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#1
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Commands and Military Areas
Hi All
I am trying to trace the lineage of the various UDF/SADF/SANDF Territorial Commands (part of a badge reference exercise). Can anyone help confirm or tidy up the list below? Below that is a list of the early Military Districts. Was there any direct relationship between individual Military Areas and later Commands? Were there any distinctive insignia that were directly tied to any of the Military Areas, rather than to the component units? Commands Far North Command Eastern Transvaal Command SWA Command Cape Command (later WP Cmd?) Western Province Command Eastern Province and Border Command (later EP Cmd?) Eastern Province Command HQ Natal Command HQ Central Command (later OFS Cmd?) Orange Free State Command HQ Western Transvaal Command (later NW Districts/NW Cmd?) North Western Districts HQ - later NW Command HQ (Cloth type) North Western Command HQ Northern Command (later N Tvl Cmd?) Northern Transvaal Command HQ Witwatersrand Command (later Gauteng Command?) Gauteng Command (prev Witwatersrand Cmd or Wits and N Tvl?) North West Cape Command Northern Cape Command Outeniqua Command (later SWD Cmd?) South Western Districts Command Southern Cape Command Prev South Western Districts Command Walvisbaai Command Military Area Walvis Bay Walvis Bay Military Area (Equiv to Command) UDF Military Districts Military District No. 1 / Militair Distrikt No.1 Military District No. 1A / Militair Subdistrikt No. 1A Military District No. 2 / Militair Distrikt No. 2 Military District No. 3 / Militair Distrikt No. 3 Military District No. 4 / Militair Distrikt No. 4 Military District No. 5 / Militair Distrikt No. 5 Military District No. 6 / Militair Distrikt No. 6 Military District No. 7 / Militair Distrikt No. 7 Military District No. 8 / Militair Distrikt No. 8 Military District No. 9 / Militair Distrikt No. 9 Military District No. 10 / Militair Distrikt No. 10 Military District No. 11 / Militair Distrikt No. 11 Military District No. 12 / Militair Distrikt No. 12 Military District No. 13 / Militair Distrikt No. 13 Thanks for any help. Regards Craig |
#2
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Hi Craig
An interesting project and I am sure will be of real interest to collectors. I will see what I can find, I am sure there is a section of the UDF in one of Neil Orphens WW2 books. Brian |
#3
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Hi Brian
Thanks for that. It is surprisingly difficult to find useful info and I will not be able to get to the archives any time soon, so I would appreciate anything that you do manage to unearth. Regards Craig |
#4
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Quote:
In broad outline : there were originally (1913) about thirteen military districts, whose boundaries were adjusted from time to time. In 1926, they were reduced to six by means of amalgamations. In 1934, they were renamed 'commands' and given names instead of numbers. Names were changed from time to time, and new commands were created from time to time, by subdividing existing areas. They were discontinued in the late 1990s, when the SANDF went over to the joint services system. The only distinctive insignia that I know of were the shoulder flashes, which were introduced in 1966, and cap badges which were introduced in the 1980s. As far as lineage goes, I have some notes somewhere. If I can find them, I can post the details here.
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Regards Arthur |
#5
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Found my notes. Here they are, but very much a case of E & OE !
