South African Overseas Expeditionary Force

South African Overseas Expeditionary Force

Cap badge of the 1st SA Infantry Brigade
Active 1915–1919
Country  Union of South Africa
Allegiance  United Kingdom
Branch Army
Type Infantry
Engagements Egypt Campaign (1916)
Western Front Campaign (1916–1918)
German East Africa Campaign (1916–1918)
Palestine Campaign (1917–1918)
Decorations Pte William Frederick Faulds VC
L Cpl William Henry Hewitt VC
Captain William Anderson Bloomfield VC
Battle honours

Belatedly awarded to the 1915 Cape Corps in 1973:

Disbanded 1919
Commanders
Notable
commanders		 Lt-Genl Jan Smuts
Lt-Genl Sir Jacob van Deventer
Maj-Genl Sir Henry Timson Lukin

The South African Overseas Expeditionary Force (SAOEF) was a volunteer military organisation in World War I.

Organisation

The South African government formed the South African Overseas Expeditionary Force (SAOEF) in July 1915, as its contribution to the British war effort against the Central Powers. As South African legislation restricted the Union Defence Forces (UDF) to operating in southern Africa, an entirely new force, made up of volunteers, had to be raised for service in other theatres of war. As they were not officially a South African force, the SAOEF was placed under British operational command for operations on the Western Front.[Note 1]

Many volunteers came from UDF units, but they enrolled as individuals, not as contingents, and there was no formal link between SAOEF and UDF units as such.

The SAOEF consisted of several arms of service:

SAOEF units and formations did not serve as distinct South African forces, but were integrated into the British imperial armies and divisions in the field.

Campaigns

The SAOEF fought in four campaigns.

German East Africa Campaign (1916–1918)

During the East African Campaign (World War I), there was strong South African participation and leadership. SA Field Artillery, the 1st and 2nd SA Mounted Brigades, the 2nd and 3rd SA Infantry Brigades, and the Cape Corps fought in British operations against German forces in German East Africa (now Tanzania) from January 1916 until the war in Africa ended on 25 November 1918. Two South African generals, Lt. Gen. Jan Smuts and Lt. Gen. Sir Jacob van Deventer, commanded the operations. Their major battles were: Salaita Hill, Kilimanjaro, and Kondoa-Irangi in 1916; and Behobeho, Narungombe, and Nyangao in 1917.

Captain William Anderson Bloomfield won the Victoria Cross for gallantry.

Egypt Campaign (1916)

The 1st SA Infantry Brigade was deployed in British operations against the Sanusi in Egypt from January to March 1916. It fought in the Action of Halazin and the Action of Agagiya.

Western Front Campaign (1916–1918)

The SA Heavy Artillery and the 1st SA Infantry Brigade fought in the trenches of the Western Front against German forces in France and Belgium, from May 1916 until the war in Europe ended on 11 November 1918. They fought in the battles of the Somme in 1916; Arras, Ypres, and Menin in 1917; and Passchendaele, Messines, Mont Kemmel, and Cambrai in 1918.

The two events of the campaign that are still commemorated are the Battle of Delville Wood (part of the Somme offensive), and the sinking of the troopship SS Mendi, with the loss of more than 600 African members of the South African Native Labour Corps (1917).

Two SAOEF members, Pte William Frederick Faulds and L Cpl William Henry Hewitt, won the Victoria Cross for gallantry.

Palestine Campaign (1917–1918)

The SA Field Artillery and the Cape Corps fought in British operations against Turkish forces in Palestine from August 1917 until the end of the war in November 1918. They fought in the battles of Gaza, El Mughar, and Nebi Samwil in 1917; and Tel Asur, Battle of Megiddo 1918, Sharon, and Nablus in 1918.

Disbandment

The SAOEF units and formations were disbanded in 1919. As there were no formal links between SAOEF units and the Union Defence Forces units which had provided their initial manpower, the SAOEF's war record, including its many honours, was not perpetuated by the UDF (except for the Cape Corps battle honours, which were allowed to the SA Cape Corps Service Battalion formed in 1973).

Notes

  1. ↑ The South African Union Defence Act of 1914 prohibited the deployment of South African troops beyond the borders of the South Africa and its immediate neighbouring territories. In order to send troops to Europe to support the Commonwealth in World War I, Generals Botha and Smuts created the South African Overseas Expeditionary Force. However, because of the limitations of the Defence Act, they issued a General Order (Order 672 of 1915) which stated that The South African Overseas Expeditionary Force will be Imperial and have the status of regular British Troops. "Status" was meant to imply administrative purposes, as Britain was paying for the maintenance of the force in the field for the sake of local political sensitivities. Regrettably, this Administrative Order later meant that the South African units which served as part of the Overseas Expeditionary Force were not, as South African units, entitled to retain Regimental Colours awarded to them for battles fought as "British" units. The 1st Infantry Brigade Group was the first unit to be formed as a constituent part of the South African Overseas Expeditionary Force. Reference Digby p.146

Citations

  1. ↑ S Afr MHJ Vol 7 No 2
  2. ↑ Digby p. 18
  3. 1 2 Digby p. 19
  4. ↑ Digby p. 19
  5. ↑ Buchan p.55
  6. ↑ Buchan Appendix 1

See also

References

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