Department of Military History
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The "apostles of terror" : South Africa, the East African campaign, and the Battle of El Wak
(Historical Association of South Africa, 2018-11)Shortly after the outbreak of the Second World War, the Union Defence Force (UDF) had to undergo a rapid transformation from an ageing defence force to one that could project offensive power across Africa. The formation ... -
Rise and fall of Jacob Zuma
(Brazilian Centre for Strategy & International Relations, 2018)In May 2014 I suddenly received a telephone call from the South African Embassy in Moscow, then an official invitation signed by Jacob Zuma followed: he wanted me to be present at his second inauguration. Unfortunately I ... -
A manoeuvre warfare analysis of South Africa’s 1914-1915 German South West African campaign
(Stellenbosch University, Faculty of Military Science (Military Academy), 2017)The study reported in this article explored the nexus between military theory and history. Military theory attempts to quantify, qualify and illuminate the often unpredictable phenomenon of war. The article consists of two ... -
Airpower in the Union of South Africa's First World War campaign in German South West Africa
(Historical Association of South Africa, 2017)During the Great War, aircraft were used primarily for reconnaissance and artillery spotting. The Union of South Africa's First World War campaign in German South West Africa (GSWA) allowed for South Africa's first employment ... -
A clash of military doctrine : Brigadier-General Wilfrid Malleson and the South Africans at Salaita Hill, February 1916
(Historical Association of South Africa, 2017)Brigadier-General Wilfrid Malleson (1866–1946) received his commission into the Royal Artillery in 1886 and transferred to the Indian Army in 1904. He was relatively inexperienced in combat having served on the staff of ... -
When history no longer suffice : towards uniform rules for armed conflicts
(Stellenbosch University, Faculty of Military Science (Military Academy), 2017)The key instruments of International Humanitarian Law (IHL), the 1949 Geneva Conventions and the Additional Protocols of 1977, divides armed conflict into two legal categories: international armed conflicts (IAC) or ... -
Military Law practitioners and academic discourse : a Sine Qua Non for developing military law
(Stellenbosch University, Faculty of Military Science (Military Academy), 2017)There has been limited development in South African military law since the inception of the Union Defence Force in 1912. Military law has mainly evolved as a way to enforce discipline in a force consisting of mostly ... -
Deneys Reitz and the First World War : an Introduction to the Department of Defence Archival Holdings
(Stellenbosch University, Faculty of Military Science (Military Academy), 2016)The historical sources detailing South Africa’s participation in the First World War are vast, and range from official publications to regimental histories, private diaries and first-hand accounts. The Department of Defence ... -
A critical analysis of the impact of water on the South African campaign in German South West Africa, 1914-1915
(Historical Association of South Africa, 2016)The South African campaign in German South West Africa (GSWA) during the First World War depended largely on the access, availability and control of all water sources in the operational area. The Union Defence Force (UDF) ... -
South Africa and the Korean War, the politics of involvement
(Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Military Science (Military Academy), 2016)The Union of South Africa’s military involvement in the Korean War was an exercise in political maneuvering as opposed to one of any great military significance.[i] South Africa’s new right wing Nationalist Afrikaner ... -
Good hunting : German submarine offensives and South African countermeasures off the South African coast during the Second World War, 1942-1945
(Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Military Science (Military Academy), 2016)By the latter half of 1942, the High Command of the German U-boats (BdU) realised that the ‘sinking results’ of the North Atlantic had decreased immensely. The successes of the Allied anti-submarine operations in the North ... -
Recording the Great War : military archives and the South African official history programme, 1914-1939
(Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Military Science (Military Academy), 2016)The First World War marked a revolt against the traditional mode of official history as conceived and written by the General Staffs and taught at the Staff Colleges. After 1918, the publics in various countries, having ... -
South African propaganda agencies and the battle for public opinion during the Second World War, 1939–1945
(Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Military Science (Military Academy), 2016)South Africa’s entry into the Second World War in 1939 was complex. The Smuts government lacked nation-wide support and experienced hostile reactions from opponents of its war policy. It was also subjected to Nazi propaganda ... -
A cold relationship: United States foreign policy towards South Africa, 1960 – 1990
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2016-12)ENGLISH SUMMARY: The diplomatic relations between the United States (USA) and South Africa (SA) had its birth in 1799 with the establishing of a consulate in Cape Town. Over the next two centuries the political dealings ... -
South African defence in the age of total war, 1900–1940
(Historical Association of South Africa, 2015-05)Based largely on a study of official archives and private papers held in South Africa and the United Kingdom, this article sketches the political-strategic landscape on which the armed forces of South Africa operated between ... -
Managing morale on the battlefield : a psychological perspective
(Stellenbosch University, Faculty of Military Science (Military Academy), 2015)From historical writings to current day, morale has always been regarded as a major determinant of success on the battlefield. The management of morale is thus also important in the South African National Defence Force ... -
Battle on the Lomba, 1987 the day a South African armoured battalion shattred Angola’s last mechanised offensive : a crew commander’s account
(Stellenbosch University, Faculty of Military Science (Military Academy), 2015)Writing about the Namibian Border War and South African involvement in the Angolan Civil War is difficult. Many South Africans have been conscripted or willingly served in the military at the time and find it difficult to ... -
Two perspectives on the recent war in Iraq
(Stellenbosch University, Faculty of Military Science (Military Academy), 2015)The three books discussed here can all be classified as memoirs or even as auto-ethnographies. The two authors relate how they experienced the recent armed conflict in Iraq. The narratives of both authors include detailed ... -
Last night I dreamed of peace : an extraordinary diary of courage from the Vietnam War
(Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Military Science (Military Academy), 2014)Many people’s view about war and its impact was changed by a woman named Dang Thuy Tram. Her diaries, which she kept as a practicing medical doctor during the Vietnam War, were published some forty odd years after her ... -
Sidi Rezegh and Tobruk : two South African military disasters revisited 1941-1942
(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2014-12)ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Sidi Rezegh and Tobruk are the largest disasters suffered by South Africa in its military history. Yet, despite their enormity, Sidi Rezegh and Tobruk are little understood and hardly remembered. South ...
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