Evert Kleynhans
Biographic Data
| ID | 3086496 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Evert Kleynhans |
| GIVEN NAMES | Evert |
| FAMILY NAME | Kleynhans |
| SIGNATURE | KLEYNHANS E |
| AFFILIATIONS | Stellenbosch University |
| ORCID | 0000-0001-8968-5728 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 20 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 6 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 20 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2017 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 1 |
‘A Campaign of Trivialities’: Reappraising the Deployment of the 7th South African Infantry Brigade to Madagascar, 1942
In May 1942, British forces captured the strategic naval base of Diego Suarez in northern Vichy-controlled Madagascar. From the outset, Jan Smuts, Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa, argued that merely occupying Diego Suarez would not suffice; the entire island needed to be fully liberated from Vichy French control. Smuts, therefore, offered the 7 th South African Infantry Brigade (7 SA Inf Bde) to the British defence planners for this p…
New Perspectives on the Madagascar Campaign of the Second World War
The Madagascar Campaign of the Second World War remains a distinct sideshow within the broader conflict. Its marginalisation is largely attributable to the simultaneous and interconnected military operations in North Africa, the Soviet Union, East Asia, and the Pacific. Consequently, it has often been overlooked by both academic and popular historians and labelled as one of the war’s “forgotten” campaigns. This neglect has been further compounded…
Hände hoch’: The South African experience of the moment of capture in North Africa
A large number of South African troops were captured by the Axis forces in the Western Desert after the crushing defeat at Sidi Rezegh in November 1941 and the surrender of Tobruk in June 1942. Prior to these severe reverses, South African troops had barely tasted defeat on the battlefield during the Second World War. Any illusions regarding fighting prowess and invincibility were, however, short-lived and brutally dashed by the German Afrika Cor…
The foundations of Exercise Alcora: South African military support to the Portuguese Armed Forces in Angola, 1966–1970
Rebellion, insurgency, and counterinsurgency in Southern Africa, 1945–1994
New Perspectives on the East Africa Campaign of the Second World War
The East Africa campaign of the Second World War – although the first Allied victory of this conflict – has been largely forgotten by scholars and popular historians. The causes are multi-factored and due mainly, perhaps, to the concurrent and interrelated military operations that occurred in North Africa, the Soviet Union, Greece, and Crete between 1940 and 1941 – operations that had first call on Allied resources, and drew popular attention the…
‘Widening the Lens’: New Perspectives on the Impact of the Second World War on Southern Africa
The enduring significance of the Second World War persists into contemporary times. However, within the realm of historical scholarship, the experiences of Southern Africa during this global conflict have often been overshadowed by dominant narratives focused on Europe, Asia, and North America. While existing research has primarily emphasised contributions and sacrifices made on continental and foreign battlefields for colonial empires, this spec…
The evolution of resistance and counterinsurgency in the South African state, 1899-1948
Urban counterinsurgency: The Union Defence Force and the suppression of the 1922 Rand Revolt
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 tran…
The Union Defence Force and the suppression of the Bondelswarts Rebellion, 1922
From the proclamation of the Union of South Africa in 1910, the Union Defence Force (UDF) had been deployed to suppress several internal disturbances. These unrests varied in terms of their scale, intensity, and geographic location, and represented dissatisfied and disenfranchised parts of the population, both in the Union and South West Africa (now Namibia). The uprisings in turn tested the organisation, force structure and strategies of the def…
“Through bush, across desert and over mountains”: The Combat Operations of the 1st South African Infantry Brigade in East Africa, 1941
During the Second World War, the East African theatre was marked by extreme variations in terms of climate, terrain, communications, and disease ecology. The planning, scope and conduct of the Allied offensive operations in the theatre was largely determined by the physical environment. The deployment of the 1 st South African Infantry Brigade (1 sa Bde) to East Africa occurred across three distinct operational environments – the deserts of north…
Springbok Escapers and Evaders in the Western Desert, 1941–1942: An Exploratory Investigation
During the Second World War, between 1941 and 1942, a large number of South African troops were made prisoners of war ( POW ) by the Axis forces in the Western Desert. These troops were first interned in POW transit camps in North Africa, before being shipped to more permanent camps in Italy and later Germany. A large number of the South African captives decided to accept their newfound fates and make their internment as ‘pleasant’ as possible. H…
The Rooseboom operation: Uncovering the embryonic German intelligence network in South Africa, 1940-1942
Germany desired to contact the wartime opposition in South Africa in order to obtain accurate political and military intelligence. The arrival of Hans Rooseboom in South Africa in 1940 provided the Ossewabrandwag (Oxwagon Sentinel), a quasi-cultural and anti-war movement, with the means through which to initiate two-way communication with Germany. The so-called Rooseboom secret service became the first German intelligence network to operate in So…
Counterinsurgency in South Africa: The Afrikaner Rebellion, 1914-1915
