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Natal Command

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Coordinates: 29°50′20.2878″S 31°2′4.0488″E / 29.838968833°S 31.034458000°E / -29.838968833; 31.034458000
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Natal Command
Part of
Durban, South Africa
Coordinates29°50′20.2878″S 31°2′4.0488″E / 29.838968833°S 31.034458000°E / -29.838968833; 31.034458000
TypeCommand (military formation)
Garrison information
Current
commander		None
Past
commanders		See Leadership table

Natal Command was a Command of the South African Army. It was headquartered in Durban, South Africa. By the 1980s, it was responsible for the security of the region, forming the primary level of command for military operations in support of the Police. It also provided logistic, administrative and service support to units and formations operating in its area of responsibility.[2]

History

Origin

Union Defence Force

Under the Union Defence Force, South Africa was originally divided into 9 military districts. Lieutenant Colonel J. Daniel SAStC was Officer Commanding on 3 September 1939.[3] The command included the 1st South African Brigade at Pietermaritzburg with two battalions of the Royal Natal Carabineers and the Umvoti Mounted Rifles, the 7th Infantry Brigade (South Africa) (including the Natal Mounted Rifles), two batteries of the South African Permanent Garrison Artillery, and the Natal Field Artillery on 3 September 1939.[1][4]

Brigadiers Harold Willmott and Deon Ferreira[5] served as officers commanding Natal Command after the Second World War.

SADF

From August 1974 84 Motorised Brigade was based at the Old Fort Road Military Base in Durban. While the brigade was part of 8th South African Armoured Division rather than Natal Command, its units were mostly located within the command's boundaries. These included the Durban Light Infantry (located nearby in their historic buildings within the Greyville Racecourse), the Durban Regiment, 84 Signal Unit SACS, 15 Maintenance Unit SAOSC,[6] 19 Field Engineer Regiment SAEC, and Natal Field Artillery. Other units seemingly associated with the brigade included the First City Regiment and Regiment Port Natal, both infantry units.

SADF era Natal Command insignia

In the early 1980s, the command included headquarters at Durban, 5 South African Infantry Battalion at Ladysmith, 15 Maintenance Unit in Durban, and two Commandos, the Tugela Commando and the Umvoti Commando,[a] both based in Durban.[7] It seems reasonably clear that in the research for World Armies a number of units assigned to the command at the time were missed.

84 Motorised Brigade became 9 South African Division in 1992, and later 75 Brigade, before disbanding c. 1999 with the creation of the 'type' formations.

Groups and Commandos

SADF era Natal Command Commando structure

For Territorial forces a structure of "groups" was established during the 1980s. Each of these regional groups fell under the authority of a Command and exercised operational control over a number of units, mostly Commandos.

Natal Command had three Groups (originally four) under command.

Group 9 (Pietermaritzburg)

Group 10 (Montclair)

Group 11 (Dundee)

Group 27 (Eshowe)

SANDF

SANDF director of facilities Brigadier General G Mngadi said the beach front property, formerly occupied by Headquarters Natal Command and later by the Joint Operations Division's eastern Joint Tactical Headquarters, “was leased by the National Department of Public Works for the South African Defence Force on a 99 year lease from the erstwhile Durban Corporation, now known as the Ethekweni Municipality.” Mngadi says that as a result of the consolidation of the facilities footprint in Durban, the facility had become superfluous and was returned to the city on October 16, 2009.[8]

Leadership

Natal Command[9]
From Officers Commanding To
1 November 1926 Col J. H. Breytenbach DSO 30 June 1933
1 July 1933 Col K. R. Van Der Spy MC 22 January 1937
23 January 1937 Lt Col John Daniel CBE SAStC[3] 14 February 1940
15 April 1940 Col[b] B F Armstrong DSO[10] 11 June 1940
12 June 1940 Col John Daniel CBE SAStC[3] 16 June 1944
17 June 1944 Col W. T. B. Tasker OBE 12 January 1945
13 January 1945 Lt Col W. Grewe-Brown 21 January 1945
15 February 1945 Brig J. B. Kriegler CBE 17 May 1945
4 June 1945 Col H. C. Daniel CBE MC AFC 18 October 1953
19 October 1953 Brig W. H. Hingeston CBE 30 June 1955
1 July 1955 Col C. S. Leisegang DSO 12 February 1956
16 December 1956 Col P. J. Jacobs SM 30 January 1958
1 February 1958 Col C. A. Frazer SM 31 July 1963
1 August 1963 Col P. F. Van Der Hoven 30 June 1966
1 July 1966 Brig P. E. Ferguson SM MC ED 31 May 1968
1 June 1968 Brig J. W. Blatt SM 31 December 1970
1 January 1971 Brig I. S. Guilford SM 16 January 1973
17 January 1973 Brig P. S. I. Jay SM 31 December 1973
1 January 1974 Brig H. C. Davies SM 31 December 1977
1 January 1978 Brig C. J. Lloyd 21 November 1980
22 November 1980 Brig P.E.K. Bosman SM[2] 31 August 1983
1 September 1983 Brig M. B. Anderson 31 December 1985
1 January 1986 Brig J. H. Pretorius SD 31 July 1992
1 November 2024 Brig Harold Willmott CBE[5][c] 1 November 2024
14 July 1992 Brig Deon Ferreira PVD SD SM MMM[5] 17 February 1995
18 February 1995 Brig[d] C. E. le Roux SD SM MMM 23 November 2000[11]


Notes

  1. ^ Incorrectly called Umvoiti Commando by Keegan
  2. ^ Later Maj Gen
  3. ^ Unconfirmed by other sources[9]
  4. ^ Later Maj Gen

References

  1. ^ a b c d "South African Army 1939 - 1940" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 August 2014. Retrieved 12 January 2014.
  2. ^ a b "Unit Profiles: Natal Command". Warinangola.com. Retrieved 24 December 2014.
  3. ^ a b c "Order of Battle Union of South Africa Union Defence Forces Natal Command Staff 3 September 1939". Archived from the original on 27 November 2014. Retrieved 24 December 2014.
  4. ^ "Union Defence Forces of South African — Peacetime Administrative Organization Natal Command 3 September 1939". World War II Armed Forces — Orders of Battle and Organizations. Retrieved 24 December 2014.
  5. ^ a b c "Senior Offisiere in Bevel - Senior Officers in Command". sadf.info. Retrieved 24 December 2014.
  6. ^ http://www.rfdiv.mil.za/docs/15%20MAINTENANCE%20UNIT.pdf
  7. ^ John Keegan, World Armies, cited in Lt Cdr Carl T. Orbann USN, 'South African Defense Policy,' Thesis for the Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, CA., June 1984, 124.
  8. ^ Engelbrecht, Leon (3 December 2009). "Old "Natal Command" site vacated". defenceweb.co.za. DefenceWeb. Retrieved 24 December 2014.
  9. ^ a b Anonymous. Natal Command:A Brief History. Natal Command.
  10. ^ Nöthling, C.J.; Meyers, E.M. (1982). "Leiers Deur die Jare (1912-1982)" (Online). Scientia Militaria - South African Journal of Military Studies (in Afrikaans). 12 (2). doi:10.5787/12-2-631. ISSN 2224-0020.
  11. ^ Anonymous. Natal Command:The Military History of Natal 1486-1990. Unpublished manuscript.

See also

South African Army Order of Battle 1940

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