Department of Military History
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- Item61 Tunneling Company : South African miners in the Middle East during the Second World War(Department of History, University of the Free State, 2012) Kleynhans, EvertThe South African Engineering Corps (SAEC) provided a variety of specialised units to assist the Allies during the Second World War. These units performed outstanding work in the East and North African theatres, as well as in Italy. Through their concerted efforts, they were able to provide much needed assistance to the troops on the ground. South African engineering troops, however, served in lesser known territories as well. The likes of 61 Tunnelling Company, under the auspices of the Mines Engineering Brigade (MEB) SAEC, was but one of these specialised units called upon to renderThe South African Engineering Corps (SAEC) provided a variety of specialised units to assist the Allies during the Second World War. These units performed outstanding work in the East and North African theatres, as well as in Italy. Through their concerted efforts, they were able to provide much needed assistance to the troops on the ground. South African engineering troops, however, served in lesser known territories as well. The likes of 61 Tunnelling Company, under the auspices of the Mines Engineering Brigade (MEB) SAEC, was but one of these specialised units called upon to render services to the Allied forces in the Middle East. The company, representing a cross-section of miners from the Witwatersrand, was tasked to dig a series of tunnels that continued to the completion of the Haifa-Beirut-Tripoli (HBT) railway line. Upon completion of the task, the unit further carried out two more tunnelling tasks in the Middle East, namely at Ras Bayada and at the Kasmieh Irrigation Scheme. Due to the specialised nature of this unit, its exploits during the war only received minimal attention in the written histories of the South African forces. This article thus explores the history of 61 Tunnelling Company’s exploits in the Middle East during the Second World War services to the Allied forces in the Middle East. The company, representing a cross-section of miners from the Witwatersrand, was tasked to dig a series of tunnels that continued to the completion of the Haifa-Beirut-Tripoli (HBT) railway line. Upon completion of the task, the unit further carried out two more tunnelling tasks in the Middle East, namely at Ras Bayada and at the Kasmieh Irrigation Scheme. Due to the specialised nature of this unit, its exploits during the war only received minimal attention in the written histories of the South African forces. This article thus explores the history of 61 Tunnelling Company’s exploits in the Middle East during the Second World War.
- ItemAccolades and albatrosses : the South African National Defence Force's centenary and the commemoration of milestones in South African military history(Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Military Science (Military Academy), 2012) Visser, DeonPeoples, societies, institutions and other entities frequently record their histories in terms of successive epochs, and commemorate those histories according to perceived milestones or turning points in their development. Since much of human history has been dominated by strife and warfare, national and international milestones are frequently embedded in notions of a military past. Milestones in military history may be divided into three broad categories, namely those representing significant strides in the evolution of warfare, those associated with bravery, heroic sacrifice and great loss, and those of decisive political importance. Defence forces in general, and individual military units in particular, are extremely conscious of their past and often commemorate milestones through customs, traditions, and splendid parades and ceremonial displays. This year (2012), the South African National Defence Force (SANDF) celebrates its centenary against the complex background of South Africa’s long history of internal strife interspaced with participation in foreign conflicts. This article reflects on the commemoration of South Africa’s military history within the context of the divergent historical heritages of the SANDF and its predecessors. It commences with a brief background on memory, identity and the commemoration of history and military history. Thereafter it outlines the commemoration of a few of the foremost milestones in South African military history associated with the evolution of warfare, with bravery, heroic sacrifice and great loss, and with political change within its historical and current context.
- ItemAirpower in the Union of South Africa's First World War campaign in German South West Africa(Historical Association of South Africa, 2017) Garcia, AntonioDuring 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 of military aeroplanes in conventional warfare. The creation and employment of the South African Aviation Corps (SAAC) within the Union Defence Force (UDF) provided ground forces with a substantial force multiplier in terms of forward reconnaissance. The aerial reconnaissance allowed General Louis Botha and his subordinate commanders to gain a better understanding of the tactical picture and facilitated the battle concept. This paper discusses the role and impact of aerial operations during the GSWA campaign. The campaign was characterised by sweeping envelopments which were executed by the Union's commandos. During the latter part of the campaign aeroplanes provided the UDF with intelligence in terms of the location and concentration of German forces, which assisted in their final encirclement.
