Military history of South Africa during World war II - Wikipedia Military history of South Africa during World war II Part of a series on the Military history of South Africa Conflicts Khoikhoi -- Dutch Wars Anglo -- Dutch rivalry Xhosa Wars Ndwandwe -- Zulu War Anglo -- Zulu War First Anglo -- Boer War Second Anglo -- Boer War South African Wars ( 1879 -- 1915 ) First World War Second World War Korean War Border War National Defence Force Army Air Force History Navy Medical Services Special Forces Historical forces Union Defence Force South African Defence Force Lists Conflicts Military chiefs List of wars involving South Africa Further information : Military history of the British Commonwealth in the Second World War 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. Contents 1 Political choices at outbreak of war 2 Declaration of war against the Axis 3 Field Marshal and Prime Minister Smuts 4 Manpower 5 Military contributions and casualties in World War II 6 See also 7 References 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, led by Hertzog. Declaration of war against the Axis On 4 September 1939, the United Party caucus refused to accept Hertzog 's stance of neutrality in World War II and deposed him in favour 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 ( ACF ) 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 ( the Desert War ) 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 Madagascar from the control of the Vichy French. 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. 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 ( SAAF ) 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. About 334,000 men volunteered for full - time service in the South African Army during the war ( including some 211,000 white, 77,000 black and 46,000 coloured and Indian servicemen ). The Commonwealth War Graves Commission has records of 11,023 known South Africans who died during World War II. See also South Africa portal Military production during World War II Military history of the British Commonwealth in the Second World War References Jump up ^ Wessels, Andre ( June 2000 ). `` The first two years of war : The development of the Union Defence Forces ( UDF ) September 1939 to September 1941 ''. Military History Journal. 11 ( 5 ). Jump up ^ BROWN, J.A. A Gathering of Eagles : The Campaigns of the South African Air Force in Italian East Africa 1940 -- 1941. Purnell, Cape Town. 1970. p. 37 Jump up ^ BROWN, J.A. Eagles Strike : Campaigns of the South African Air Force in Egypt, Cyrenaica, Libya, Tunisia, Tripolitana and Madagascar 1941 -- 1943. Purnell, Cape Town. 1974. p. 387 Jump up ^ MARTIN, H.J. & ORPEN N. Eagles Victorious. Purnell, Cape Town. 1977. p. 331 Jump up ^ MARTIN, H.J. & ORPEN N. Eagles Victorious. Purnell, Cape Town. 1977. p. 246 Jump up ^ MARTIN, H.J. & ORPEN N. Eagles Victorious. Purnell, Cape Town. 1977. p. 242 Jump up ^ `` South Africa and the War against Japan 1941 -- 1945 ''. South African Military History Society ( Military History Journal -- Vol 10 No 3 ). 21 November 2006. http://samilitaryhistory.org/vol103aw.html Jump up ^ `` Commonwealth War Graves Commission ''. cwgc.org. 1 March 2007. http://www.cwgc.org/ History of World War II by region and country Africa Belgian Congo British Somaliland Egypt French West Africa French Somaliland Gold Coast Kenya Liberia Nyasaland Madagascar South Africa Southern Rhodesia Tunisia North America Canada Cuba El Salvador Greenland Mexico Newfoundland Panama United States Arizona Nevada New Mexico Puerto Rico South America Argentina Brazil British Guiana Colombia Latin America Uruguay Venezuela Asia Burma Ceylon China Manchuria Dutch East Indies Hong Kong India Indochina Iran Iraq Japan Malaya Mongolia Nepal Philippines Sarawak, Brunei, Labuan, and British North Borneo Singapore Thailand Turkey Europe Albania Austria Belgium Bulgaria Czechoslovakia Denmark Estonia Finland France Basque Country Germany Greece Hungary Iceland Ireland Italy Latvia Liechtenstein Lithuania Luxembourg Netherlands Norway Poland Portugal Romania Slovakia Slovenia Soviet Union Azerbaijan Belarus Ukraine Spain Galicia Sweden Switzerland United Kingdom British Empire Channel Islands