Urban counterinsurgency: the Union Defence Force and the suppression of the 1922 Rand Revolt

ABSTRACT

In early 1922, in the wake of a global depression followed by rapidly deteriorating labour and economic conditions, several thousand white mine workers on the Witwatersrand in the Union of South Africa went on strike. These miners armed and organised themselves into commandos and took to the streets. During the opening phases of the unrest, these paramilitary units clashed with the South African Police. By the beginning of March, the strikes transformed into a violent insurrection with railway workers also joining its ranks after negotiations between the mine workers, mine owners, and the government failed and new militant leadership assumed command. As chaos and disorder engulfed large tracts of the Johannesburg goldfields and levels of violence assumed new proportions, the state’s legitimacy increasingly came under threat. In response, martial law was declared, and elements of the Union Defence Force were deployed to quell the so-called 1922 Rand Revolt. Historically unaccustomed to urban warfare and without an appropriate doctrine, the defence force became involved in several high-intensity urban counterinsurgency operations against the strike commandos. Drawing from a variety of archival material, this article investigates the combat operations undertaken by the UDF to suppress the 1922 Rand Revolt.

KEYWORDS:

• South Africa
• Witwatersrand
• 1922 Rand Revolt
• urban warfare
• insurgency
• counterinsurgency

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Krüger, The Making of a Nation, 111–116.

2. Hirson, ‘The General Strike,’ 63–64.

3. French, Deterrence, Coercion, and Appeasement, 111.

4. Van der Waag, ‘The Union Defence Force,’ 183–190.

5. See Anderson and Killingray, Policing the Empire.

6. See Van Wyk, ‘Volcano needing constant watching,’ 116–135; Geyer, ‘The Union Defence Force,’ 136–151; Geyer, ‘Die Eerste Operasionele Optrede.’

7. See Garcia and Kleynhans, ‘Counterinsurgency in South Africa,’ 53–79.

8. Descriptors such as ‘white’, ‘black’, ‘woman’, ‘Indian’, ‘Afrikaner’, ‘English-speaking’ and others are used to remain true to the nomenclature of the time period under discussion while the authors remain sensitive to its contemporary connotations.

9. See Fokkens, ‘The Ovamboland Expedition.’

10. Van der Waag, A Military History, 132; Abridged Annual DOD Report for 1921.

11. For more information on the ethnic and social composition of the UDF see Van der Waag, A Military History, 59–88.

12. See Makobe, ‘The Bulhoek Massacre,’ 22–41; Makobe, ‘The Price of Fanaticism,’ 38–41; Makobe, ‘Understanding the Bulhoek Massacre,’ 98–105.

13. During the Bulhoek massacre, which occurred at the village of Ntabelanga in the Cape Province on 24 May 1921, a white police force from the Union of South Africa killed 163 Xhosa civilians. The massacre occurred after a dispute over land in Ntabelanga, dating back to 1920. Five hundred men from the local community, known as the ‘Israelites’, and led by Enoch Mgijima, gathered in an open field ready to defend their families and community with traditional weapons against government forces. After failed negotiations, a 20-minute battle ensued, which left an estimated 163 Israelites dead, 129 wounded and 95 taken prisoner.

14. Van der Waag, A Military History, 144–145.

15. Van Onselen, Rhapsody in Blue, 30, 155.

16. See note 14 above.

17. Krikler, The Rand Revolt, 57; Visser, ‘The South African Labour,’ 153.

18. Godley, Khaki and Blue, 146, 152.

19. Oberholster, ‘Die Mynwekerstaking,’ 156–157; Mbah and Igariwey, ‘African Anarchism,’ 62–63; Krikler, The Rand Revolt, 159; Van der Walt, ‘Revolutionary Syndicalism,’ 36; Visser, ‘The South Africa Labour,’ 153; Walker and Weinbren, 2000 Casualties, 113–114; Boydell, My Luck Was In, 197–198; Kentridge, I Recall, 109–113; Hirson, ‘The General Strike,’ 75.