- ItemAkademiese steun by die militere akademie : die aanspreek van andershede in die SA Weermag(Faculty of Military Science of Stellenbosch University, 1992) Smith, L. M.Die Suid-Afrikaanse gemeenskap is blootgestel aan snelle veranderinge wat noodwendig 'n neerslag vind in die SA Weermag en die Militêre Akademie op Saldanha. Dit is egter nie net die veranderinge wat hul invloed laat geld nie, maar ook die gebeure wat die veranderinge voorafgegaan het. Die Fakulteit Krygskunde aan die Universiteit van Stellenbosch (soos enige ander Suid-Afrikaanse tersiëre opleidingsinstansie) moet dus hul taak volvoer met inagneming van 'n buitengewone geskiedenis en die eise van 'n dinamiese toekoms. Studente wat aanmeld vir 'n B. Mil. graad by bogenoemde fakulteit het deel aan sekere gemeenskaplikhede, maar ook andershede wat spruit uit elk se agtergrond. "Andersheid" word omskryf as die persoonlike verskille wat elke individu of groep uniek maak. Dit is belangrik dat die leser kennis neem daarvan dat elke student van gelyke waarde geag word en dat "andersheid" nie sinoniem is vir "minderwaardigheid" nie.
- ItemAll splendid, but horrible : the politics of South Africa's second "Little Bit" and the war on the western front, 1915-1918(Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Military Science (Military Academy), 2012) Van der Waag, IanSouth Africa’s decision to enter the First World War was not easy. After a difficult interplay between Whitehall and Tuinhuis, the Botha government agreed to secure limited strategic objectives in neighbouring German South West Africa. An armed insurrection had to be suppressed first. When both these objects were achieved, and following a further British appeal, South African troops moved further afield. This move, representing South Africa’s second ‘little bit’, was a dangerous step for the Botha government. The despatch of troops to France was controversial. Yet, by the end of 1915, South African expeditionary forces were en route to Europe and East Africa. This paper investigates the political crisis in South Africa and the difficult decision to send troops out of Africa, their deployment in an environment entirely foreign to the South African way of war, and the impact of the Western Front on the drawing of ‘lessons’ by post-war Union authorities.
- ItemDie Anglo-Boereoorlog as stimulus vir die stigting van Afrikaanse plattelandse trustmaatskappye en eksekuteurskamers(Historical Association of South Africa, 2000) Ehlers, A.Die ontwikkeling van 'n Afrikaanse etniese bewussyn ná 1870 is deur die Anglo Boereoorlog (1899-1902) verhoog. In die Kaapkolonie is mense in lojalistiese en republikeinse kampe verdeel. Op die ekonomiese terrein het Afrikaanssprekendes met 'n republikeinse voorkeur hulle steun onttrek aan ondernemings wat die Britse oorlogpoging goedgesind was. Inisiatiewe wat vanaf 1900 geloods is, het in die Wes-Kaap daartoe aanleiding gegee dat die Paarlse Afrikaanse Trust Maatskappy Beperk en die Afrikaanse Onderlinge Voogdy en Assuransie Maatskappy Beperk tot stand kom. In hierdie artikel word die ekonomiese impak van die koloniale inisiatiewe in Kaapse Afrikanergeledere ondersoek.
- ItemThe "apostles of terror" : South Africa, the East African campaign, and the Battle of El Wak(Historical Association of South Africa, 2018-11) Kleynhans, Evert PhilippusShortly 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.
- ItemAn Australian war correspondent in Ladysmith : the siege report of Donald Macdonald of the Melbourne Argus(Faculty of Military Science, Stellenbosch University, 2000) Van der Waag, IanSome one hundred years ago, South Africa was torn apart by the Second Anglo-Boer War (1899-1902). To mark this cataclysmic event, Covos-Day is publishing a series of books. The first is a facsimile of Donald Macdonald's enduring story of "How we kept the flag flying" through the siege of Ladysmith and this is followed by several other titles including another Ladysmith-siege diary: one written by George Maidment, a British army orderly. Such a publication programme is a monumental and laudable effort. It allows both reflections upon a calamitous episode in South African history and, as is the case of "How we kept the flag flying", an opportunity for the collector to acquire old titles, long-out-of-print, at reasonable prices. Donald Macdonald was born in Melbourne, Victoria on 6 June 1859. After a short career as a teacher, he joined the Corowa Free Press and, in 1881, the Melbourne Argus. A nature writer and cricket commentator, he arrived in South Africa on 21 October 1899, the day of the battle at Elandslaagte, as war correspondent to the Melbourne Argus. This book, "How we kept the flag flying", was born from his experiences and frustrations whilst holed-up in Ladysmith throughout the 100-day siege, whilst the war raged and was reported on by journalists elsewhere.
- ItemThe 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.
