South African Army - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia World War II Main article: Military history of South Africa during World War II
South Africa's contribution to
World War II consisted mainly of supplying troops, men and material for the
North African and
Italian campaigns. Numerous volunteers also flew for the Royal Air Force.
The
South African 1st Infantry Division took part in several actions in North Africa in
1941 and
1942, including the
Battle of El Alamein, before being withdrawn to South Africa.
The
South African 2nd Infantry Division also took part in a number of actions in North Africa during 1942, but on
21 June 1942 two complete infantry brigades of the division as well as most of the supporting units were captured at the fall of
Tobruk.
The
South African 3rd Infantry Division never took an active part in any battles but instead organised and trained the South African home defence forces, performed garrison duties and supplied replacements for the South African 1st Infantry Division and the South African 2nd Infantry Division. However, one of this division's constituent brigades -
7 SA Motorised Brigade - did take part in the invasion of
Madagascar in 1942.
The
South African 6th Armoured Division fought in numerous actions in
Italy from
1944 to
1945.
Of the 334,000 men volunteered for full time service in the South African Army during the war (including some 211,000 whites, 77,000 blacks and 46,000 "coloureds" and Asians), nearly 9,000 were killed in action.