The impact of World War I on South Africa

THE first World War wrought significant destruction to towns and infrastructure in many European countries.

- MARK LEVIN

South Africa was spared such damage, where it was not spared was the loss of life, injuries and illness unleashed on its soldiers, the overwhelming majority of whom were volunteers.

The Union Defence Force's first campaign was in German South West Africa (Namibia) in 1914-15. Despite the hardship, only 266 men died by the time the Germans surrendered their colony on July 8, 1915. Enthusiastic crowds greeted the returning troops as they disembarked from troop ships at Durban’s docks.

What followed in the next three years of the war darkened the mood as the death toll rose. The number of soldiers who were wounded or suffering from disease and shell shock overwhelmed the health facilities in Durban.

The carnage in France, particularly the nightmare of Delville Wood in July 1916, and the horrors of the East African campaigns were among the most arduous ever undertaken by South African soldiers.

In Natal, citizens had from the earliest days of the war began fundraising for their troops on active service, but from 1916 this was considerably stepped up. The most important was the Governor-General’s War Fund, which had been established by the new Governor-General, Viscount Buxton, in 1914. It was a national fund to which any soldier or his dependents could apply for assistance while on active service.