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Western Province Command
Western Province Command
Active	1959 - 1999
Disbanded	1999
Country	South Africa
Type	Command
Part of	Union Defence Force; South African Defence Force; South African National Defence Force;
Cape Command (3 September 1939 - July 1940)
Parent unit	Union Defence Force
Components	HQ The Castle, Cape Town, Cape Province A. Permanent Force Cape Detachment, The Special Service Battalion: Cape Town No. 1 Anti-Aircraft Artillery Battery: Bamboevlei, Wynberg; ; The Coast Artillery Brigade: HQ, The Castle, Cape Town 2 Sections of Cape Garrison Artillery designated as Engineers and Signals: Cape Town; 1st Heavy Battery: Cape Town (Wynard Battery): Table Bay; 2nd Heavy Battery: Simonstown (Queen's Battery): Simonstown; 1st Medium Battery: Cape Town; 2nd Medium Battery: Cape Town; No. 1 Armoured Train: Cape Town; The Cape Field Artillery (Prince Albert's Own): Cape Town; ; ; B. Active Citizen Force 3rd Infantry Brigade: HQ Cape Town The Duke of Edinburgh's Own Rifles: Cape Town; The Cape Town Highlanders (The Duke of Connaught and Strathearn's Own): Cape Town; The Kimberley Regiment: Kimberley; 3rd Field Company, South African Engineer Corps: Cape Town; ; 8th Infantry Brigade: HQ Oudtshoorn Regiment Westelike Provinsie: Stellenbosch; Regiment Suid-Westelike Distrikte: Oudtshoorn; Die Middellandse Regiment: Graff-Reinet; 8th Field Company, South African Engineer Corps: Cape Town; ; ;
Garrison/HQ	Cape Town, South Africa
Motto(s)	Fidelitas et Honor; (Fidelity and Honour)
Commanders
Notable; commanders	General Magnus Malan

Western Province Command was a command of the South African Army.

History

Origin

Union Defence Force

Under the Union Defence Force, South Africa was originally divided into 9 military districts. By the 1930s this area became Cape Command.^[2] Cape Command, (with its headquarters at the Castle of Good Hope, Cape Town, included 3rd Infantry Brigade, 8th Infantry Brigade (Oudtshoorn), the Coast Artillery Brigade (two heavy batteries, two medium batteries, and the Cape Field Artillery), and a battery of the 1st Anti-Aircraft Regiment.^[1]

Western Province Command itself appears to have formed in 1959. Brig Magnus Malan, later Chief of the SADF, took command in 1971.

SADF

From 1 August 1974, units transferred from Western Province Command to the new 71 Motorised Brigade included the Cape Field Artillery, the Cape Town Highlanders, Regiment Westelike Provinsie, Regiment Boland, Regiment Oranjerivier, a South African Engineer Corps field squadron, 74 Signal Squadron SACS, 4 Maintenance Unit, 30 Field Workshop SAOSC, and 3 Field Ambulance.^[3]^: 16 12 Supply and Transport Company, originally established on 22 August 1961, became 4 Maintenance Unit on 1 September 1971.

By the early 1980s Western Province Command included the Cape Garrison Artillery, 101 Signal Squadron, 6 Base Ordnance Depot, Command Workshops (all at Cape Town) the South African Cape Corps Battalion (Eerste River, Western Cape), 2 Military Hospital, 3 Field Ambulance, and three Commandos (all at Wynberg) and 10 Anti-Aircraft Regiment SAA and 4 Electronics Workshops (both at Youngsfield Military Base at Ottery, Cape Town).

Disbandment

This Command was disbanded c. 1999 after the South African Defence Review 1998.

Groups and Commando units

Group 1 (Youngsfield)

Group 31 (Wellington)

Group 40 (Wingsfield)

Commanders

Officers Commanding
From	Cape Command (c. 1930–1959)	To
December 1933	Colonel George Brink CB CBE DSO^[4]	31 January 1937
From	Western Province Command (1959–1999)	To
1969	Brig Jan Fourie	1971
1971	Brig Magnus Malan SM	1972
1972	Brig Helm Roos	29 December 2024

Notes

^ South African Permanent Force and University of Cape Town Active Citizen Force
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d Composite Battery of Cape Garrison Artillery and South African Permanent Garrison Artillery
^ An Active Citizen Force unit with Permanent Force nucleus
^ An Active Citizen Force unit with Permanent Force nucleus

References

^ ^a ^b ^c ^d "South African Army 1939 - 1940" (PDF). Retrieved 12 January 2014.
^ Ryan, David A. "Union Defence Forces 6 September 1939". World War II Armed Forces — Orders of Battle and Organizations. Retrieved 30 November 2014.
^ Crook, Lionel, Col (Rtd) (1994). Greenbank, Michele (ed.). 71 Motorised Brigade: a history of the headquarters 71 Motorised Brigade and of the citizen force units under its command. Brackenfell, South Africa: L. Crook in conjunction with the South African Legion. ISBN 9780620165242. OCLC 35814757.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^ Ploeger, Jan (1989). "SUID-AFRIKAANSE STAATS- en STAATSONDERSTEUNDE MILITÊRE GESKIEDSKRYWING (1924-1987)". Scientaria Militaria South African Journal of Military Studies (in Afrikaans). 19 (4): 27.