Browsing by Author "Kleynhans, Evert Philippus "

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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) Kleynhans, Evert Philippus
    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 of the 1st South African Division (1st SA Div) during 1940, and the subsequent deployment of South African troops to the East African theatre, afforded the UDF the opportunity to test its military capabilities under operational conditions against the Italian threat in Ethiopia (then Abyssinia) and Somalia (then Italian Somaliland). It had been 21 years since the Union of South Africa was last in a state of war, and the UDF’s first battle in East Africa is a prime tool by which to measure concepts such as force design, military innovation and the operational employment of forces, to name but a few. The Battle of El Wak was not only the UDF’s initial battle in the East African campaign, but also South Africa’s first battle during the Second World War. By drawing from primary archival material and secondary sources, the article concludes that the Battle of El Wak had a definite impact on the entire South African campaign in East Africa.
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    Armoured warfare : the South African experience in East Africa 1940-1941
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2014-12) Kleynhans, Evert Philippus; Van der Waag, Ian J.; Esterhuyse, A. J.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Military Science. School for Security and Africa Studies: Military History.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Following South African entry into the Second World War on 6 September 1939, the Union Defence Force (UDF) transformed from an ageing peacetime defence force into a modern armed force capable of projecting offensive power. During the interwar period a certain state of melancholia had existed in the UDF in terms of military innovation, which resulted in muddled thinking in the UDF in terms of armoured warfare and mechanisation. The offensive potential of armoured forces was simply not understood by the South African defence planners, with the result that there was only a token armoured force in the UDF in September 1939. The South African entry into the war was the impetus for the development of a viable armoured force within the UDF, and the South African Tank Corps (SATC) was established in May 1940. Changes in both the nature and organisational structure of the South African defence establishment followed. The Italian presence in Abyssinia and Italian Somaliland was seen as a direct threat to the neighbouring British East African territories, and South Africa deployed to Kenya during June 1940, soon after the Italian declaration of war. The South African deployment to East Africa was the first deployment of the UDF in a situation of regular war since the First World War. Despite the doctrine that underpinned the South African deployment of armoured forces in East Africa, the SATC units soon learned that the accepted doctrine, borrowed from the British War Office during the interwar period, was but a mere guide to offensive employment. The story of the South African deployment to East Africa during the war is used as a lens through which to investigate the role and employment of both the UDF armoured cars and light tanks. By separately discussing the Allied offensives through Italian Somaliland and southern Abyssinia during 1940-1941, the tactical and operational employment of the South African armour during this time becomes paramount when evaluated against their successes and failures. The nature of the opposing Italian forces in East Africa, the ever-changing topography and climate of the theatre of operations, and the nature of the South African offensive operations throughout the campaign, all combined to shape the novel way in which the armoured cars and tanks of the SATC were employed throughout 1940-1941. The operational experiences that the UDF gained during the campaign in East Africa shaped the further deployments of South African armour to North Africa, Madagascar and Italy during the remainder of the war.
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    The axis and Allied Maritime Operations around Southern Africa, 1939-1945
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2018-12) Kleynhans, Evert Philippus; Van der Waag, Ian J.; Fedorowich, Edward Kent; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Military Sciences. School for Security and Africa Studies. Dept. of Military History.
    ENGLISH SUMMARY : The majority of academic and popular studies on the South African participation in the Second World War historically focus on the military operations of the Union Defence Force in East Africa, North Africa, Madagascar and Italy. Recently, there has been a renewed drive to study the South African participation from a more general war and society approach. The South African home front during the war, and in particular the Axis and Allied maritime war waged off the southern African coast, has, however, received scant historical attention from professional and amateur historians alike. The historical interrelated aspects of maritime insecurity evident in southern Africa during the war are largely cast aside by contemporary academics engaging with issues of maritime strategy and insecurity in southern Africa. The all-encompassing nature and extent of the maritime war waged off southern Africa during the Second World War have been far more extensive than suggested in traditional sources. A key understanding of the maritime war is, in effect, incomplete without separate detailed discussions about the opposing Axis and Allied maritime strategies off the coast of southern Africa, the wartime shipping quandaries experienced by the Union of South Africa, and the South African coastal defences. The Axis maritime operations in southern African waters, the so-called maritime intelligence war, and the extended anti-submarine war waged in these waters are equally integral to the discussion. This dissertation aims to provide a critical, comprehensive analysis of the Axis and Allied maritime operations around the coast of southern Africa between 1939 and 1945. The study investigates this inclusive topic through the aforementioned research objectives. The study does not fall into the general ambit of a regimental, campaign or personal military history. Instead, it straddles the strata of war and offers fresh insights into an episode of the South African military history uncommonly investigated by contemporary military historians. The dissertation finds that the Axis and Allied maritime operations off the southern African coast were complex in nature, especially regarding the several strategic, military and economic aspects that have always underpinned them. Moreover, in gaining an understanding of these complex operations, the study reveals the general interrelatedness between the rival Axis and Allied maritime strategies and operations around the southern African coast. Previous studies have failed to recognise this interrelatedness, and have instead offered a one-sided, compartmentalised discussion on single aspects associated with the maritime war waged off southern Africa. This study thus distances itself from previous academic and popular historiography on the subject. It offers, rather, a fresh, in-depth discussion underpinned by extensive archival research, access to previously classified material, and a wealth of secondary sources.
