South African Manpower and the Second World War

This chapter discusses how the Union Defence Force (UDF) in South Africa was considered small, ill-prepared, and in a dismal state due to years of peacetime neglect. It cites the defense policy of the interwar Union governments that had been based on fighting an African opponent or defending against a Japanese attack, but not combatting the Germans or the Italians. It also recounts the mobilization plans for the UDF that required thousands of trained men for the Mobile Field Force, but the Defence Act limited the service of the Active Citizen Forces (ACF) to southern Africa. The chapter mentions that the Smuts government decided that expeditionary forces must come from an army of volunteers who would be South African in spirit, outlook, leadership, and tactics. It shows the increase in the strength of the ACF infantry regiments in 1939.