Page 279 - Il Mediterraneo quale elemento del Potere Marittimo - Atti 16-18 settembre 1996

SOUTH AFRICA'S NAVAL ROLE IN THE MEDITERRANEAN
DURING THE SECOND WORLD W AR

THEAN D. POTGIETER

Introduction and background

During .the Second World War, South African naval vessels and personnel
were deployed in the Medicerranean. Hardly cwo decades before, Souch Africa had
no navy and had never before even taken responsibility for ber own maritime de-
fence or territorial wacers.
For cencuries, the maritime .defence of South Africa was in che hands of, first
che Dutch and later the British, who had wrestled che Cape of Good Hope away
from che Ducch because of che Cape's supreme strategie value as che link with In-
dia and a greac pare of ber empire. This meant thac for more chan a century and
a half (from 1806 co the abrogation of che Simon's Town Agreement in 1974) che
Royal Navy had a constane presence in South African terricorial wacers. Ic also im-
plied chat when the firsc flickers of a indigenous maricime defence organisation
appeared, ic was British in character and indeed che South African Division of the
pare-cime Royal Naval Voluncary Reserve (RNVR) carne into being long before the
country had a navy.
The South African Navy daces back co 1922, when the Souch African Naval
Service was creaced with che arrivai of three small ships from Britain. Unfortunate-
ly, as a result ofbudget cuts during che depression years of 1933-4 these ships and
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their crews were paid off and only a skeleton scaff remained < >. This was stili che
posicion at the outbreak of che Second World War in 1939.
After South Mrica became involved in che Second World War, a small ocean-
going navy was createci for che defence of the Union's ports and coastline. This,
however, was not to be che limit of South Africa·s naval role during che Second
World War as South African ships served in the Mediterranean for the longest pare
of che war and South African vessels participated in all the phases of the Mediter-
ranean sea war: including the operations along the North African coast, the inva-
sion ofSicily, the invasion ofSouthern France and subsequent operations in Greek
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waters < >. Their "little ships'•, were small and uncomfortable and were built for du-
ties vastly removed from those in which South Africans so distinguished themselves.
Furthermore, South Africans did noc only serve on Souch African ships. As
crew members on board many a Royal Naval vessel, they literally served in ali cor-
ners of che world, including che Mediterranean. This paper will therefore focus on
Souch Africans serving in che Medicerranean.