BOTHA, SMUTS AND THE GREAT WAR

1-240790

Examines the wartime roles of South African prime minister, General Louis Botha and his deputy General Jan Smuts. Both commanded in the field. Steadily, the South African army they commanded - benefiting from wartime training, sometimes in the field - gained resilience, experience, and battle-hardiness, adapting to the conditions of the campaigns and the demands of the tasks. South Africa's campaigns were complex and divergent, starting with the invasion of neighboring German South West Africa - to neutralize enemy radio stations and so aid the security of the South Atlantic. Suddenly suspended following the outbreak of the Afrikaner Rebellion, the campaign recommenced in January 1915.

Following its conclusion, an infantry brigade raised for Western Front service was diverted to Egypt before facing near annihilation at Delville Wood. Simultaneously, a large South African force, fighting alongside British, African and Indian forces, overcame German resistance in East Africa whilst a brigade of field artillery and later the Cape Corps served in Egypt and Palestine. Moreover, approximately 6,500 South Africans served in the British Army, Royal Flying Corps/Royal Air Force, and in the Royal Navy.