During World War II, many South Africans saw military service. The Union of South
Africa participated with other British Commonwealth forces in battles in North
Africa against Erwin Rommel and his Afrika Korps, and many South African
pilots joined the Royal Air Force and fought against the Axis powers in the
European theatre. Political choices at outbreak of war
On the eve of World War II, the Union of South Africa found itself in a unique
political and military quandary. While it was closely allied with Great
Britain, being a co-equal Dominion under the 1931 Statute of Westminster with its
head of state being the British king, the South African Prime Minister on 1
September 1939 was J.B.M. Hertzog – the leader of the pro-Afrikaner and
anti-British National Party. The National Party had joined in a unity
government with the pro-British South African Party of Jan Smuts in 1934 as
the United Party. Hertzog's problem was that South Africa
was constitutionally obligated to support Great Britain against Nazi
Germany. The Polish-British Common Defence Pact obligated Britain, and in
turn its dominions, to help Poland if attacked by the Nazis. When Adolf
Hitler's forces attacked Poland on 1 September 1939, Britain declared war on
Germany two days later. A short but furious debate unfolded in South Africa,
especially in the halls of power in the Parliament of South Africa. It pitted
those who sought to enter the war on Britain's side, led by Smuts, against
those who wanted to keep South Africa neutral, if not pro-Axis, led by
Hertzog. Declaration of war against the Axis
On 4 September, the United Party caucus refused to accept Hertzog's stance of
neutrality in World War II and deposed him in favor of Smuts. Upon becoming
Prime Minister, Smuts declared South Africa officially at war with Germany
and the Axis. He immediately set about fortifying South Africa against any
possible German sea invasion because of South Africa's global strategic
importance controlling the long sea route around the Cape of Good Hope.
John Vorster and other members of the pro-Nazi Ossewabrandwag strongly
objected to South Africa's participation in World War II and actively carried out
sabotage against Smuts' government. Smuts took severe action against the
Ossewabrandwag movement and jailed its leaders, including Vorster, for the
duration of the war. Field Marshal and Prime Minister Smuts
Field Marshal Jan Smuts was the only important non-British general whose
advice was constantly sought by Britain's war-time Prime Minister
Winston Churchill. Smuts was invited to the Imperial War Cabinet in 1939 as the
most senior South African in favour of war. On 28 May 1941, Smuts was appointed
a Field Marshal of the British Army, becoming the first South African to hold
that rank. Ultimately, Smuts would pay a steep political price for his closeness
to the British establishment, to the King, and to Churchill which had made
Smuts very unpopular amongst the Afrikaners, leading to his eventual
downfall. Manpower
With the declaration of war in September 1939, the South African Army numbered
only 5,353 regulars, with an additional 14,631 men of the Active Citizen Force
which gave peace time training to volunteers and in time of war would form
the main body of the army. Pre-war plans did not anticipate that the army would
fight outside southern Africa and it was trained and equipped only for bush
warfare. One of the problems to continuously face
South Africa during the war was the shortage of available men. Due to its
race policies it would only consider arming men of European descent which
limited the available pool of men aged between 20 and 40 to around 320,000. In
addition the declaration of war on Germany had the support of only a narrow
majority in the South African parliament and was far from universally popular.
Indeed, there was a significant minority actively opposed to the war and under
these conditions conscription was never an option. The expansion of the army and
its deployment overseas depended entirely on volunteers.
Given the country's attitudes to race, it is not surprising that the enlistment
of fighting troops from the much larger black population was hardly considered.
Instead, in an attempt to free up as many whites as possible for the fighting
and technical arms, a number of corps were formed to provide drivers and
pioneers, drawn from the more acceptable Cape Coloured and Indian populations.
These were eventually amalgamated into the Cape Corps. A Native Military Corps,
manned by blacks, was also formed for pioneer and labouring tasks. For some of
their tasks, individuals were armed, mainly for self-protection and guard
duties, but they were never allowed to participate in actual combat against
Europeans. Military contributions and casualties in
World War II South Africa and its military forces
contributed in many theaters of war. South Africa's contribution consisted
mainly of supplying troops, airmen and material for the North African campaign
and the Italian Campaign as well as to Allied ships that docked at its crucial
ports adjoining the Atlantic Ocean and Indian Ocean that converge at the tip of
Southern Africa. Numerous volunteers also flew for the Royal Air Force.
The South African Army and Air Force played a major role in defeating the
Italian forces of Benito Mussolini during the 1940/1941 East African
Campaign. The converted Junkers Ju 86s of 12 Squadron, South African Air Force,
carried out the first bombing raid of the campaign on a concentration of tanks
at Moyale at 8am on 11 June 1940, mere hours after Italy's declaration of war.
Another important victory that the South Africans participated in was the
liberation of Malagasy from the control of the Vichy French who were allies of
the Nazis. British troops aided by South African soldiers, staged their attack
from South Africa, landing on the strategic island on 4 May 1942 to
preclude its seizure by the Japanese. The South African 1st Infantry Division
took part in several actions in North Africa in 1941 and 1942, including the
Battle of El Alamein, before being withdrawn to South Africa to be
re-constituted as an armoured division. The South African 2nd Infantry Division
also took part in a number of actions in North Africa during 1942, but on 21 June
1942 two complete infantry brigades of the division as well as most of the
supporting units were captured at the fall of Tobruk.
The South African 3rd Infantry Division never took an active part in any battles
but instead organised and trained the South African home defence forces,
performed garrison duties and supplied replacements for the South African 1st
Infantry Division and the South African 2nd Infantry Division. However, one of
this division's constituent brigades — 7 SA Motorised Brigade — did take part in
the invasion of Madagascar in 1942. The South African 6th Armoured Division
fought in numerous actions in Italy in 1944–1945.
The South African Air Force made a significant contribution to the air war
in East Africa, North Africa, Sicily, Italy, the Balkans and even as far east
as bombing missions aimed at the Romanian oilfields in Ploiești, supply
missions in support of the Warsaw uprising and reconnaissance missions
ahead of the Russian advances in the Lvov-Cracow area.
Numerous South African airmen also volunteered service to the RAF, some
serving with distinction. South Africa contributed to the war
effort against Japan, supplying men and manning ships in naval engagements
against the Japanese. Of the 334,000 men volunteered for
full-time service in the South African Army during the war, nearly 9,000 were
killed in action. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission
has records of 11,023 known South African war dead during World War II.
See also Military production during World War II
References