The South African 3rd Infantry Division was an infantry division of the

South African Army The South African Army is the principal land warfare force of South Africa, a part of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), along with the South African Air Force, South African Navy and South African Military Health Service. ...

during World War II.

History

This division was formed in South Africa on 23 October 1940 with its headquarters in Pretoria. The 3rd Infantry Division as a whole did not go into combat, but its 7th Motorized brigade group participated in the 1942 Invasion of Madagascar. The division organised and trained the South African home defence forces, performed garrison duties and trained and supplied replacements for the 1st and

2nd A second is the base unit of time in the International System of Units (SI). Second, Seconds or 2nd may also refer to: Mathematics * 2 (number), as an ordinal (also written as ''2nd'' or ''2d'') * Second of arc, an angular measurement unit ...

Divisions deployed to East Africa and later to the Western Desert. The division was based in Pretoria until 1942, whereafter the division then moved to Ermelo in the Eastern Transvaal, although its constituent units were deployed as far as the then South West Africa. On 4 April 1942 the division was redesignated the South African 3rd Armoured Division. This division was disbanded on 17 May 1943, without ever having been deployed. However, one of the division's constituent units, the 7th Motorised Brigade, did take part in the invasion of Madagascar. Major General Hermanus Botha was the commander of the division from 23 August 1940 until its redesignation.

Order of battle

On formation in October 1940, the Division was structured as follows: *Division Troops **6th Light Field Brigade, SAA **8th, 9th, 10th Field Companies, SAEC? **17th Divisional Field Park Company, SAEC? * 7th South African Infantry Brigade (Raised 11 July 1940 at Premier Mine) **1st Pretoria Regiment **1st Witwatersrand Rifles ** Regiment de la Rey * 8th South African Infantry Brigade (Raised 1 July 1940 in East London. Disbanded November 1940.) **The Cape Town Highlanders ** Prince Alfred's Guard **The First City Regiment *

9th South African Infantry Brigade 9 (nine) is the natural number following and preceding . Evolution of the Arabic digit In the beginning, various Indians wrote a digit 9 similar in shape to the modern closing question mark without the bottom dot. The Kshatrapa, Andhra and ...

(Raised 15 July 1940 at Premier Mine) **

Regiment President Steyn A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, service and/or a specialisation. In Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of front-line soldiers, recruited or conscripted ...

(Until 22 Nov 40) **Die Middelandse Regiment ** Regiment Westelike Provinsie (Until 1 Sep 40) **2nd Pretoria Regiment (From Sep - Oct 40) **2nd Transvaal Scottish (From 4 Sep - 21 Nov 40) **2nd

Royal Natal Carbineers Royal may refer to: People * Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name * A member of a royal family Places United States * Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community * Royal, Illinois, a village * Royal, Iowa, a cit ...

(From 9 Sep - 3 Oct 40) **1st Regiment Botha (From Sep - Nov 40) **1st Pretoria Highlanders (From Nov 40) **The Cape Town Highlanders (From 6 Nov 40) **2nd Natal Mounted Rifles (From 23 Nov 40) * 10th South African Infantry Brigade (Raised July 1940. Replaced 8th Bde in Nov 40.) **The Kimberley Regiment **2nd Witwatersrand Rifles **The First City Regiment * 11th South African Infantry Brigade (Raised July 1940. Disbanded October 1940.) **2nd Witwatersrand Rifles **1st South-West African Infantry Battalion **2nd Imperial Light Horse * 12th South African Infantry Brigade (Raised July 1940. Disbanded September 1940.) **2nd

**2nd Pretoria Regiment **2nd Rand Light Infantry

Citations

{{SA Army Units South African World War II divisions Infantry divisions of South Africa Military units and formations of South Africa in World War II Military units and formations established in 1940 Military units and formations of the British Empire in World War II Military units and formations disestablished in 1942