20. Annual Departmental Report of South African Police, 1922–23, 56.

21. Government Gazette 1216, General Notice No. 164, 10 March 1922, 478.

22. Anon, ‘Premier Impeaches Nats,’ The Eastern Province Herald, 1 April 1922, 8.

23. Anon. ‘Who are the Criminals?,’ The Eastern Province Herald, 14 March 1922, 6.

24. Krikler, The Rand Revolt, 58–59, 197, 220, 224, 226, 239, 241.

25. UG 35–22, Report of the Martial, 1.

26. For similarities between the Easter Rising of 1916 and the Afrikaner Rebellion of 1914–1915 see Nasson, WWI and the People of South Africa, 110–117; Nasson, History Matters,

27. See Nidia and Adkins, ‘The social and environmental upheaval of Blair Mountain’, 52–68.

28. Bonner, Hyslop and Van der Walt, ‘Rethinking Worlds of Labour,’ 145; Van der Walt, ‘The First Globalisation,’ 223; Hyslop, ‘The Strange Death,’ 97; Van der Walt, Adding Red to the Black Atlantic?, 4.

29. Beittel, ‘Labour Unrest in South Africa,’ 88.

30. Yudelman, The Emergence of Modern, 164.

31. See Fokkens and Visser, ‘Die rol van die Unieverdedigingsmag,’ 124–153; Fokkens, ‘The Role and Application,’ 23–45.

32. See Visser, ‘The South African Labour,’ 142–157.

33. See Krikler, ‘Women, Violence and the Rand,’ 349–372; Krikler, White Rising; Krikler, The Rand Revolt; Krikler, ‘Lost Causes,’ 318–338.

34. See Herd, 1922: The Revolt.

35. See Oberholster, ‘Die mynwerkerstaking.’

36. See Beittel, ‘Labour Unrest,’ 87–104.

37. See Béliard, ‘A “Labour War”,’ 20–34.

38. See Breckenridge, ‘Fighting for a White,’ 228–243.

39. See Hessian, ‘An Investigation Into,’ 1–185.

40. See Hirson, ‘The General Strike,’ 63–94.

41. See Coleman ‘Returning the rand revolt’.

42. See UG 35–22, Report of the Martial.

43. See Fokkens, ‘The Role and Application,’ 23–45.

44. See Krikler, The Rand Revolt, 256–290.

45. See Esterhuyse, ‘South African Counterinsurgency’; Baker and Jordaan, South Africa and Counterinsurgency; Douek, Insurgency and Counterinsurgency.

46. See Abridged Annual Report for Department of Defence 1921; Abridged Annual Report for Department of Defence 1922.

47. Black, Insurgency and Counterinsurgency, x–xi.

48. For more on this notion, see Kilcullen, Out of the Mountains, 26–27; DiMarco, Concrete Hell, 24–25.

49. See DiMarco, Concrete Hell, 13–14; Marshall, Notes on Urban Warfare, 7–8.

50. Van Onselen, New Babylon, 2.

51. Petterson, ‘The Witwatersrand,’ 209.

52. See Kilcullen, Blood Year, 134; DiMarco, ‘Attacking the Heart,’ 1–2.

53. DiMarco, Concrete Hell, 15.

54. See Tuck, ‘Concepts of Land Warfare,’ 85–86.

55. Betz and Stanford-Tuck, ‘The City is Neutral,’ 65; Kilcullen, Blood Year, 134.

56. Kiras, ‘Irregular Warfare,’ 193–196.

57. Garcia and Kleynhans, ‘Counterinsurgency in South Africa,’ 57–58.

58. Van der Waag, ‘The Union Defence Force,’ 189–190.

59. Section 28 of the Defence Act (No. 13 of 1912).

60. Section 8 of the Police Act (No. 14 of 1912). For more information on the deployment of SAP units in the Second World War, see Van Onselen, A Rhapsody in Blue, 118–154.

61. Brewer, Black and Blue, 6, 37–38, 76; Seegers, The Military in the Making, 18, 22; Cawthra, Policing South Africa, 9.

62. Van der Waag, ‘South African Defence,’ 146–147.

63. Annual Departmental Report of South African Police, 1920–21, 56.

64. Nasson, ‘The 1918 Police Strike,’ 303.

65. See note 61 above.

66. Annual Departmental Report of South African Police, 1920–21, 56, 59. See Van Onselen, Rhapsody in Blue, 29–30.

67. Annual Departmental Report of South African Police, 1922–23, 42.

68. Annual Departmental Report of South African Police, 1921–22, 95.

69. Ibid., 84.

70. Ibid., 95.

71. DOD Archives, Diverse, Group 1, Box 29, File: Scheme A, Mobilisation Scheme ‘A’, 6 February 1919; DOD Archives, Diverse, Group 1, Box 29, File: Scheme B, Mobilisation Scheme ‘B’, 18 November 1921; Abridged Annual DOD Report for 1922, 9.

