Obituary – Captain John Swanepoel 13 February 1924 – 18 September 2017
John Swanepoel was born in Ladysmith and matriculated in 1941
‘OOM John’, as he was affectionately known in the Melmoth area, was passionate about flying, which he mastered at a young age.
John Swanepoel was born in Ladysmith and matriculated in 1941.
After school, he joined the SAAF and had to sweet-talk his way in as he was only 17 years old.
He was selected for pilot training at 1 Air School at Baragwanath.
He went solo after only eight hours in the Tiger Moth; the norm today is 20-25 hours.
After he acquired his wings, he was appointed as an instructor for the next 12 months .
He was then posted to Egypt and then to Italy to serve with 7 Airwing SAAF in the Italian Campaign.
Flying the Spitfire Mk IX he was shot down in Northern Italy in May 1944 and was taken as prisoner-of-war, spending the next 12 months in Poland.
They were liberated by the American forces in May 1945.
After the war, Oom John met Heather Doig and they were soon married.
They had a son, Clive who now resides in America.
In 1951 he joined 2 Squadron and flew Mustangs in the Korean War.
He was decorated with the Distinguished Flying Cross (USA) for his achievements.
Other decorations included the South African Korea Medal, 1939-45 Star, Italy Star, 1939-45 War Medal, Africa Service Medal, Air Medal (USA), United Nations Korea Medal and the South Korea Service Medal.
Civilian life
After resigning from the SAAF, he flew in the Belgian Congo for a few years before moving to Brussels to join Sabena Airlines where he flew the new Boeing 747.
After 20 years, Heather and John had had enough of Europe and they returned to South Africa and moved to a dairy farm in the Mooi River disrict.
While there, he was the chairman of the Mooi River Farmers Association for many years.
Heather passed away in 1996 and Oom John’s life became meaningless and empty.
He then met Mona Smith and shortly thereafter, they were married for four wonderful years before Mona’s death in 2004.
The Smith / Harris family, especially Victor en Mariette, looked after him, for which he was always very grateful.
The love between Victor en Mariette’s children and Oom John was always to see.
Oom John is survived by six sons, 22 grand children and 23 great grand children.
How would one remember Oom John?
He was always a grateful and humble person, a committed Christian and a thorough gentleman.
