First Reserve Brigade ( South Africa ) During the first two years of the World War II , South Africa raised a variety of military units . In order to cope with protection of vulnerable points and guarding prisoners of war , the First Reserve Brigade was formed on 29 February 1940 initially with six battalion s but later expanded to twelve battalions before being broken up at the end of 1943 . Formation and function . The First Reserve Brigade was a South African second - line military unit raised in 1940 , with brigade headquarters in Johannesburg under Colonel T Scott , who died in August 1941 . He was succeeded by Colonel BC Judd OBE . The brigade drafted men of ' B ' and ' C ' Medical Categories primarily for guard duties at aerodrome s . Ex - servicemen and others above the age of 35 but under 60 were accepted , and the brigade was run on a normal Active Citizen Force basis or fulI - time , as authorised . Detachments of the 1st Special Service Reserve Battalion were absorbed as fulI - time companies or platoons . On 11 July 1940 the SA Internment Battalion was absorbed and redesignated 6th Battalion , 1st Reserve Brigade , with Lt - Col Whelehen as battalion commander . Its primary responsibility was the security of internment camps at Baviaanspoort , which had 150 guards . The brigade was organised with the 1st Battalion ( the former 1st Special Service Reserve Battalion ) in the Transvaal , with headquarters at Roberts Heights the 2nd Battalion in the Western Cape Province with its headquarters in Cape Town , the 3rd ( Durban ) in Natal , the 4th ( Johannesburg ) on the Witwatersrand and in the Orange Free State and the 5th ( East London ) in the Eastern Cape Province . Later battalions were the 7th , in the Kimberley district and the Orange Free State , and the 8th , on a basis similar to that of the 6th . By 1942 , after 2 , 800 men out of a total of 6 , 061 had been reclassified and transferred to other units , the brigade organisation was dissolved . The following year four more battalions were formed , some serving in North Africa , while the 1st , 4th , 5th and 8th Battalions were broken up . Battalion commanders up to 1943 were : Colonel HF Prinsloo . As a twelve - year - old boy Hendrik Frederik Prinsloo was interned by the British concentration camp during the Anglo - Boer War but served alongside the British in the South African forces during the two World Wars . He is best remembered for the humanitarian manner in which he , as Commandant , ran the Zonderwater Italian POW camp . In addition to being made an Officer of the Military Division of the Order of the British Empire on 14 June 1945 , his efforts were recognized by the post - war Italian Government on 25 November 1949 when he , as the Camp Commandant , and three of his officers were invested with the " Order of the Star of Italy " " ( Stella della Solidarieta ) " . The award was made to those who had specially contributed to the re - building of post - war Italy . Prinsloo was further recognized by the award of the " Order of Good Merit " " ( Ordine di Bene Merente ) " by the Pope . Disbanding . At the end of the war the need for the battalions fell away and they were disbanded .