72. Van der Waag, ‘Smuts’s Generals’, 46.

73. DOD Archives, Diverse, Group 1, Box 66, File: 2/9, Notes on meeting held at Defence Headquarters on Wednesday 4 January 1922.

74. DOD Archives, Diverse, Group 1, Box 66, File: 14/9, Scheme ‘A’ Special Regimental Orders by Unit Commanders, 20 January 1922.

75. DOD Archives, Diverse, Group 1, Box 77, File: Report on Strike, Military Report on Industrial Upheaval on the Witwatersrand Culminating in Revolution, January-March 1922.

76. Ibid.

77. DOD Archives, Diverse, Group 1, Box 67, File: 24/9, Instructions for the formation of Special Machinegun Sections, 6 February 1922; DOD Archives, Diverse, Group 1, Box 67, File: 24/9, Report on the formation of Special Machinegun Sections, 23 February 1922.

78. DOD Archives, DC, Group 2, Box 3520, File: DAS 7 Operations, Report on Air Operations, 10–15 March 1922.

79. Krikler, The Rand Revolt, 256.

80. See note 75 above.

81. Herd, 1922: The Revolt, 44.

82. Van der Waag, ‘Smuts’s Generals’, 40–41.

83. Fokkens, ‘The Role and Application,’ 28.

84. DOD Archives, Diverse, Group 1, Box 69, File: 33/9, Report by Deputy Commissioner of Police on Industrial Crisis: Witwatersrand, 31 March 1922.

85. DOD Archives, Diverse, Group 1, Box 67, File: 29/9, Secret minute from DSO No. 8 Military District to CGS, 2 March 1922.

86. See note 75 above.

87. Ibid.

88. DOD Archives, Diverse, Group 1, Box 77, File: Report on Strike, Military Report on Industrial Upheaval on the Witwatersrand Culminating in Revolution, January-March 1922; No. 47 Calling out of units of Active Citizen Force for maintenance of order in No. 1213, Vol 47, Government Gazette, 9 March 1933.

89. DOD Archives, Diverse, Group 1, Box 69, File: 35/9, Proclamation of Martial Law, 10 March 1922; DOD Archives, Diverse, Group 1, Box 77, File: Report on Strike, Military Report on Industrial Upheaval on the Witwatersrand Culminating in Revolution, January-March 1922. The adjoining magisterial districts included: Benoni, Heidelberg, Potchefstroom, Bethal, Johannesburg, Pretoria, Boksburg, Klerksdorp, Roodepoort-Maraisburg, Ermelo, Krugersdorp, Springs, Germiston, Middelburg, Standerton.

90. See note 75 above.

91. DOD Archives, Diverse, Group 1, Box 69, File: 31/9, Proclamation calling for the partial mobilisation of ACF units and Defence Rifle Associations, 9 March 1922.

92. See note 75 above.

93. Godley, Khaki and Blue, 183.

94. Krikler, The Rand Revolt, 256

95. See note 75 above.

96. DOD Archives, Diverse, Group 1, Box 77, File: Report on Strike, Military Report on Industrial Upheaval on the Witwatersrand Culminating in Revolution, January-March 1922; DOD Archives, Diverse, Group 1, Box 69, File: 31/9, Proclamation calling for the partial mobilisation of ACF units and Defence Rifle Associations, 9 March 1922.

97. See note 75 above 75.

98. Ibid.

99. No. 51 Calling out of certain units of the Active Citizen Force and Class ‘A’ Reservists in No. 1216, Vol 47, Government Gazette, 10 March, 476

100. No. 429 Control Officers appointed in No. 1216, Vol 47, Government Gazette, 10 March 0476; No. 428 Martial Law Regulations in No. 1216, Vol 47, Government Gazette, 10 March 0472; No. 50 Martial Law Proclaimed in certain magisterial districts in No. 1216, Vol 47, Government Gazette, 10 March 0472; DOD Archives, Diverse, Group 1, Box 77, File: Report on Strike, Military Report on Industrial Upheaval on the Witwatersrand Culminating in Revolution, January-March 1922; DOD Archives, Diverse, Group 1, Box 69, File: 31/9, Proclamation calling for the partial mobilisation of ACF units and Defence Rifle Associations, 9 March 1922.

101. See above 75.

102. DOD Archives, DC, Group 2, Box 3520, File: DAS 7 Operations, Report on Air Operations, 10–15 March 1922; DOD Archives, DC, Group 2, Box 3520, File: DAS 7 Operations, Annexure B: Reconnaissance Report – Benoni, 10 March 1922; DOD Archives, DC, Group 2, Box 3520, File: DAS 7 Operations, Annexure C: Reconnaissance Report – Brakpan Area, 10 March 1922.