Gibraltar Vatican City Yugoslavia Oceania Australia Nauru New Zealand World War II Asia and the Pacific China South - East Asia North and Central Pacific South - West Pacific Europe Western Eastern Mediterranean and Middle East North Africa East Africa Italy West Africa Atlantic North America South America Casualties Military engagements Conferences Commanders Participants Allies ( leaders ) Australia Belgium Brazil Canada China Cuba Czechoslovakia Denmark Ethiopia France Free France ( from June 1940 ) Greece India Italy ( from September 1943 ) Luxembourg Mexico Netherlands New Zealand Norway Philippines ( Commonwealth ) Poland South Africa Southern Rhodesia Soviet Union United Kingdom United States Puerto Rico Yugoslavia Axis and Axis - aligned ( leaders ) Albania Bulgaria Reorganized National Government of the Republic of China Independent State of Croatia Finland Germany Hungary Free India Iraq Italy ( until September 1943 ) Italian Social Republic Japan Manchukuo Philippines ( Second Republic ) Romania Slovakia Thailand Vichy France Armed neutrality Resistance Albania Austria Belgium Bulgaria Czech lands Denmark Estonia Ethiopia France Germany Greece Hong Kong Italy Japan Jewish Korea Latvia Lithuania Luxembourg Malaya Netherlands Northeast China Norway Philippines Poland Anti-communist Romania Thailand Soviet Union Slovakia Western Ukraine Vietnam Yugoslavia Monarchists Timeline Prelude Africa Asia Europe 1939 Poland Phoney War Winter War Atlantic Changsha China 1940 Weserübung Netherlands Belgium France Armistice of 22 June 1940 Britain North Africa West Africa British Somaliland North China Baltic States Moldova Indochina Greece Compass 1941 East Africa Yugoslavia Shanggao Greece Crete Iraq Soviet Union ( Barbarossa ) Finland Lithuania Syria and Lebanon Kiev Iran Leningrad Gorky Moscow Sevastopol Pearl Harbor The outbreak of the Pacific War Hong Kong Philippines Changsha Malaya Borneo ( 1941 -- 42 ) 1942 Burma Changsha Java Sea Coral Sea Gazala Dutch Harbor Attu ( occupation ) Kiska Zhejiang - Jiangxi Midway Rzhev Blue Stalingrad Singapore Dieppe El Alamein Guadalcanal Torch 1943 Tunisia Kursk Smolensk Gorky Solomon Islands Attu Sicily Cottage Lower Dnieper Italy Armistice of Cassibile Gilbert and Marshall Islands Burma Northern Burma and Western Yunnan Changde 1944 Monte Cassino / Shingle Narva Korsun -- Cherkassy Tempest Ichi - Go Overlord Neptune Normandy Mariana and Palau Bagration Western Ukraine Tannenberg Line Warsaw Eastern Romania Belgrade Paris Dragoon Gothic Line Market Garden Estonia Crossbow Pointblank Lapland Hungary Leyte Ardennes Bodenplatte Philippines ( 1944 -- 1945 ) Burma ( 1944 -- 45 ) 1945 -- 1991 Vistula -- Oder Iwo Jima Western invasion of Germany Okinawa Italy ( Spring 1945 ) Borneo Syrmian Front Berlin Czechoslovakia Budapest West Hunan Guangxi Surrender of Germany Project Hula Manchuria Manila Borneo Taipei Atomic bombings Debate Kuril Islands Shumshu Surrender of Japan End of World War II in Asia Aspects General Famines Bengal famine of 1943 Chinese famine of 1942 -- 43 Greek Famine of 1941 - 1944 Dutch famine of 1944 -- 45 Vietnamese Famine of 1945 Air warfare of World War II Blitzkrieg Comparative military ranks Cryptography Diplomacy Home front United States Australian United Kingdom Lend - Lease Manhattan Project Military awards Military equipment Military production Nazi plunder Opposition Technology Allied cooperation Total war Strategic bombing Puppet states Women Art and World War II Aftermath Expulsion of Germans Operation Paperclip Operation Osoaviakhim Operation Keelhaul Occupation of Germany Territorial changes of Germany Soviet occupations Romania Poland Hungary Baltic States Occupation of Japan First Indochina War Indonesian National Revolution Cold War Decolonization Treaty on the Final Settlement with Respect to Germany Popular culture War crimes Allied war crimes Soviet war crimes British war crimes United States war crimes German ( Forced labour ) / Wehrmacht war crimes Holocaust Aftermath Response Prosecution Italian war crimes Japanese war crimes Unit 731 Prosecution Croatian war crimes against the Serbs against the Jews Romanian war crimes Wartime sexual violence German military brothels