- ItemBambatha at Mpanza : the making of a rebel(Faculty of Military Science, Stellenbosch University, 2004) Thompson, P. S.Bambatha is widely known as the chief who led a group of men to confront the Natal colonial government in protest against poll tax. He lived in a broken, sandy and stoney area known as Mpanza valley, to the north of Greytown, in the Natal colony of the former British Empire. The inhabitants of this valley were the Zulu tribe called Amazondi (officially called Abasengome). This land was dry and poor for cultivation and for game. It was a farmland owned by white men but settled by the Amazondi since 1854 as a “private location” of indigenous people who did not live in an officially designated Native Location (an exclusive site for the settlement of indigenous people). The white people were called the thorns. Bambatha led the last armed resistance of the Africans before the establishment of the Union of South Africa in 1910. He was eventually captured and beheaded. He provided the source of strength to boost the morale of those who continued with the struggle for liberation in subsequent years. This is the perception around Bambatha and his rebellion in 1906. But how exactly did it happen that he became a defiant chief who did not acquiesce to the demands of the colonial government? This book provides a descriptive analysis of the career of Bambatha until his flight to Zululand after the failure of his endeavour-armed resistance.
- ItemBattle 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) Esterhuyse, AbelWriting 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 distance themselves from their own experiences and their personal involvement in many of the operations that were conducted by the South African military. The issue is also clouded by the current South African government’s association with what happened on the other side of the hill[i]and, more specifically, their support for the winning narrative of the Cuban–Angolan forces. Many previous South African Defence Force (SADF) soldiers are also facing the wounds of post-traumatic stress because of their exposure to the battlefield experiences of the war. It is very often difficult to navigate between perceptions and reality and to find the truth in the debate about who won the so-called Battle for Cuito Cuanavale.
- ItemBetween history, amnesia and selective memory : the South African armed forces, a century's perspective(Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Military Science (Military Academy), 2012) Van der Waag, Ian; Visser, Deon2012 has a double significance for this year sees the centenary of the founding of the African National Congress (8 January) and of the creation of the Union Defence Forces (1 July), two organisations that have for much of the twentieth century shared a contested history. Yet, in a remarkable bouleversement, South Africa has come through this difficult past and, over the past two decades, a new South African society has been recreated following an interesting period of adjustment following the end of the Cold War and the growth of democracy in the developing world. These changes have necessarily affected her armed forces and the roles defined for them. Some commentators, particularly in the years immediately following 1994, asserted that military power had lost all of its vaunted, Cold-War importance in a new postmodern environment. Others still, recognising future challenges, argued that South Africa, beset with far-reaching socio-economic crises, could no longer afford the burden of military forces. Most scholars agree now that these perspectives were short-sighted and that, while the risk of major conflict has receded, the events of 9/11, and its consequences, demonstrate that the continental and international landscapes are less certain, less stable and less predictable, than that for which many had hoped. Clearly, South African interests are intertwined inextricably in regional and global affairs and if she is to protect these interests and ensure her security, she must maintain credible military force capable of meeting an array of contingencies. It was with this in mind that the strategic arms deal, since the subject of much debate, was passed by parliament:[i] the promise of a full technological transformation, to accompany the human transformation, offered.
- ItemBlack workers, typhoid fever and the construction of the Berg River : Saldanha military water pipeline, 1942 – 1943(AOSIS, 2008-04-11) Visser, Deon; Monama, Fankie LucasWar creates a huge need for labour to support the war efforts of the belligerent parties. In South Africa tens of thousands of ‘non-white’ workers were mobilised during the Second World War to satisfy the Union Defence Force’s (UDF’s) labour needs at home and abroad. This article, firstly, outlines the role of ‘non-white people’, particularly black Africans, in the UDF with special reference to those employed within the Union of South Africa. Secondly, it briefly delineates typhoid fever as an historical thorn in the flesh of military forces up to the early 20th century. It then looks briefly into the incidence of and perceptions on typhoid fever as a killer disease in South Africa on the eve of the Second World War. Against that background, the article investigates the employment of black workers on the construction of the Berg River-Saldanha Bay military water pipeline and the UDF’s response to the threat and subsequent outbreak of typhoid fever amongst the workers at the Berg River intake site in 1943. The article concludes that the public health authorities and UDF were aware of the threat of typhoid fever with regard to the Berg River water scheme, but did not take sufficient precautionary measures, which could have had serious repercussions for the Allied war effort. This incident should serve as a warning to the South African National Defence Force when deploying on peace support operations on the African continent where typhoid fever remains a serious threat next to Hiv/Aids.