103. See note 75.

104. DOD Archives, Diverse, Group 1, Box 69, File: 33/9, Report from Col SS Taylor on action at Dunswart, 10 March 1922; DOD Archives, Diverse, Group 1, Box 67, File: Schedule of Reports, Summary of daily reports, 10 March 1922.

105. DOD Archives, DC, Group 2, Box 3520, File: DAS 7 Operations, Annexure F: Reconnaissance Report – Brakpan, 11 March 1922.

106. DOD Archives, Diverse, Group 1, Box 66, File: 18/9, Report re Brixton Ridge: Newlands, Johannesburg, 10 March 1922; DOD Archives, Diverse, Group 1, Box 66, File: 18/9, Police action on ridge between Brixton & Newlands, 20 March 1922.

107. Urquhart, The Outbreak, 74–75; Krikler, The Rand Revolt, 258.

108. DOD Archives, Diverse, Group 1, Box 77, File: Report on Strike, Military Report on Industrial Upheaval on the Witwatersrand Culminating in Revolution, January-March 1922. For a more nuanced view on the ‘touch and go’ situation for the government forces between 10–11 March see DOD Archives, Diverse, Group 1, Box 66, File: 18/9, Memorandum from Capt G Cross to JC Smuts, 7 April 1922.

109. DOD Archives, DC, Group 2, Box 3520, File: DAS 7 Operations, Annexure D: Reconnaissance Report – Benoni-Brakpan, 11 March 1922; DOD Archives, DC, Group 2, Box 3520, File: DAS 7 Operations, Annexure E: Report on Bomb-Dropping – Benoni, 11 March 1922.

110. DOD Archives, Diverse, Group 1, Box 69, File: 33/9, Report on operations in No. 1 Control Area (Central Witwatersrand) by Brig Gen PS Beves, 3 April 1922; DOD Archives, Diverse, Group 1, Box 67, File: Schedule of Reports, Summary of daily reports, 11 March 1922.

111. DOD Archives, Diverse, Group 1, Box 69, File: 33/9, Report from Lt Col HGL Panchaud on action at Ellis Park, 11 March 1922.

112. Krikler, The Rand Revolt, 258.

113. See note 110 above.

114. See note 75 above.

115. See note 110 above.

116. See note 75 above.

117. DOD Archives, DC, Group 2, Box 3520, File: DAS 7 Operations, Annexure M: Report of Operations – Rietfontein, 12 March 1922.

118. See note 75 above.

119. DOD Archives, DC, Group 2, Box 3520, File: DAS 7 Operations, Annexure H: Report of Attack – Brixton, 12 March 1922; DOD Archives, DC, Group 2, Box 3520, File: DAS 7 Operations, Annexure I: Reconnaissance Report – Auckland Park, 12 March 1922.

120. For detailed reports on the experiences of the besieged police squadrons see DOD Archives, Diverse, Group 1, Box 66, File: 18/9, Report re Brixton Ridge: Newlands, Johannesburg, 10 March 1922; DOD Archives, Diverse, Group 1, Box 66, File: 18/9, Police action on ridge between Brixton & Newlands, 20 March 1922.

121. DOD Archives, Diverse, Group 1, Box 69, File: 33/9, Report on operations in No. 1 Control Area (Central Witwatersrand) by Brig Gen PS Beves, 3 April 1922.

122. DOD Archives, DC, Group 2, Box 3520, File: DAS 7 Operations, Annexure J: Report on Dispatch & Rescue Police – Auckland Park, 12 March 1922; DOD Archives, DC, Group 2, Box 3520, File: DAS 7 Operations, Annexure K: Report on Rescue of Police – Brixton, 12 March 1922; DOD Archives, DC, Group 2, Box 3520, File: DAS 7 Operations, Annexure L: Reconnaissance Report – Auckland Park, 12 March 1922.

123. DOD Archives, Diverse, Group 1, Box 67, File: 29/9, Report and extracts from Lt Col NHM Burne on operations on the East Rand, 21 March 1922.

124. DOD Archives, Diverse, Group 1, Box 67, File: 29/9, Report on operations in No. 2 Control Area (East Rand) by Lt Gen JL Van Deventer, 30 March 1922.

