Natal Command

Natal Command
Part of Union Defence Force South African Defence Force South African National Defence Force
Durban, South Africa
Coordinates	29°50′20.2878″S 31°2′4.0488″E
Type	Command (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 South African Infantry Brigade (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)

• Midland Commando
• Midmar Commando
• Natalia Commando
• Umkomaas Commando
• Umvoti Commando
• Weenan-Kliprivier Commando
• Griqualand East Commando

Group 10 (Montclair)

• Bluff Commando
• Durban North Commando
• Durban South Commando
• Highway Commando
• Oribi Commando
• South Coast Commando
• Umgeni Commando

Group 11 (Dundee)

• Drakensberg Commando
• Dundee and District Commando

Group 27 (Eshowe)

• Insele Commando
• Northern Natal Commando
• Pongola Commando
• Tugela Commando
• Umkhombe Commando

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. DanielCBE 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
29 December 2024	Brig Harold Willmott CBE[5][c]	29 December 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]
From	Garrison / Command Sergeants Major[12]: 11	To
1 July 1927	WO1 J. H. Nassey	31 May 1936
1 June 1936	WO1 S. J. Riley	3 May 1940
1 May 1940	WO2 K. W. Van Wijk	28 February 1941
1 March 1941	WO1 E. A. Aylett	30 June 1946
1 July 1946	WO1 K. N. Van Wijk	30 November 1946
1 December 1946	WO1 T. W. Rochwell	31 December 1962
29 July 1966	WO1 E. H. van den Bergh	31 May 1971
1 June 1971	WO1 R. H . Ueckermann	30 April 1974
1 May 1974	WO1 D. J. Maritz	13 May 1982
14 May 1982	WO1 P. H. Rohrbeck PMM	30 September 1992
1 October 1992	WO1 J. T. Moorcroft PMD VRM[e]	1 November 1993
2 November 1993	WO1 J.M. Goodrich PMM MMM	nd

Notes

1. Incorrectly called Umvoiti Commando by Keegan
2. Later Maj Gen
3. Unconfirmed by other sources^[9]
4. Later Maj Gen
5. Later Sgt Major of the Army

References

1. "South African Army 1939 - 1940" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 August 2014. Retrieved 12 January 2014.
2. "Unit Profiles: Natal Command". Warinangola.com. Retrieved 24 December 2014.
3. "Order of Battle Union of South Africa Union Defence Forces Natal Command Staff 3 September 1939". Retrieved 24 December 2014.^{[dead link‍]}
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. "Senior Offisiere in Bevel - Senior Officers in Command". sadf.info. Retrieved 24 December 2014.
6. "Archived copy" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2014-12-27. Retrieved 2014-12-27.
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. 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.
12. Anon. Natal Command in Focus. South African Army.

See also

• South African Army Order of Battle 1940

External links

• Bergh, Willem; Smith, William; Botha, Willem; Laing, Michael (June 1992). "THE PLACE OF NATAL COMMAND IN THE HISTORY OF WORLD SCIENCE". Military History Journal. 9 (1). The South African Military History Society. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
• Bergh, Willem; Smith, William; Botha, Willem; Laing, Michael. "The Place of Natal Command in the History of World Science". Facts About Durban. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
• "KZN A Photographic Record - Natal Command".
• "MAGOOS BOMB MEANT FOR SECURITY PERSONNEL: TRC".
• Hesom, Ross (2009). From Boys to Men: A Victim of Conscription. ISBN 9780981207902.