South West Africa Police before 1939
 

Attachment 45801

This badge is a very recent acquisition and I have not encountered many examples of them.

It is obviously based on the similar South African Police cap badge that was worn during the same period.

According to Owen's book, it was used prior to 1939, does anybody have more information on the badge and its use?

Hi William, a very nice piece indeed. I only have the title in my collection. I have been told that the SWA Police were closed down at the onset of the Second World War. Many in SWA were openly supporting the Nazis, so our government closed down the SWA Police and transfered many SA Police up there. All this I was told, so if you dig up proof of this or find out that this is not true, I would be glad to hear. Regards Andrew

William,
An interesting badge. An example of early Afrikaans spelling too: 'west'
instead of 'wes', and 'poliesie' instead of 'polisie'. The SWA Police
existed from 1920 to 1 June 1939.

Andrew,
I believe you're right about the circumstances in which the SWA Police
were disbanded in 1939. The story has been told in (IIRC) Hans
Strydom's The Fourth Reich, and/or in Visser's
Ossewa Brandwag - Traitors or Patriots?. The SWAP was too
small and under-resourced to deal with the Nazi situation in SWA, and
so the territory had to be assigned to the SAP instead. When WWII
began, SWA was also proclaimed a military command, so that the UDF
could function there too.

Thanks for the responses.

I have gone through all my references and resources and have found VERY little information regarding them.

There are also no reference to them in Curzon or Tylden's books so I accept the badge to be rather rare as is the shoulder title?

I will also ask a specialist SAP researcher for some inputs.

Regards,

Will

Thanks for the confirmation Arthur. William, I do believe they are rare badges. Regards Andrew

I have requested my researcher to see what she can find, I think it is worth the effort.

A very nice find, been looking for one for many years even while living in SWA. Would be interested in your research
Bill

Hi, here is a picture of the title I have. Regards Andrew

Here is an "official" or almost reply on the unit:

"GALLANTRY AWARDS OF THE SOUTH AFRICAN POLICE 1913 TO 1994
INCLUDING A COMPLETE ROLL OF HONOUR"
BY TERENCE KING,
assisted by Audrey Portman

“In South West Africa in the meantime, the influence of national socialism had been evident as far back as 1932. By 1939, Germans living in the territory, who had begun to adopt Hitler’s philosophies in their lives, had aggravated the situation.

Information gathered by the South African Police in 1939 led to the uncovering of plans for an insurrection in Windhoek and Swakopmund, which was to take place on Hitler's birthday, 20 April 1939. The objective of the uprising was to overthrow the local government by force, and present South West Africa to Hitler as a birthday gift. The total strength of the South West Africa Police was only 423 men, and they were spread out across the entire country. This made it impossible for them to be able to take effective action against the thousands of determined Germans who were well organised and capable of launching a concentrated attack.

A South African Police division of 11 officers and 315 NCOs and men, was hastily mobilized, and set out for South West Africa on 17 April 1939, arriving in Windhoek in the early hours of 20 April. In a show of force, the regiment marched through the main street of Windhoek to the showground, from where they were sent back into town, and by midday, order had been restored. All swastikas, flags and banners bearing Nazi slogans had been taken down and destroyed, and over the next few days, the Nazi ring leaders were arrested and interned at the concentration camp set up on the outskirts of Windhoek.

The Union government decreed that the policing of the South West Africa should be entrusted to the South African Police, and in terms of an act hastily passed in parliament, the SAP took over the policing of South West Africa on 1 June 1939. All 423 members of the South West African Police (243 Whites and 180 non Whites) were absorbed into the SAP.”

The researcher has just found references to the National Library of Namibia and the Namibian archives and has sent them an email.

Thanks for this, it is most interesting; it is always good to have details like this
Regards
Bill