Armoured warfare : the South African experience in East Africa 1940-1941

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Following South African entry into the Second World War on 6 September 1939, the UnionDefence Force (UDF) transformed from an ageing peacetime defence force into a modernarmed force capable of projecting offensive power. During the interwar period a certain stateof melancholia had existed in the UDF in terms of military innovation, which resulted inmuddled thinking in the UDF in terms of armoured warfare and mechanisation. The offensivepotential of armoured forces was simply not understood by the South African defenceplanners, with the result that there was only a token armoured force in the UDF inSeptember 1939.The South African entry into the war was the impetus for the development of a viablearmoured force within the UDF, and the South African Tank Corps (SATC) was establishedin May 1940. Changes in both the nature and organisational structure of the South Africandefence establishment followed. The Italian presence in Abyssinia and Italian Somalilandwas seen as a direct threat to the neighbouring British East African territories, and SouthAfrica deployed to Kenya during June 1940, soon after the Italian declaration of war.The South African deployment to East Africa was the first deployment of the UDF in asituation of regular war since the First World War. Despite the doctrine that underpinned theSouth African deployment of armoured forces in East Africa, the SATC units soon learnedthat the accepted doctrine, borrowed from the British War Office during the interwar period,was but a mere guide to offensive employment. The story of the South African deployment toEast Africa during the war is used as a lens through which to investigate the role andemployment of both the UDF armoured cars and light tanks. By separately discussing theAllied offensives through Italian Somaliland and southern Abyssinia during 1940-1941, thetactical and operational employment of the South African armour during this time becomesparamount when evaluated against their successes and failures. The nature of the opposingItalian forces in East Africa, the ever-changing topography and climate of the theatre ofoperations, and the nature of the South African offensive operations throughout thecampaign, all combined to shape the novel way in which the armoured cars and tanks of theSATC were employed throughout 1940-1941. The operational experiences that the UDFgained during the campaign in East Africa shaped the further deployments of South Africanarmour to North Africa, Madagascar and Italy during the remainder of the war.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University