and wing. There was an incredible variety of designs, shades and sizes, with the following additional abbreviations:

BS / AG - Boord Skutter / Air Gunner (which replaced AG / LK)

AH / LW – Air Hostess / Lug Waardin

C – Air Chef / Sjef (Interestingly, not C / S, although a C / S brevet was introduced in 1993)

LM – Load Master / Laai Meester

TI / TE – Toets Ingineer / Test Engineer

SO / TO – Sleep Teiken Operateur / Tow Operator

The EO brevet was introduced in 1988 for the Electronic Warfare Operator. My original question asked whether this could represent the dual language mustering of Electronic Warfare Operator / Elektronika Oorlogvoering Operateur – but this is only translated from a dictionary and may not be the official Afrikaans title for this mustering.

A further new series was introduced in 1993, with the background to the lettering within the wreath becoming increasingly oval and with the wide variety of designs and sizes continuing to flourish. Silver & Gold versions were also introduced to represent flying hours’ experience. The following additional abbreviation was used:

ET – Which is probably ‘Electronic Technician’ rather than ‘Electronic Transmitter’, as in my original post.

Everything changed again in 2002, with the introduction of bronze, silver and gold brevets for increasing length of flying hours. All brevets now became unilingual and the following two new abbreviations were introduced:

EW – Electronic Warfare Operator (Replacing EO)

FA – Flight Attendant

The following brevets were also issued: AG, AH, AP, C, ET, FE, LM, RO, TE & TT. These are all self-explanatory except TT, which represented Towed Target Operator.

The official SAAF website today lists the following aircrew musterings (in addition to Pilot, Reserve Force Pilot & Navigator): ET (Electronic Technician), EW (Electronic Warfare Operator), FE (Flight Engineer), LM (Loadmaster), RO (Radio Operator) & Flight Attendant – which is bizarrely illustrated with an AH brevet!

I hope that some readers may find this brief synopsis useful and it brings me back to my original question: Can anyone tell me the official Afrikaans title of the EO & ET musterings (because I believe that the initials are probably bilingual); and, just for interest, what is the Afrikaans for the Flight Attendant mustering?

[Chris Boonzaier]

Hi,

unfortunately I cannot help on these, but would love to see the different examples if you have them,

best,

chris

[NPGilbert]

Hi Jamyam

The EO stands for Elektroniese Oorlogvoering (Electronic Warfare) and the ET stands for Elektroniese Tegnikus (Electronic Technician).

Hope that helps.

Regards

Norman

[jamyam]

Hi Norman

Thank you very much indeed. That is exactly what I wanted to know.

Best wishes, John