- ItemA breakdown of civil-military relations : the Soviet coup of 1991(Stellenbosch University, Faculty of Military Science (Military Academy), 1999) Matthee, HeinrichIn August 1991 a Committee for State Emergencies, consisting of the minister of defence and the chief of the KGB, ousted Mikhail Gorbachev from power in the Soviet Union. The coup was important for several reasons. The platoons of tanks that moved in Moscow's streets ended a long tradition of obedience by the Soviet military to the civilian Communist Party. In addition, the military coup also marked a decisive shift in the foundation of civilian control in the Soviet Union. By analysing Soviet civil-military relations before the coup, this essay tries to determine how the military became involved in the coup. The essay then seeks to determine whether different theoretical frameworks, mostly based on American experience, could explain the breakdown of civil-military relations in the Soviet Union.
- ItemThe British tactical reaction to battlefield conditions during the Anglo-Boer War(Department of History, University of the Free State, 2000) Ellis, JohanOnly eighteen years prior to the commencement of the Anglo-Boer War the Boers gave Great Britain an excellent demonstration of their tactical skills. A comparison of the casualties of the opposing forces during the few, but decisive battles fought at the beginning of 1881 during the Anglo-Transvaal War, surely should have raised a few eyebrows among British officers and politicians alike.
- ItemChallenges experienced by the female senior officers in the SANDF in Gauteng(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2022-04) Choabi, Motshidisi Martha Salome; Makau, K.L.; Monama, F.L.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Military Science. School for Security and Africa Studies. Military history. Dept. of Military Strategy.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The centrality of national law and policy making is considered essential in the restructuring of the military environment. These essential tools assess the extent to which transformation, leadership and equality policies and legislative measures substantively change the climate and culture of the military institution. To keep track on the restructuring of the military environment, it is necessary to map out some of the everyday struggles which may often be marginalised by an overemphasis by national and institutional policymakers for change. A qualitative research approach combined with an explorative, descriptive research design was employed to investigate and describe the phenomenon under study, namely the challenges experienced by senior female officers in the SANDF. Seventeen female senior officers of different Arms of Service (Colonels and Captains) were randomly chosen from a pool of 124 in Gauteng to participate in the study. The reason for sampling seventeen female senior officers is because they were the ones that responded positively to the recruiting emails that were sent out inviting female senior officers to partake in the study. Data was gathered by means of a semi-structured interview schedule which was administered during the individual interviews. The method of interviewing used was face-to-face which later changed to telephonic interviews because of the lockdown resulting from COVID 19. All interviews were transcribed, and the narratives were analysed on two levels. During the first level of analysis, themes were identified and preliminary labelling of meaningful units of data was done. These themes were then labelled to be given meaning so that they could form 27 coding categories. This was followed by a second level of analysis where the coding categories were further refined and reduced to seven pattern categories that were labelled and analysed using the PESTEL-S framework that served as a guide to threats and weaknesses from the narratives of participants to guide the organisation towards success. These categories represent the essential aspects on challenges, sources and causes of female senior officers’ challenges in the SANDF. Key findings of the study centred on the issue that 27 years in democracy the SANDF is still struggling with transformation, hence the cited challenges still experienced by female senior officers in different areas in the military environment. What stood out as overarching challenges were lack of support from leadership and lack of institutional/environmental support that eventually resulted in insufficient psycho-social support experienced by female senior officers. All is good and well on paper, but implementation seems to be hindered by passive resistance from the male counterparts in the organisation. According to MTT Report (2020), Sadie (2014), Richardson (2019) and the MTT Report (2020) concerted effort has to be put on institutions and the government to counter this passive resistance and get the transformation policies implemented in order to curb challenges females are confronted with. This includes passive lack of institutional /organisational support, lack of psycho-social support and lack of women empowerment. In the light of the findings, it is recommended that leadership socio-cognitive defences be addressed so that leadership can understand when women say “nothing for us without us”. This persuasive rhetoric echoes the sentiments of women for the leadership to understand the need to include women when making decisions on matters that affect women.