The entry of the Union of South Africa into the First World War, as well as the subsequent invasion of German South West Africa (GSWA), served as a trigger to the Afrikaner Rebellion. In September 1914 the Union Defence Force (UDF) suffered a major reverse at the Battle of Sandfontein. However, in addition to the German threat, South Africa faced a second, more serious internal threat. The socio-economic realities of early-twentieth-century South…
Combat at High Altitude: The South African Experience in East Africa, 1941
Mountainous terrain has distinctly influenced combat operations throughout history. Warfare at high altitude often takes place in extreme weather conditions and over difficult terrain, which is largely considered to be inaccessible, inhospitable, and at times lacking any apparent strategic or operational value. As a result, combat operations at high altitudes are traditionally infantry affairs. The South African deployment to East Africa during t…
"The "apostles of terror: South Africa, the East African campaign, and the Battle of El Wak
Shortly after the outbreak of the Second World War, the Union Defence Force (UDF) had to undergo a rapid transformation from an ageing defence force to one that could project offensive power across Africa. The formation of the 1 st South African Division (1 st SA Div) during 1940, and the subsequent deployment of South African troops to the East African theatre, afforded the UDF the opportunity to test its military capabilities under operational …
The South African Offensive Operations in Southern Abyssinia, 1940–1941
The Italian declaration of war in June 1940 placed the British possessions in East Africa under threat of invasion from the neighbouring Italian colonies. In July 1940, the Italians launched limited offensives towards the frontiers of Kenya and the Sudan, and completely overran British Somaliland by August. By November 1940 the First South African Division (1 st sa Div) deployed to the Northern Frontier District ( nfd ) of Kenya, ready to launch …
Deneys Reitz and the First World War: An Introduction to the Department of Defence Archival Holdings
The historical sources detailing South Africa’s participation in the First World War are vast, and range from official publications to regimental histories, private diaries and first-hand accounts. The Department of Defence (DOD) Documentation Centre is the custodian of all military archival material generated since the inception of the Department on 1 July 1912. Nonetheless, the material in the repository remains underutilised, despite the numbe…
Australian Soldiers in South Africa and Vietnam: Words from the Battlefield
South Africa’s ‘Border War’: Contested Narratives and Conflicting Memories
The South Africa apartheid government was the main protagonist in two separate, though interrelated, conflicts in South West Africa and Angola from the 1960s. Operation Blouwildebees, the helicopte
Counterinsurgency in South Africa: The Afrikaner Rebellion, 1914-1915
The entry of the Union of South Africa into the First World War, as well as the subsequent invasion of German South West Africa (GSWA), served as a trigger to the Afrikaner Rebellion. In September 1914 the Union Defence Force (UDF) suffered a major reverse at the Battle of Sandfontein. However, in addition to the German threat, South Africa faced a second, more serious internal threat. The socio-economic realities of early-twentieth-century South…
The foundations of Exercise Alcora: South African military support to the Portuguese Armed Forces in Angola, 1966–1970
The South African Offensive Operations in Southern Abyssinia, 1940–1941
The Italian declaration of war in June 1940 placed the British possessions in East Africa under threat of invasion from the neighbouring Italian colonies. In July 1940, the Italians launched limited offensives towards the frontiers of Kenya and the Sudan, and completely overran British Somaliland by August. By November 1940 the First South African Division (1 st sa Div) deployed to the Northern Frontier District ( nfd ) of Kenya, ready to launch …
Deneys Reitz and the First World War: An Introduction to the Department of Defence Archival Holdings
The historical sources detailing South Africa’s participation in the First World War are vast, and range from official publications to regimental histories, private diaries and first-hand accounts. The Department of Defence (DOD) Documentation Centre is the custodian of all military archival material generated since the inception of the Department on 1 July 1912. Nonetheless, the material in the repository remains underutilised, despite the numbe…
Australian Soldiers in South Africa and Vietnam: Words from the Battlefield
South Africa’s ‘Border War’: Contested Narratives and Conflicting Memories
The South Africa apartheid government was the main protagonist in two separate, though interrelated, conflicts in South West Africa and Angola from the 1960s. Operation Blouwildebees, the helicopte
"The "apostles of terror: South Africa, the East African campaign, and the Battle of El Wak
Shortly after the outbreak of the Second World War, the Union Defence Force (UDF) had to undergo a rapid transformation from an ageing defence force to one that could project offensive power across Africa. The formation of the 1 st South African Division (1 st SA Div) during 1940, and the subsequent deployment of South African troops to the East African theatre, afforded the UDF the opportunity to test its military capabilities under operational …
The South African Offensive Operations in Southern Abyssinia, 1940–1941
The Italian declaration of war in June 1940 placed the British possessions in East Africa under threat of invasion from the neighbouring Italian colonies. In July 1940, the Italians launched limited offensives towards the frontiers of Kenya and the Sudan, and completely overran British Somaliland by August. By November 1940 the First South African Division (1 st sa Div) deployed to the Northern Frontier District ( nfd ) of Kenya, ready to launch …
Combat at High Altitude: The South African Experience in East Africa, 1941
