By late 1940 it was obvious that the United Kingdom had won the Battle of Britain and the fear of a German invasion began to dissipate from British society. During that battle, the Royal Air Force (RAF) had kept some Curtiss Hawks 75 (taken from France) and some Mohawks (bought from the United States) in reserve "just in case". However, those fighters were no longer needed and were problematic because they required completely different equipment than the Hawker Hurricane and the Supermarine Spitfire fighters, which were the standard frontline fighter of the RAF back then, and, moreover, they were equipped with a radial engine, which was never popular in the RAF's Fighter Command, with the exception of the Gloster Gladiator.
Thanks to the defeat of the Luftwaffe, Great Britain's production capacity was increased and, although factories kept suffering bombardments, losing many aircraft each time, they were able to increase production output of fighters. At the same time, the Union of South Africa requested requested modern equipment and, since the RAF couldn't get rid of Hurricanes and Spitfires, it was decided to send the Mohawks to South Africa.
The SAAF was to receive 90 aircraft. The initial batch was shipped to Takoradi (Ghana), where a British assembly plant was located capable of assembling 200 aircraft of various type per month. From there they were then distributed to units in India, Sudan and Egypt. This batch was later complemented with another shipment which was initially sent to Aden and was diverted to South Africa.
The debut of the Mohawk IV with the SAAF was, to put it mildly, unsuccessful. The first four machines were assembled right after landing on 17th December 1940. Ground tests and component checks continued for another week and it wasn't until 27th December that the first aircraft, registered as AR673 was ready for its maiden flight. At the controls was Wing Commander A. Sweeney, of the RAF, who took off with any major problem. However those began when the fighter gained an altitude of 152 meter above sea level and the engine began to loose power, crashing the aircraft into the sea half a mile from the shore, killing its pilot.
After the accident the assembled aircraft were grounded and an investigation was carried on. It was quickly realized that Sweeney die because his aircraft had a French-style throttle opening and closing mechanism. The pilot had simply made a mistake, and the low altitude he was flying on, prevented him from correcting the error. The remaining aircraft were quickly re-inspected, and the needed modifications were made to those still equipped with French-inherited throttles. Other sources suggest a different cause for the accident, according to a commission set in June 1941 and led by J. Thomson and L. M. Townsend, the engine failure was due to a seizure.
Anyway, the oil systems in every Mohawk were replaced and, on 13th July they were cleared for flight.
However, the problems with the Wright Cyclone engines that the Mohawks were powered by, confirmed the opinions of the pilots and mechanics. Parts of the oil system were made with inappropriate materials and the engine itself was often short on lubricator, due to the insufficient oil flow to the cylinders. This lead to another decision made on 3rd October 1941 ground all Mohawks. Curtiss-Wright (the manufacturer company of the Mohawk) quickly manufactured new components, this time from more durable materials and sent them to their users together with a manual called "Do It Yourself: How to Repair a Factory-New Wright Engine", as a joke.
Additionally, the mechanics made additional holes in the oil ring to improve oil flow to the engine. This solution was never approved by Curtiss-Wright but it worked nonetheless.
After all those setbacks, the British revised the contract with the South African Government and the number of Mohawks were reduced to 70. By that date twenty Mohawks were landed in Mombasa and were transported to Nairobi, with twenty-four still on board the ship and twenty-six still waiting their turn in Great Britain for loading.
Additional 16 aircraft arrived in Nairobi between April and May 1941. Those 16 machines were not, however, part of the main order, as they were, most likely, part of a batch destined to Greece which couldn't arrive before its capitulation.
The Mohawks were employed by the SAAF's No. 3 Squadron which was committed to aerial support during the East African Campaign in mid-1941 and took place in the Battle of Gondar, which marked the end of that aforementioned campaign. Afterwards, they were employed to patrol the border with Vichy-held Djibouti.
The SAAF was greatly disappointed with the Mohawk, as was expressed in an official letter sent to the British Air Ministry. The RAF, however, did not want the aircraft back, not even as trainers, and stubbornly insisted on handling over the Mohawks still waiting transport in England.
After the East African Campaign, most were used by SAAF's home defence units and some training units, with the last of them surviving until 1945.
Sources:
1st AJ-Press - Monografie Lotnicze 61 - Curtiss P-36 Hawk Part 1 (translated)
2nd https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtiss_P-36_Hawk#British_Commonwealth
3rd https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3_Squadron_SAAF
4th https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/6_Squadron_SAAF
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