Camp brothels Rape during the occupation of Japan Sook Ching Comfort women Rape of Nanking Rape of Manila Rape during the occupation of Germany Rape during the liberation of France Rape during the Soviet occupation of Poland Prisoners Finnish prisoners of war in the Soviet Union German prisoners of war in the Soviet Union German prisoners of war in the United States Italian prisoners of war in the Soviet Union Japanese prisoners of war in the Soviet Union Japanese prisoners of war in World War II German mistreatment of Soviet prisoners of war Polish prisoners of war in the Soviet Union Romanian prisoners of war in the Soviet Union Soviet prisoners of war in Finland Bibliography Portal British Empire battles of the Second World War Africa East Africa Conquest of British Somaliland Capture of Italian Somaliland Recapture of British Somaliland Italian guerrilla war in Ethiopia North Africa First Battle of El Alamein Second Battle of El Alamein Italian invasion of Egypt Operation Compass Run for Tunis Siege of Giarabub Siege of Tobruk Capture of Tobruk Operation Brevity Operation Skorpion Operation Sonnenblume Occupation of Libya Southern Africa Battle of Madagascar West Africa Battle of Dakar Operation Postmaster Europe Arctic Battle of the Barents Sea Evacuation of Norway Occupation of Iceland Evacuation of Spitsbergen Faroe Islands occupation Balkans Reinforcement of Greece Battle of Crete ( Rethymno Thermopylae Vevi ) Mediterranean Convoy AN 14 Attack on Mers - el - Kébir Battle of Calabria Campobasso Convoy Battle of Cape Bon Battle of Cape Matapan Battle of Cape Passero Battle of Cape Spada Battle of Cape Spartivento Cigno Convoy Duisburg Convoy Espero Convoy Battle of the Ligurian Sea Battle of Skerki Bank Battle of the Strait of Otranto ( 1940 ) Battle of Taranto Tarigo Convoy Battle off Zuwarah Operation Abstention Operation Agreement Operation Albumen Operation Excess Operation Grog Raid on Alexandria Raid on Souda Bay Siege of Malta Malta convoys Western Europe Battle of the Heligoland Bight BEF Dunkirk evacuation Battle of Britain The Blitz Dieppe Raid Channel Dash Operation Gisela Operation Steinbock Operation Diver Evacuation of Gibraltar Juno Beach Gold Beach Sword Beach Clearing the Channel Coast Battle of the Scheldt Operation Blackcock Battle of the Reichswald St Nazaire Raid Liberation of Belgium Liberation of the Netherlands Far East Hong Kong Battle of Kowloon and New Territories Battle of Hong Kong Island Malay Japanese invasion of Malaya Battle of Jitra Defence of Johore Singapore Fall of Singapore Burma Japanese conquest of Burma Arakan Campaign 1942 -- 43 Recapture of Burma India Invasion of India Operation U-Go Battle of Imphal Battle of Kohima Indian Ocean Indian Ocean disaster Indian Ocean retreat Cocos Islands mutiny Indian Ocean raid Battle of Ceylon Evacuation of British Somaliland Japanese occupation of the Andaman Islands Indian Ocean raid ( 1944 ) Indian Ocean strike Battle of the Malacca Strait Bombing of Sumatra Bombardment of Andaman Islands Bombardment of Northern Malay Middle East Iraq Invasion of Iraq Battle of Fallujah Siege of Habbaniya Battle of Basra Capture of Baghdad Iran Invasion of Khuzestan Invasion of Central Iran Syria -- Lebanon Invasion of Lebanon Capture of Beirut Invasion of Syria Capture of Damascus Americas Atlantic Battle of the River Plate Battle of the Gulf of St. Lawrence Battle of the Denmark Strait Newfoundland Escort Force Mid-Ocean Escort Force Western Local Escort Force Western Approaches Escort Force Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Military_history_of_South_Africa_during_World_War_II&oldid=836747408 '' Categories : 20th century in South Africa Military history of South Africa during World War II Military history of the British Empire and Commonwealth in World War II Hidden categories : Use dmy dates from October 2012 Use South African English from October 2012 All Wikipedia articles written in South African English Talk Contents About Wikipedia Français עברית Русский Edit links This page was last edited on 16 April 2018, at 16 : 38. 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Question: when did south africa declare war on germany
Answer: September 1939