Talk:Bob Rogers (SAAF officer)

This is the talk page for discussing improvements to the Bob Rogers (SAAF officer) article.
This is not a forum for general discussion of the article's subject.

Put new text under old text. Click here to start a new topic.
New to Wikipedia? Welcome! Learn to edit; get help.

Article policies

Find sources: Google (books · news · scholar · free images · WP refs) · FENS · JSTOR · TWL

Biography: Military

	Biography portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject Biography, a collaborative effort to create, develop and organize Wikipedia's articles about people. All interested editors are invited to join the project and contribute to the discussion. For instructions on how to use this banner, please refer to the documentation.BiographyWikipedia:WikiProject BiographyTemplate:WikiProject Biographybiography articles
	This article is supported by the military biography work group (assessed as Low-importance).

Military history: Aviation / Biography / African / World War II / Cold War

This article is within the scope of the Military history WikiProject. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the project and see a list of open tasks. To use this banner, please see the full instructions.Military historyWikipedia:WikiProject Military historyTemplate:WikiProject Military historymilitary history articles

This article has been checked against the following criteria for B-class status:
Referencing and citation: criterion not met Coverage and accuracy: criterion not met Structure: criterion met Grammar and style: criterion met Supporting materials: criterion met

Associated task forces:
/
	Military aviation task force
	Military biography task force
	African military history task force
	World War II task force
	Cold War task force (c. 1945 – c. 1989)

South Africa: African military history

	South Africa portal This article is within the scope of WikiProject South Africa, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of South Africa on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.South AfricaWikipedia:WikiProject South AfricaTemplate:WikiProject South AfricaSouth Africa articles
???	This article has not yet received a rating on the project's importance scale.
	This article is supported by the African military history task force.

Merge from

FYI a large part of this article came from Bob Rogers (politician), which was a duplicate and I have tagged to be deleted Gbawden (talk) 13:30, 28 September 2012 (UTC)[reply]

External links modified

Hello fellow Wikipedians,

I have just modified one external link on Bob Rogers (SAAF officer). Please take a moment to review my edit. If you have any questions, or need the bot to ignore the links, or the page altogether, please visit this simple FaQ for additional information. I made the following changes:

Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20071013031347/http://18thfwa.org/statusReports/srpt20/page5.html to http://www.18thfwa.org/statusReports/srpt20/page5.html

When you have finished reviewing my changes, you may follow the instructions on the template below to fix any issues with the URLs.

This message was posted before February 2018. After February 2018, "External links modified" talk page sections are no longer generated or monitored by InternetArchiveBot. No special action is required regarding these talk page notices, other than regular verification using the archive tool instructions below. Editors have permission to delete these "External links modified" talk page sections if they want to de-clutter talk pages, but see the RfC before doing mass systematic removals. This message is updated dynamically through the template {{source check}} (last update: 5 June 2024).

If you have discovered URLs which were erroneously considered dead by the bot, you can report them with this tool.
If you found an error with any archives or the URLs themselves, you can fix them with this tool.

Cheers.—InternetArchiveBot (Report bug) 15:22, 22 July 2017 (UTC)[reply]

For reference

This was written recently and summarizes the history quite nicely. Placing it here because there are some elements that I feel could be incorporated into the article with references.

This is the most decorated South African in the SADF. If you want to meet another South African military legend whose medals alone speak volumes - this is Lieutenant-General Robert Harry Doherty Rogers SSA SM MMM DSO DFC & bar (1921-2000). Read on for his story and this incredible rack of medals.

“Bob Rogers” was a Chief of the South African Air Force. He joined the South African Air Force (SAAF) in 1940, and served in World War II, the Korean War and the Angolan/SWA Border War.

By October 1941, Rogers was assigned to 208 Squadron (RAF) in Egypt, where he flew Hurricanes and Spitfires in North Africa, Sicily, Italy and Austria. He was shot down near Benghazi in 1942, but managed to escape capture. In August 1942, despite having a finger shot off, he fought off four Luftwaffe ME 109s. By December 1943, he had been promoted to lieutenant-colonel and placed in command of 225 Squadron, RAF. For his services he was awarded a DSO and DFC and Bar. Even his father, who was a captain in the army, had to salute him – much to the delight of both men. Towards the end of WWII, General Rogers was put in charge of his old squadron, 40 Squadron SAAF.

After the war, Rogers accepted a permanent commission in the SAAF with the rank of captain, and served in various posts, including as a flight instructor and as Aide-de-Camp (ADC) to the Governor-General of the Union. Major Rogers (as he then was) served in the Korean War in 1951 and 1953 as a fighter bomber pilot, flying Mustangs and Sabres. He earned the American DFC, Air Medal with oak leaf cluster, and the Korean Chungmu Decoration.

He went on to hold various command and staff posts, including OC of 12 Squadron SAAF and 24 Squadron SAAF, and at the end of 1974 he was appointed Acting Chief of the Air Force. He was appointed Lieutenant-General in March 1975 when he was confirmed as Chief of the Air Force, the post he held until his retirement in 1979. He settled in Knysna and in 1989 he became the Democratic Party MP for Walmer, Port Elizabeth.

His decorations and medal list:

Star of South Africa (SSA) (South Africa) Southern Cross Medal (SM) (South Africa) Military Merit Medal (MMM) (South Africa) Korea Medal (South Africa) Pro Patria Medal (South Africa) Good Service Medal, Gold (30 Years - South Africa) Good Service Medal, Silver (20 Years - South Africa) Union Medal (South Africa) Distinguished Service Order (DSO) (WW2) Distinguished Flying Cross and Bar (DFC and Bar) (WW2) 1939–45 Star (WW2) Africa Star (WW2) Italy Star (WW2) War Medal 1939–1945 - Mentioned in Dispatches (WW2) Africa Service Medal (WW2) Distinguished Flying Cross (USA)* Air Medal Bronze with Oak Leaf Cluster (USA)* Order of Military Merit (Korea) (Chungmu cordon) with Gold Star United Nations Service Medal for Korea Korean War Service Medal Grand Star of Military Merit (Chile) Army PUC Presidential Unit Citation (USA)*

American awards issued to 2 SAAF Squadron members under their command in the Korean War.

Anyone with a military background will know that that list of decorations and medals is the sign of a truly exceptional human being.

Reference, wikipedia, image from the dust cover of his biography "Bob Rogers - his personal story as told by Roger Williams" - story for the South African Legion by Peter Dickens BoonDock (talk) 22:17, 9 November 2019 (UTC)[reply]