Yes, I read it. But he was referring to British guns, not to those definitely sent to what was then the Union of South Africa. He left open the question of SA five-inchers.

I vaguely recall us posting about this before, here or on Gunboards. If so, I've forgotten what he said.

Maybe he'll see this and clarify. I just don't see how they got around accepting five-inchers after April, 1942. Seems unlikely that they'd already have as many .38's as they'd need for the rest of the war. I think their troops fought in Italy as well as in North Africa and against the Italians in NE Africa. There was also a separate SAAF, independent of the RAF. (The famous fighter pilot "Sailor" Malan was South African, but served in the RAF. The top Allied pilot other than Soviet was Marmaduke St.John Pattle, if I have his last name right. He was South African, and had about 50 kills when he was fatally shot down while covering the British withdrawal from Greece. He flew a Hurricane at the time. Thought that might be of interest. No idea if he carried a S&W. Malan owned a Webley WG, but it was a family heirloom and may well not have been his service revolver. I hope this isn't too far off topic. Thought some might care.)

South African Air Force pilots also supported us in Korea. They flew F-51's and F-86's. But I don't think they sent ground troops.