The Union Of South Africa And The Great War 1914 1918 Official History

The S African part in the Great War began with operations to secure objectives in German South West Africa, but these had to be hastily abandoned when armed rebellion broke out back home, led by General Beyers, De Wet and others involving some 11,500 pro-German rebels. The rebellion lasted five months from September 1914 to February 1915 when they surrendered to General Botha and his force of 30,000, two thirds of whom were of Dutch descent. With the rebellion over the S Africans resumed the campaign for the conquest of German SW Africa. As the official historian points out, whereas the other Dominions' efforts were more or less centralized - Canadian Corps, Australian Corps, New Zealand Division - the S African activities were directed into diiverse operations that bore little relations to each other, and this is reflected in the structure of this history which is divided into several parts. The first part covers the initial operations in German SW Africa and the rebellion at home. Part II deals with the resumed operations, after the rebellion, in SW Africa. Parts III and IV are concerned with the German East African campaign in which S African troops played a large part. Perhaps the best known of the S African forces of the Great War is the S African Infantry Brigade which operated first out of Egypt against the Senussi tribesmen (Part V) and then on the Western Front (Part VI) where they earned the reputation of being among the finest troops in the BEF, and their action in Delville Wood during the Somme offensive is legendary. This Part VI takes up the main part of the book coverering almost one hundred pages. But they weren't the only S African troops in France. Five siege batteries, 71st to 75th each equipped with 6" Howitzers, arrived in France in April 1916 followed by a sixth (125th Battery) in July, but it wasn't till January 1918 that they were brought together forming two Heavy Artillery Groups, 44th and 50th. In Part VII the doings of each battery are treated separately. Also covered in this Part is a divisional signal company which became XV Corps Signal Company, the S African Medical Services in France, two railway companies and eight horse transport companies manned by Cape Coloured drivers. The final part, Part VIII, is given over to administration. The book concludes with the list of S African VCs with their citations, and the casualty (deaths) figures, shown by unit; they amounted to 12,452 of whom 8,551were combat troops. In all 220,196 S Africans served of whom 92,837 were Cape Coloured and S African Native personnel of the Labour Battalion and Corps.

First published in 1924 by the Army General Staff as an official history for South African participation in World War I, this account covers all of the South African campaigns. There are chapters on German South-West Africa, the two phases of the German EAst African campaign, the South African infantry brigade in Egypt and the South African forces in France. There are also appendices with details on South Africans who won the Victorian Cross and a listing of casualties by unit.

The Great War of 1914-18 was a conflict which engulfed the whole world, directly or indirectly. It was an imperialist world war that tugged the new Union of South Africa and its people into a series of separate but connected conflicts - from the domestic Afrikaner Rebellion on the highveld, through the sands of German South West Africa, the steamy bush of German East Africa, and on to the mud and blood of France and Flanders. This book is the first general study of the complex ways in which South Africans experienced the impact of the First World War, and responded to its demands, burdens and opportunities. Told with his customary narrative energy and ironic style, Bill Nasson's new history is a lively account not only of how South Africa fought the war, but also of the miscalculations and illusions that surrounded its involvement, and of how South African society came to imagine and remember that great and terrible conflict.

Contains original material on an under-researched period in British and South African history. An unusual approach - writing colonial history from the perspective of all the countries involved, this work sheds new light on greater historical processes of British and German rivalry in Africa and the development of an independent South Africa. The East African campaign has held little place in national memory - for Britain, it has been a 'romantic' side-show whilst for South Africa, a reminder of its failure to unite the two dominant white races and acquire the port of Delagoa Bay in Portuguese East Africa. Using new material gained from original research, Anne Samson reassesses the importance of the campaign to the young South African dominion in attempting to prove its coming of age and pursue its imperial desires. "Britain, South Africa and the East African Campaign" is a comprehensive study from multiple perspectives of the key players that will illuminate this under-researched period in colonial history.

The story of a century of conflict and change—from the Second Boer War to the anti-apartheid movement and the many battles in between. Twentieth-century South Africa saw continuous, often rapid, and fundamental socioeconomic and political change. The century started with a brief but total war. Less than ten years later, Britain brought the conquered Boer republics and the Cape and Natal colonies together into the Union of South Africa. The Union Defence Force, later the SADF, was deployed during most of the major wars of the century, as well as a number of internal and regional struggles: the two world wars, Korea, uprising and rebellion on the part of Afrikaner and black nationalists, and industrial unrest. The century ended as it started, with another war. This was a flash point of the Cold War, which embraced more than just the subcontinent and lasted a long thirty years. The outcome included the final withdrawal of foreign troops from southern Africa, the withdrawal of South African forces from Angola and Namibia, and the transfer of political power away from a white elite to a broad-based democracy. This book is the first study of the South African armed forces as an institution and of the complex roles that these forces played in the wars, rebellions, uprisings, and protests of the period. It deals in the first instance with the evolution of South African defense policy, the development of the armed forces, and the people who served in and commanded them. It also places the narrative within the broader national past, to produce a fascinating study of a century in which South Africa was uniquely embroiled in three total wars.