‘The Thin Edge of the Wedge’: Anglo-South African Relations, Dominion Nationalism and the Formation of the Seaward Defence Force in 1939–1940

Abstract

Through the 1930s, J. B. M. Hertzog's government moved South Africa steadily down the path of nationhood. Yet, one of the most pressing military questions facing Hertzog's government was how to position South Africa, as a small state tied to Britain, on a strategic landscape that was increasingly uncertain. The neutrality debates, including the question of Simon's Town and war-time cooperation with the Royal Navy, divided his cabinet. The crisis came to a head in September 1939; South Africa entered the war, but Jan Smuts' government, caught between support for the war effort and political survival, wrested control of the naval reserves and coastal defences from the Royal Navy. Yet, as London impressed upon her officials on the spot, the only course was to cooperate, even if this led to the development of a separate, dominion navy. This article sketches the politico-strategic environment in South Africa and explores the moves behind the creation by South Africa of an embryonic navy in 1939–1940, in opposition to British thinking and Admiralty planning, and reveals the often difficult relationships between South African officials and their British counterparts.