South African Police Battalions

Dear Members, I am looking for more information about members of the South African Police that joined the South African / Union Defense Forces during WW2?

One of my uncles Johannes Gerhardus van der Merwe, Sgt (SAP / 197954) was a POW in Italy in Chiabari. Does this mean that he was captured in Italy or in North Africa?

Any information would be highly appreciated.

 

Johan,

Your uncle's Service No. does not appear here before your post. Nor him by name.

There are a number of threads here on the SA Police in North Africa and Italy. Best id'd online with "south african police" site:ww2talk.com

Chiabari was a POW Camp PG52 / PG 52 and a few threads refer when using online "Chiabari" site:ww2talk.com Or try "PG52" etc.

Due to an agreement between Germany and Italy, all POW were handed over to the Italians, they kept them in Italy till the Armistice, September 1943. Many walked away, the Germans swiftly arrived and removed them.

Have you applied for his service record from the SANDF Archives, Pretoria? two of us can recommend a researcher there.

Happy reading and welcome!

 

Dear David

Thank you very much, I have written the Archives but will get back to you if I don't hear from them.

Best

JJ

 

Welcome to the forum.

All POWs from North Africa were (eventually) removed to Italy, including the South Africans. This was done to reduce the need for supplies, and the risk of escape/liberation.

Dewald Nel can get material from the South African archives.

Do you know when he was captured?

All the best

Andreas

 

Dear Andreas

I don't know where he was captured. I am assuming it was at Tobruk. Do you have Dewald Nel's contact details?

Thanks

Johan

 

National Archives London

Reference: WO 416/371/315
Description:
Name: Johannes Van Der Merwe.
Date of Birth: 22/10/1912.
Place of Birth: Edenburg, South Africa.
Service: South African Land Forces.
Rank: Sergeant.
Regiment/Unit/Squadron: [unspecified].
Service Number: 197954.
Date of Capture: [unspecified].
Theatre of Capture: [unspecified].
Camp Name/Number: Stalag VIIIB Lamsdorf.
PoW number: 29529.
Date of Death: [unspecified].
Number of Photographs: 0.
Number of Fingerprints: 0.
Number of X-rays: 0.
Number of Cards: 1.

WO21



Kyle

 

For Dewald, see: Researcher in the South African Archives

 

A militaria site refers to:

From: South African Police Battalion

Yes, the two battalions surrendered @ Tobruk. See: 2nd South African Infantry Division - Wikipedia

Note:

From: View of Narratives from North Africa : South African prisoner-of-war experience following the fall of Tobruk, June 1942

For POW matters see for context, not him: South Africans in Italian POW Camps

For David Katz's a South African historian's views on the surrender at Tobruk see: https://scholar.ufs.ac.za/server/api/core/bitstreams/fb4f4163-6e87-4ed2-8620-7ed24ca4e683/content

Not yet able to say which battalion he was in and I expect South Africans from the SAP might have been captured before Tobruk. The Italian records may show his date of capture.

 

Johan,

Italian camp no. 52 was at Coreglia Ligure according to the Italian War Ministry, situated 14 km inland from the seaside town of Chiavari.
You can read about the camp on my website and also about the transfer of prisoners to Germany after the Armistice. It includes testimonies from a some South Africans but no-one from the SAP.

Regards,
Vitelliino

 

Thank you very much, I will take a look at your website

Best

Johan

 

Thank you so much for the information, this is my uncle.

 

Dear All, I am referring to my original post about the two South African Police Battalions that were part of the 6 Inf Brigade, 2 SA Inf Div deployed at Tobruk during its capture. In particular I was interested to find out more about my uncle Sgt (197954) Johannes Gerhardus van der Merwe, 2 SAP Inf Bn. With the help of some of the members on this forum I was able to retrieve a Questionnaire for British/American POWs as well as the Service Record of my Uncle. Here is a short summary of what I have learned:

At the onset of WW2 my uncle was a police constable in a small town in the Orange Free State called Bethulie. On 5 July 1940 he volunteered/enlisted and was assigned to 2 SAP Bn in Pretoria. Prior to the unit leaving SA he was promoted to the rank of Sgt. The Bn left SA on 10 Jun 1941 on the SS Mauretania, arriving in Suez on 21 Jun 1941. He was captured at Tobruk on 22 June 1942 and held in 4 POW camps (PG60 Genoa, PG52 Genoa, PG344, PG517 Berlin and PG344) until the end of the war. After returning back to SA via the UK, he was discharged in Nov 1945 and went back to serving the SA Police.

 

Johan,

Thanks for the update. Hopefully at the end you can post more.