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. SADF era Western Cape Command insignia

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

SADF era Western Province Command Commando structure

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