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    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) Kleynhans, Evert Philippus
    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) appreciated the strategic nature of water before the invasion of GSWA in 1914, because it was well known that there were no permanent water sources along the routes of advance into the country. Fears about the possibility of German sabotage and poisoning of the available water remained a constant concern for the South African defence planners throughout the campaign, and adequate water supplies that were fit for both human and animal consumption became a strategic military concern. This meant that the Defence Force had to adopt a number of measures to meet the growing demand for water. Boreholes were sunk across the operational area and in addition, fresh water was transported across the Kalahari Desert by motor vehicles and via shipping from Cape Town. To some extent, the provision of safe drinking water dictated the pace of the South African campaign in GSWA.
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    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) Kleynhans, Evert Philippus
    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 (DOD) Documentation Centre is the custodian of all military archival material generated since the inception of the Department on 1 July 1912. Nonetheless, the material in the repository remains underutilised, despite the number of researchers who have worked or those who are now working on the military history of the Union Defence Force (UDF) during the Afrikaner Rebellion, as well as the campaigns fought in German South West Africa (GSWA), German East Africa (GEA), the Middle East and Europe. The centennial commemoration of the First World War gave rise to an increase in both professional and amateur military historical research, and a resurgence in First World War studies globally. A large number of researchers are expected to consult the First World War material at the Documentation Centre. An increase in interest in a variety of themes relating to South Africa and South African participation in the war is already detected. This article reports on a review of the Documentation Centre’s First World War holdings in relation to South Africa’s participation in the war by using Deneys Reitz, of Commando fame as a lens to illustrate the range of information available to researchers.
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    Editorial
    (Stellenbosch University, Faculty of Military Science (Military Academy), 2021) Kleynhans, Evert Philippus
    No abstract available
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    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) Kleynhans, Evert Philippus
    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 Atlantic precluded the successful employment of the German submarines in said waters. It was realised that the ‘sinking potential’ of the Cape Town–Freetown convoy route, in terms of tonnage, had increased exponentially by the latter half of 1942. This sudden increase was a direct result of the successful German submarine operations in the North Atlantic during 1939–1942. The first German submarine offensive in South African waters during 1942, Operation Eisbär, was aimed at striking a devastating blow to shipping off the South African coast. By the end of December 1942, an estimated 310 864 tons of shipping had been sunk through Operation Eisbär and the first U-cruiser operation alone. The success of Operation Eisbär led to a further two German submarine offensives being launched by the BdU in South African waters during the remainder of the Second World War, with a number of opportunistic attacks also made by submarines travelling to the Far East. This article has three specific aims. First, to discuss the Union Defence Force’s (UDF) threat perception and operational readiness in terms of the maritime defence of its coast, and the merchant shipping that rounded it, over the period September 1939 to October 1942. Second, to explain the nature and extent of the German submarine operations in South African waters[i]between October 1942 and February 1945. Last, the South African and Allied counter-measures to the German submarine threat off the South African coast will be discussed. By drawing from a myriad of primary archival sources, private and official correspondence, and a host of secondary sources, the background, nature, successes and failures of the German submarine operations, and the South African counter-measures are elucidated.
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    Legislative disconnect or institutional gatekeeping? challenges of researching South Africa's military past
    (Stellenbosch University, Faculty of Military Science (Military Academy), 2020) Kleynhans, Evert Philippus ; Gordon, Will
    The Department of Defence Archive in Pretoria is the repository of all military documents generated by the Union Defence Force, the South African Defence Force and the South African National Defence Force. This makes it the foremost source of primary information for researchers of South African military history. However, an almost total ban on access to archival documents from 1 January 1970 onwards complicates research into later periods. In fact, anyone researching post-1970 military-related topics has to apply for access to archival documents through the Promotion of Access to Information Act. The traditional weapon in the armoury of the historian – the systematic trawling of archives – is thereby negated, while the methodology of post-1970 historical research differs significantly from commonly accepted historical practices. Finding aids, the only access route to classified information in this analogue archive, offer only the briefest descriptions of the content of files, and researchers need almost esoteric intuition to identify documents that are even remotely relevant to their research. Additionally, a fee is payable for declassification, and the process can take several months to complete. This review article reports on the theoretical workings of the Promotion of Access to Information Act, and uses an actual research example as a case study to illustrate the practical implications of conducting research at the Department of Defence Archive in South Africa based on classified military documentation.
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    Omega, oor en uit : die storie van ’n opstandige troep - François Verster
    (Stellenbosch University, Faculty of Military Science (Military Academy), 2019) Kleynhans, Evert Philippus
    War narratives are in essence categorised as a distinct literary kind of its own. In his masterpiece The soldier’s tale: Bearing witness to modern war, Samuel Hynes argues that mankind is generally curious about war. Hynes contends that it is often easier to respond to one man and his ‘war’, than to try to comprehend the overwhelming statistics associated with modern wars – especially in terms of the overwhelming numbers of soldiers, battles and casualties. For Hynes, it was important to “understand what war was like, and how it feels, we must … seek the reality in the personal witness of the men who were there”. As such, the recording of the personal narratives of soldiers are extremely important. These narratives, however, can be subdivided into two broad categories depending on differing needs – the need to report and the need to remember. Accounts that fall into the reporting category generally comprise letters, diaries and journals that are kept as the war unfolds. The value of these sources is varied, but in essence, they offer immediacy and directness in recording the personal experience of war. The second category comprises memoirs. Memoirs are indeed much more reflective in nature, in that they are written years after the actual experience of war. Moreover, memoirs give a selective overview of “what the young self did, what happened to him, what changed him”.