- ItemThe challenges of transformation : SANDF officers' attitudes towards integration, affirmative action. women in combat and language usage.(Faculty of Military Science of Stellenbosch University, 1998) Heineken, LindyMost countries expect their armed forces to be broadly representative of the populace with respect to race, ethnic composition, social class, religion and gender. The concern, particularly with respect to the officer corps as leaders of the armed forces, is that an unrepresentative defence force may pose a threat to the principle of civil supremacy over the military. The fact that some states are directly governed by military regimes drawn from the officer corps, while others actively strive to ensure that the armed forces remain subordinate to political control, indicates that the question of who joins the officer corps is of central importance to society. Where the armed forces do not represent the demographic composition of the populace, the minorities, or even majorities invariably regard such imbalances as inimical to their political power and safety (Baynam, 1990:9-10). In South Africa, many years of enforced discriminatory policies has resulted in a lack of racial and gender representivity within the ranks of the former South African Defence Force (SADF). Although the racial composition of the SADF had begun to change rapidly by the late eighties, the officer corps is still mainly white. Even with the integration of the predominantly black homeland and non-statutory forces into the new South African National Defence Force (SANDF) which came into being in April 1994, the majority of leadership positions do not reflect the demographic composition of society.
- ItemChange, organisational culture and the development of the South African Military Academy to 2009(AOSIS, 2011-12-31) Visser, Deon; Van Dyk, G. A. J.This article investigates the impact of change and organisational culture on the growth and development of the South African Military Academy. It explores the impact of Nationalist Party rule since 1948 and black majority rule since 1994 on the institutional culture of the South African military and how that influenced the development of the Military Academy. This is intertwined with an investigation of the nature and impact of the diverging military and academic subcultures at the Academy. The article contends that, together with the historical exclusion of blacks and women from the military, the marginalisation of white English-speaking citizens by Nationalist Party rule denied the Academy the exploitation of a significant portion of the country’s human resource potential in the interest of institutional development. The same happened with the introduction of racial quotas and the marginalisation of whites since 1994. The Military Academy has, furthermore, historically been too reflective of the organisational culture of the South African National Defence Force and its predecessors instead of informing that culture to meet the challenges of military professionalism. The Academy has a potentially vital educational role to play in the South African and Sub-Saharan African militaries, but requires some changes in its organisational culture to fulfil that mission.
- ItemChanging attitudes among South African prisoners of war towards their Italian captors during World War II, 1942-1943(Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Military Science (Military Academy), 2012) Horn, KarenThe Battle of Sidi Rezegh in November 1941 and the fall of Tobruk in June 1942 were disastrous for South Africa. At Sidi Rezegh, the entire 5th South African Infantry Brigade was lost and at Tobruk the following year more than 10 000 South Africans were captured by German forces. As if the shock of becoming prisoners of war (POWs) was not bad enough, most South Africans were horrified when the Germans promptly handed them over to the Italians, who were to deal with the logistics for the thousands of POWs, first housing them in temporary camps in North Africa, and then transporting them to Italy. Once on the European continent, the South African POWs found themselves in better-organised prison camps, although most POW accommodation was a far cry from what the Geneva Convention required. Some were fortunate to be assigned to labour detachments, where they were in a better position to take control of their circumstances with regard to living conditions and food and even gaining a degree of freedom of movement. During each of the stages of their captivity under the Italians, the South African POWs displayed changing attitudes towards their captors. For the most part, the Italian forces in North Africa were viewed with disrespect and sometimes with cynical amusement. The antagonism towards Italians quickly changed to intense hatred when POWs suffered severe deprivations in the cargo holds of the boats that transported them to Italy. Once in Italy, however, the POWs came into contact with Italian camp guards who, in many cases, displayed a remarkable lack of interest in the prisoners and in the war. The changing attitudes of South African POWs towards their Italian captors reflect to an extent their changing circumstances as captives; however, their behaviour towards their captors also reveal how the POWs adapted to and accepted their POW identity. Ultimately, the POWs contact with the enemy captors changed the way they viewed their part in the war, and this article looks at examples of the shifting mind-sets until the Armistice in 1943 once again changed the state of affairs for the POWs.
- ItemCivil defence and protective services in South Africa during World War Two, 1939–1945(Historical Association of South Africa, 2019-11) Monama, Fankie LucasDuring World War Two, South Africa inaugurated the Civilian Protective Services organisation as a civil defence effort to deal with, inter alia, the preventive and protective measures in defence of the civilian population against attack from the air and the sea, and against the dangers arising from sabotage and sudden emergency. Between 1940 and 1945, about 80 000 civilians volunteered for service in the air raid precautions and the civilian guard sections of the Civilian Protective Services, to contribute towards a national defence effort of the Union of South Africa. This article examines the origin of the Civilian Protective Services and its development during World War Two, within the context of South Africa’s political and internal security challenges. It contends that the institution of the Civilian Protective Services was a vital element in South Africa’s effort to enhance internal security, to assuage public anxieties and to sustain morale as well as to maintain public support for its war policy.