December 24th 1938 is a date that will live long in the history of South Africa. Tales of the bold and courageous move made by PM Johannes van Rensburg and the Ossewabrandwag will echo though time for centuries. It was on this day that South Africa commenced “Operation Manifest Destiny” and declared open war on their former masters the United Kingdom and kicked off the “Third Boer War”.
Buoyed by our recent successes in the Portuguese-South African war we set our sights high: The plan was to conquer half the African continent in a matter of days and finally rid the continent of British interference once and for all.
It all started when Foriegn Minister Gert Cronje was commissioned to issue a declaration of war on the nation of Belgium. It brings me great pleasure to imagine King Leopold III's face on Christmas morning when he awoke to the news that the Belgian Congo had been annexed into South Africa. By seizing the cities of Boma and Leopoldville just two divisions of South African Infantry had captured the entire colony in a single day.
As expected the United Kingdom honoured their guarantee of Belgian independence and declared war on South Africa within hours. Aside from the massive land grab and resource gains this was our intention. To get the UK to start the war with us.
Die Broederbond planning their military strategy
It all started when Foriegn Minister Gert Cronje was commissioned to issue a declaration of war on the nation of Belgium. It brings me great pleasure to imagine King Leopold III's face on Christmas morning when he awoke to the news that the Belgian Congo had been annexed into South Africa. By seizing the cities of Boma and Leopoldville just two divisions of South African Infantry had captured the entire colony in a single day.
The SA Infantry Brigades stationed on the border with Belgian Congo
Kings Leopold III and Edward VIII were caught with their Christmas pants down.
Imagine the surprise on the face of Edward VIII as he discovered six of his protectorates (North and South Rhodesia, Bechunaland, Nygaasland, Tanganyika and British Kenya) were under attack by South African farmers while his best generals were tucking into their Christmas dinners.
The South African Citizen Force - Farms with Arms in full effect
While Bechuanaland and the Rhodesia's fell with ease the remaining protectorates proved more difficult. Hampered by difficult terrain, and in some cases bad weather the South African Active Citizen Forces struggled to capture key cities in Tanganyika and Nygassland. Funny, the terrain was a bigger obstacle than any military opposition they could muster and within a month all but Kenya had been annexed into New South Africa.
The Kenyans however proved far more difficult to defeat. After the Italian annexation of Ethiopia and the aggressive behaviour of its allies (Italian Somalia and Eritrea) Robert Brooke-Popham and the Kenyan government had invested quite heavily in its defence in anticipation of a potential Italian invasion which never came. The professional Infantry Brigades of the South African army launched an amphibious assault on the Port of Mombasa and gradually forced the Kenyan army into a surrender.
The army gets a heroes return from the front lines.
The whole "Operation Manifest Destiny" was supposed to last mere days, two weeks tops. In the end it took our military a whole FIVE months to capture these seven protectorates. The geography and infrastructure of the continent proved to be the biggest stumbling block we faced and this proved to be a massive oversight on the side of Chief of the Army C. de Weenburg du Toit.
It was during the victory parade in Cape Town that Seymour Jacklin, Minister for Intelligence, handed us this shocking memo: The Belgians had landed here in Africa, in the province of Cabinda and were making advancements into our territory.
This time is was us with our pants down.
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