SAAF Junkers Ju-86s

[AndyMa]

I've been looking at SAAF Junkers Ju86.
They received 18, all impressed from SAA. 17 were Ju86Z and one was Ju86K
Looking at the historical South African civil register file available from Air-Britain:
https://www.ab-ix.co.uk/pdfs/zs-aaa.pdf
I could extract:
641
642 (c/n 860953, ex ZS-AGE)
643 (c/n 860954, ex ZS-AGF)
644 (c/n 860955, ex ZS-AGG)
645 (c/n 860270, ex ZS-AGH)
646 (c/n 860275, ex ZS-AGI)
647 (c/n 860280, ex ZS-AGJ)
648 (c/n 860255, ex ZS-AJK)
649 (c/n 860301, ex ZS-AJL)
650 (c/n 860304, ex ZS-ALN)
651 (c/n 860321, ex ZS-ALV)
652
653 (c/n 860485, ex ZS-ANA) – c/n also quoted as 2017
654 (c/n 860486, ex ZS-ANB) – c/n also quoted as 2018
655 (c/n 860487, ex ZS-ANC) – c/n also quoted as 2019
656 (c/n 860488, ex ZS-AND) – c/n also quoted as 2020
657 (c/n 860489, ex ZS-ANE) – c/n also quoted as 2021
658 (c/n 860490, ex ZS-ANF) – c/n also quoted as 2022

However, two aircraft are listed as becoming 646, and there are no identities quoted for the aircraft that became 641 and 652.
These three aircraft (641, 646, 652) will have been:
646 (c/n 860065, ex ZS-ANI) – c/n also quoted as 2041
646 (c/n 860275, ex ZS-AGI)
unid (c/n 860320, ex ZS-AJE)
Another ZS-AJE (c/n 860258) was lost on delivery on 29Jul37
Does anyone know which was which please?

A couple of other queries arise:
a) According to the file, 3 were Ju86Z-3, 14 were Ju86Z-5 (plus the one lost on delivery), one was Ju86K-3.
However,
The South African Air Force
confuses the matter by listing 3 Ju86Z-1, 14 Ju-86Z-5, one Ju86K-1. It also gets more confusing when it states "They were designated Ju86 Z-3's, and had Rolls Royce Kestrel Engines. After the first five were manufactured, the engines on the rest were changed to Pratt & Whitney Hornets, and the designation changed to Ju86 Z-7."
The Junkers website at:
Junkers Ju86
says they were a mix of K-3, Z-3, Z-5, Z-7!
Does anyone know the correct version of these aircraft?

b) Several have "c/n also quoted as 20__" against them. What is the source/meaning of these 20__ series c/ns?


I've also been told that “Winged Springboks: 1934 to 1996” (Ivan Spring, 1998) has yet more contradictory information....


Thanks,
Andy

[Zoran Petek]

Hello,
Maybe this helps.
640 12 Sqn SAAF (from illustration, Weal&Weal)
641 12 Sqn SAAF, 1 Flight. Destroyed, Derba Tabor, 23.9.41.
642 16 Sqn SAAF, Ethiopia 1941.
643 12 Sqn SAAF 40. Later 16 Sqn SAAF, Ethiopia 41. Lost 14.6.41.
644 12 Sqn SAAF. Lost in accident, Mega, 6.12.40.
645 12 Sqn SAAF, 2 Flight. Lost in accident, Bridae (Red River Bridge), 16.9.41.
646 12 Sqn SAAF, 2 Flight.
647 12 Sqn SAAF, 1 Flight. Nairobi, Kisumu. Later lost in accident, Pakhuis Pass, 8.7.45.
648 12 Sqn SAAF, 1 Flight
649 12 Sqn SAAF, 1 Flight. Ethiopia.
650 12 Sqn SAAF.
651 12 Sqn SAAF, 2 Flight. Later lost in accident 6.7.45.
652 12 Sqn SAAF. Later 16 Sqn. Lost 7.5.41. Forced landing in enemy territory.
653 12 Sqn SAAF, 2 Flight. Ex ZS-ANA. Later lost in accident, Zanzibar, 31.8.40.
654 12 Sqn SAAF. Shot down by the ground fire, Yavello, 3.9.40.
655 12 Sqn SAAF. Ethiopia.
656 Not found yet in 12 Sqn records.
657 12 Sqn SAAF, 1 Flight. Ex ZS-ANE. Later lost in accident, Derba Stanleyville, 11.12.42.
658 12 Sqn SAAF 1940. Later 16 Sqn SAAF, Ethiopia 41. Crashed 7.10.41.

Regards,
Zoran

[Laurent Rizzotti]

AndyMa, just in case you don' know already, all files about SAAF in UK National Archives (AIR 54 category) are free to download (even before the COVID): they include war diaries of squadrons, but also of higher commands, and rear area units (schools, etc...) so you may find more about the Ju 86s

[AndyMa]

Thanks for the replies. I will see if I can find more in TNA.
It is quite surprising how poorly researched the Ju86 seems to be generally.