125. See note 75 above.

126. See note 124 above.

127. DOD Archives, Diverse, Group 1, Box 67, File: 27/9, Various situation reports by forces operating in No. 3 Control Area (West Rand), 14 March 1922.

128. See note 75 above.

129. DOD Archives, DC, Group 2, Box 3520, File: DAS 7 Operations, Report on Air Operations, 10–15 March 1922.

130. DOD Archives, DC, Group 2, Box 3520, File: DAS 7 Operations, Report on Air Operations, 10–15 March 1922.

131. See note 75 above.

132. DOD Archives, Diverse, Group 1, Box 69, File: 33/9, Report on operations in No. 1 Control Area (Central Witwatersrand) by Brig Gen PS Beves, 3 April 1922; DOD Archives, Diverse, Group 1, Box 67, File: 27/9, Various situation reports by forces engaged in operations in No. 1 Control Area (Central Witwatersrand), 14 March 1922.

133. DOD Archives, Diverse, Group 1, Box 69, File: 33/9, Report on operations in No. 1 Control Area (Central Witwatersrand) by Brig Gen PS Beves, 3 April 1922; DOD Archives, Diverse, Group 1, Box 67, File: 27/9, Various situation reports by forces engaged in operations in No. 1 Control Area (Central Witwatersrand), 14 March 1922.

134. DOD Archives, Diverse, Group 1, Box 67, File: 27/9, Situation Report by Brig Gen PS Beves for No. 1 Control Area (Central Witwatersrand), 15 March 1922.

135. See note 75 above.

136. Uys, South African Military, 18, 249; Belwe, Gegen die Herero, 1904/1905, 77, 85.

137. See note 75 above.

138. DOD Archives, Diverse, Group 1, Box 77, File: 54/9, Minutes of meeting at DHQ to discuss lessons of operations during March 1922 on the Rand, 19 April 1922.

139. DOD Archives, Diverse, Group 1, Box 77, File: 54/9, Lessons learned by the recent industrial disturbances on the Witwatersrand (Thackeray), 11 April 1922.

140. Ibid.

141. DOD Archives, Diverse, Group 1, Box 77, File: 54/9, Lessons learned by the recent industrial disturbances on the Witwatersrand (Beves), 4 April 1922.

142. DOD Archives, DC, Group 2, Box 3520, File: DAS 7 Operations, Report on Air Operations, 10–15 March 1922.

143. Department of Commerce, Trade and Economic Reviews, 27.

144. DOD Archives, DC, Group 2, Box 3520, File: DAS 7 Operations, Report on Air Operations, 10–15 March 1922.

145. Killingray, ‘A Swift Agent,’ 443.

146. Ibid. 432.

147. The notion of prior operational experience is discussed in DiMarco, Concrete Hell, 23–24.

148. The strength of the urban environment is discussed in Kilcullen, Blood Year, 139.

149. See Garcia and Kleynhans, ‘Counterinsurgency in South Africa’ 53–79.

150. UG 35–22, Report of the Martial, 14.

151. Anon, The Story, 49.

152. Data collated and reworked from UG 35–22, Report of the Martial, 13.

153. See Betz and Stanford-Tuck, ‘The City is Neutral,’ 70–80. This sentiment is interestingly echoed in UG 35–22, Report of the Martial, 13–15.

154. UG 35–22, Report of the Martial, 15, 35

155. Davenport, Digging Deep, 307–308.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Evert Kleynhans

Evert Kleynhans [MMil, PhD (Mil) (Stell)], is a senior lecturer in the Department of Military History at the Faculty of Military Science of Stellenbosch University. He is the editor of Scientia Militaria: South African Journal of Military Studies. His primary research interests include the South African participation in both world wars, as well as low-intensity conflict in Southern Africa. His most recent works include Hitler’s Spies: Secret Agents and the Intelligence War in South Africa (Jonathan Ball, 2021) and The Naval War in South African Waters, 1939-1945 (African Sun Media, 2022).

AnriDelport [MA (Stell)], is a lecturer in the Department of Military History of the Faculty of Military Science at Stellenbosch University. She completed her BA Philosophy, Politics and Economics degree (2010), her BA Hons (cum laude) in History (2011) and her MA Degree in History (cum laude) (2015) at Stellenbosch University. Some of her research on South African attitudes towards Italy during the Second World War, the reintegration of veterans into civilian life after the First World War and the impact of this war on South African soldiers’ bodies and minds has been published and presented at several national conferences. She is currently a prospective doctoral candidate researching the re-adjustment of South African soldiers into post-First World War society.