Fourteen military districts were established wef 1 January 1913. They were numbered 1, 1A and 2-13. They were reduced to twelve in 1919, but apparently increased to thirteen or fourteen a year or two later. On 1 April 1926, they were reduced to six. I don't have details of the various changes made between 1913 and 1926, but they were published in the Government Gazette. If you have access to gazettes from that period, e.g. in one of the national libraries, you ought to be able to reconstruct the various changes that were made between 1913 and 1926, if you need them. From 1926, the story as I have it was : * MD No 1 (1926) -> Cape Comd 1934 -> Cape Fortress Comd 1942 -> Cape Comd 1946 -> Western Province Comd 1959 -> closed 1998. * MD No 2 (1926) -> Eastern Province Comd 1934 -> Eastern Province & Border Comd 1946 -> Eastern Province Comd 1959 -> closed 1998. * MD No 3 (1926) -> Natal Comd 1934 -> Natal Fortress Comd 1942 -> Natal Comd 1946 -> closed 1998. * MD No 4 (1926) -> OFS Comd 1934 -> Central Comd 1939(?) -> OFS Comd 1959 -> closed 1998. * MDs No 5 and 6 (1926) -> Transvaal Comd 1934 -> Roberts Heights & Transvaal Comd c1936 -> Voortrekkerhoogte & Transvaal Comd 1939 -> Transvaal Comd c1940 -> Northern Comd 1946 -> Northern Transvaal Comd 1959 -> closed 1998. * Witwatersrand Comd (1937) -> Gauteng Comd c1995 -> closed 1998. * South West Africa Comd (1939) -> became SWA Territory Force 1980. * Outeniqua Fortress Comd (1940?) -> closed 1946 -> reopened as Outeniqua Comd 1953 -> SW Districts Comd 1959 -> Southern Cape Comd 1968(?) -> closed 1986. * Western Transvaal Comd (1950) -> North Western Districts Comd 1968 -> North West Comd 19?? -> closed 1998. * North Western Cape Comd (1951) -> closed 1968. * Walvis Bay Comd (1964) -> incorporated into SWA Comd 1968. * SA Army Logistics Comd (1982). * Eastern Transvaal Comd (1983) -> closed 1998. * Far North Comd (1986) -> closed 1998. * Northern Cape Comd (1986) -> closed 1998.
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Regards Arthur |
#6
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Arthur
That is great info, thanks for posting this info...more comprehensive than what I had. Brian |
#7
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Hi Ous
This is an interesting topic. I didn't ever think about this before but a display of the badges would make a nice project. Can any of you guys post the various command badges? Cheers, Alex |
#8
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Alex
The later SADF "Tupperware" flashes had Command Bars added above the Unit/Regiment/Command flashes. Three that I know were: Natal had the two Gnues/ Wilderbeest, Cape Town had the Mountain and Northern Transvaal had the Barbertan Daisies. I think the area around Potchefstroon (Western Transvaal) had crossed miners picks, stand to be corrected on that one. Andrews book covers this. On the "step outs" they had small separate bars made to be placed above the shoulder flashes. Brian |
#9
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Natal Command also had a beret badge, that much I know
Cheers, Alex |
#10
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Thanks all for the responses.
Arthur, great info there, thank you. Some more notes: * SWA Command actually coexisted with the SWATF, although it seems to have been redesignated "SA Army Forces SWA" at some point in the '80s (possibly when the SWATF was established). * Walvis Bay in the '80s existed as a Military Area in SWA, on a par with the 7 SWA sectors. Four of those sectors would become part of the SWATF, with 10, 20 and 70 remaining under SADF command (SWA Command). Of course the line between SWA Command and the SWATF (which was actually still very much part of the SADF) were not as clear on the ground as they were on paper. With Namibian independence, Walvis Bay MA lived on as the equivalent of a territorial command until the area was ceded to Namibia in Feb 1994, as far as I know. * Northern Transvaal Command also disappeared with Transvaal Command around 1995/6 as far as I know. I am not sure if they were merged and continued as Gauteng Command or what the official continuity was there. I think the change to Commands officially took place in Oct/Nov 1933 but it could have actually been effective 1934. Either way, it would be interesting to dig around to see what else happened at the same time. Metal/"tupperware" shoulder flashes existed for the Commands of the time and cloth shoulder flashes for most before that but I don't know of any that wore shoulder titles. The beret badges were a late development. The Union Government Gazettes make very interesting reading but it takes a LOT of time to browse through them to find the bits of interest. Thanks again to all and please keep the info flowing. Regards Craig |
#11
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Craig
Thanks for the additional info. Now that you mention it, I have two dates for the renaming of the MDs to commands : 18 November 1933 and 9 March 1934. Perhaps the first was the authorisation date and the second the implementation date. If you are working through the gazettes, here are effective dates on which command areas were defined or renamed. They may help to narrow down the search for government notices to within a few months either side of the dates : 1926 : 1 April 1937 : 1 February 1939 : 10 November 1946 : 3 May 1950 : 28 July 1951 : 30 November 1953 : 2 October 1959 : 16 October.
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Regards Arthur |
#12
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Have attached some of the command affiliation bars and some of the command cap badges for interest.
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