Darling, South Africa

The Darling Wind Farm is situated between Darling and the coastal town of Yzerfontein. It is operational with plans for expansion. The South African satirist Pieter Dirk Uys performs many of his shows as Evita Bezuidenhout at Evita se Perron, a cabaret venue and restaurant in Darling. The adjacent arts and crafts market has been taken over in 2006 by the Darling Trust, a charitable organisation which addresses the problems of impoverished communities in the area through the establishment of grassroots projects. In 1998 the first private school opened its doors in the Swartland area, Darling College, which is close to the entrance of the town on the Malmesbury side. In 2006, the city launched the Darling Music Experience with the aim to organise small concerts in a rural setting for both classical and more popular music. The festival offers chamber music, popular choir works and jazz. A young local composer is commissioned every year to write a piece for the festival.

By 1942, German U boat activity off the South African coast was at its peak. In an effort to provide greater security to the Naval convoys plying the sea route the South African Air Force hastily constructed or supplemented existing facilities at six additional airfields around the coast. The first SAAF flying unit to be based at Darling was 23 Squadron, arriving on the airfield at the beginning of 1943. From here the Ventura aircraft patrolled the western sea approaches to Cape Town at the height of the submarine menace. The unit was strengthened by the arrival of a Ventura detachment from 27 Squadron between February and April 1943. On 31 January 1944, construction began on an iron hangar at Darling to ease maintenance problems experienced in the hitherto basic conditions. Temporary buildings were hastily completed and lecture rooms were erected alongside administrative buildings. On 12 April 1944, Ventura 6457 of 27 Squadron crashed into Dassenberg near Darling shortly after taking off on a training flight, killing the crew of six. On 12 April 1988 the wreckage was discovered and airlifted off the hill for transport to the South African Air Force Museum

Use of Darling’s airfield gradually tapered off after the war as AFB Langebaanweg became the epicentre of SAAF operations on the West Coast.