Western Province Command was a
command
Command may refer to:
Computing
* Command (computing), a statement in a computer language
* COMMAND.COM, the default operating system shell and command-line interpreter for DOS
* Command key, a modifier key on Apple Macintosh computer keyboards
* ...
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. ...
.
History
Origin
Union Defence Force
Under the Union Defence Force, South Africa was originally divided into 9 military districts. By the 1930s this area became Cape Command.
Cape Command, (with its headquarters at the
Castle of Good Hope
The Castle of Good Hope ( nl, Kasteel de Goede Hoop; af, Kasteel die Goeie Hoop) known locally as the Castle or Cape Town Castle is a bastion fort built in the 17th century in Cape Town, South Africa. Originally located on the coastline of ...
, Cape Town, included
3rd Infantry Brigade
The 3rd Infantry Brigade was a Regular Army infantry brigade of the British Army, part of the 1st Infantry Division. Originally formed in 1809, during the Peninsular War, the brigade had a long history, seeing action in the Second Anglo-Afg ...
,
8th Infantry Brigade (Oudtshoorn), the Coast Artillery Brigade (two heavy batteries, two medium batteries, and the Cape Field Artillery), and a battery of the 1st Anti-Aircraft Regiment.
Western Province Command itself appears to have formed in 1959. Brig
Magnus Malan
General Magnus André de Merindol Malan (30 January 1930 – 18 July 2011) was a South African military figure and politician during the last years of apartheid in South Africa. He served respectively as Minister of Defence in the cabinet of P ...
, later Chief of the SADF, took command in 1971.
SADF
From 1 August 1974, units transferred from Western Province Command to the new
71 Motorised Brigade included the
Cape Field Artillery
A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment which drapes the wearer's back, arms, and chest, and connects at the neck.
History
Capes were common in medieval Europe, especially when combined with a Hood (headgear), hood in t ...
, the
Cape Town Highlanders
The Cape Town Highlanders is a reserve mechanised infantry regiment of the South African Army.
History Origins
Descendants of Scottish immigrants to South Africa raised the Cape Town Highlanders in 1885. On 24 April of the same year, their se ...
,
Regiment Westelike Provinsie
The General Jan Smuts Regiment (formerly ) is a reserve mechanised infantry regiment of the South African Army.
History Origin
Regiment Westelike Provinsie (RWP), was one of eight Afrikaner-oriented Traditional Citizen Force infantry units ...
,
Regiment Boland
Regiment Boland was an infantry regiment of the South African Army. As a reserve unit, it had a status roughly equivalent to that of a British Territorial Army or United States Army National Guard unit.
History Origin
Regiment Boland traced ...
,
Regiment Oranjerivier
The Blaauwberg Armoured Regiment (formerly Regiment Oranjerivier) is a reserve armoured regiment of the South African Army.
History Origin
The Regiment was founded as an Afrikaans language unit on 1 July 1952 as ("Regiment North-West Cape"), bu ...
, a
South African Engineer Corps
The South African Army Engineer Formation is the controlling entity of all South African Army military engineering units. The Formation is currently commanded by the General Officer Commanding (GOC); Brigadier General D.W. Nkosi, as of early 201 ...
field squadron, 74 Signal Squadron
SACS, 4 Maintenance Unit,
30 Field Workshop SAOSC
3 (three) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number following 2 and preceding 4, and is the smallest odd prime number and the only prime preceding a square number. It has religious or cultural significance in many societie ...
, and 3 Field Ambulance.
12 Supply and Transport Company, originally established on 22 August 1961, became 4 Maintenance Unit on 1 September 1971.
By the early 1980s Western Province Command included the
Cape Garrison Artillery
A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment which drapes the wearer's back, arms, and chest, and connects at the neck.
History
Capes were common in medieval Europe, especially when combined with a hood in the chaperon. Th ...
,
101 Signal Squadron,
6 Base Ordnance Depot, Command Workshops (all at Cape Town) the South African
Cape Corps
The Cape Corps and its predecessor units were the main military organisations in which the Coloured members of South Africa's population served.
History
As one of the military units of South Africa with one of the longest histories, the Cape ...
Battalion (
Eerste River, Western Cape
Eerste River (Eersterivier in Afrikaans, meaning "first river") is a town in the Western Cape, South Africa and a suburb of the City of Cape Town. It forms part of the Oostenberg subregion of the city situated behind the Stellenbosch/Vlaeberg Hi ...
),
2 Military Hospital,
3 Field Ambulance, and three Commandos (all at
Wynberg) and
10 Anti-Aircraft Regiment SAA and 4 Electronics Workshops (both at
Youngsfield Military Base at
Ottery, Cape Town
Ottery is a suburb in Cape Town, South Africa. It is on the edge of the Southern Suburbs. The Youngsfield Military Base, Royal Cape Golf Club and Cape Town's 'official' China Town are located in the suburb. Every year the Youngsfield Militar ...
).
Disbandment
This Command was disbanded after the
South African Defence Review 1998
South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west.
Etymology
The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz' ...
.
Groups and Commando units
Group 1 (Youngsfield)
*
Overberg Commando
*
False Bay Commando
*
Koeberg Commando
*
Lions Head Commando
*
Skiereiland Commando
*
Swartland Commando
*
Tygerberg Commando
*
Wildcoast Commando
*
Wynberg Commando
Group 31 (Wellington)
*
Caledon Commando
*
Paarl Commando
*
Stellenbosch Commando
*
Swellendam Commando
Swellendam Commando was a light infantry regiment of the South African Army. It formed part of the South African Army Infantry Formation as well as the South African Territorial Reserve.
History Origins Batavian era
Swellendam Commando can trac ...
*
Winterberg Commando
*
Worcester Commando
Group 40 (Wingsfield)
*
Clanwilliam Commando
*
Piketberg Commando
*
Swartland Commando
*
Van Rhynsdorp Commando
*
West Coast Commando
Commanders
See also
*
South African Army Order of Battle 1940
Notes
References
Commands of the South African Army
Disbanded military units and formations in Cape Town
Military units and formations established in 1959
Military units and formations disestablished in the 1990s
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