Mountainous terrain has distinctly influenced combat operations throughout history. Warfare at high altitude often takes place in extreme weather conditions and over difficult terrain, which is largely considered to be inaccessible, inhospitable, and at times lacking any apparent strategic or operational value. As a result, combat operations at high altitudes are traditionally infantry affairs. The South African deployment to East Africa during t…
Counterinsurgency in South Africa: The Afrikaner Rebellion, 1914-1915
The entry of the Union of South Africa into the First World War, as well as the subsequent invasion of German South West Africa (GSWA), served as a trigger to the Afrikaner Rebellion. In September 1914 the Union Defence Force (UDF) suffered a major reverse at the Battle of Sandfontein. However, in addition to the German threat, South Africa faced a second, more serious internal threat. The socio-economic realities of early-twentieth-century South…
“Through bush, across desert and over mountains”: The Combat Operations of the 1st South African Infantry Brigade in East Africa, 1941
During the Second World War, the East African theatre was marked by extreme variations in terms of climate, terrain, communications, and disease ecology. The planning, scope and conduct of the Allied offensive operations in the theatre was largely determined by the physical environment. The deployment of the 1 st South African Infantry Brigade (1 sa Bde) to East Africa occurred across three distinct operational environments – the deserts of north…
Springbok Escapers and Evaders in the Western Desert, 1941–1942: An Exploratory Investigation
During the Second World War, between 1941 and 1942, a large number of South African troops were made prisoners of war ( POW ) by the Axis forces in the Western Desert. These troops were first interned in POW transit camps in North Africa, before being shipped to more permanent camps in Italy and later Germany. A large number of the South African captives decided to accept their newfound fates and make their internment as ‘pleasant’ as possible. H…
The Rooseboom operation: Uncovering the embryonic German intelligence network in South Africa, 1940-1942
Germany desired to contact the wartime opposition in South Africa in order to obtain accurate political and military intelligence. The arrival of Hans Rooseboom in South Africa in 1940 provided the Ossewabrandwag (Oxwagon Sentinel), a quasi-cultural and anti-war movement, with the means through which to initiate two-way communication with Germany. The so-called Rooseboom secret service became the first German intelligence network to operate in So…
New Perspectives on the East Africa Campaign of the Second World War
The East Africa campaign of the Second World War – although the first Allied victory of this conflict – has been largely forgotten by scholars and popular historians. The causes are multi-factored and due mainly, perhaps, to the concurrent and interrelated military operations that occurred in North Africa, the Soviet Union, Greece, and Crete between 1940 and 1941 – operations that had first call on Allied resources, and drew popular attention the…
‘Widening the Lens’: New Perspectives on the Impact of the Second World War on Southern Africa
The enduring significance of the Second World War persists into contemporary times. However, within the realm of historical scholarship, the experiences of Southern Africa during this global conflict have often been overshadowed by dominant narratives focused on Europe, Asia, and North America. While existing research has primarily emphasised contributions and sacrifices made on continental and foreign battlefields for colonial empires, this spec…
The evolution of resistance and counterinsurgency in the South African state, 1899-1948
Urban counterinsurgency: The Union Defence Force and the suppression of the 1922 Rand Revolt
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 tran…
The Union Defence Force and the suppression of the Bondelswarts Rebellion, 1922
From the proclamation of the Union of South Africa in 1910, the Union Defence Force (UDF) had been deployed to suppress several internal disturbances. These unrests varied in terms of their scale, intensity, and geographic location, and represented dissatisfied and disenfranchised parts of the population, both in the Union and South West Africa (now Namibia). The uprisings in turn tested the organisation, force structure and strategies of the def…
‘A Campaign of Trivialities’: Reappraising the Deployment of the 7th South African Infantry Brigade to Madagascar, 1942
In May 1942, British forces captured the strategic naval base of Diego Suarez in northern Vichy-controlled Madagascar. From the outset, Jan Smuts, Prime Minister of the Union of South Africa, argued that merely occupying Diego Suarez would not suffice; the entire island needed to be fully liberated from Vichy French control. Smuts, therefore, offered the 7 th South African Infantry Brigade (7 SA Inf Bde) to the British defence planners for this p…
New Perspectives on the Madagascar Campaign of the Second World War
The Madagascar Campaign of the Second World War remains a distinct sideshow within the broader conflict. Its marginalisation is largely attributable to the simultaneous and interconnected military operations in North Africa, the Soviet Union, East Asia, and the Pacific. Consequently, it has often been overlooked by both academic and popular historians and labelled as one of the war’s “forgotten” campaigns. This neglect has been further compounded…
Hände hoch’: The South African experience of the moment of capture in North Africa
A large number of South African troops were captured by the Axis forces in the Western Desert after the crushing defeat at Sidi Rezegh in November 1941 and the surrender of Tobruk in June 1942. Prior to these severe reverses, South African troops had barely tasted defeat on the battlefield during the Second World War. Any illusions regarding fighting prowess and invincibility were, however, short-lived and brutally dashed by the German Afrika Cor…
The foundations of Exercise Alcora: South African military support to the Portuguese Armed Forces in Angola, 1966–1970
Rebellion, insurgency, and counterinsurgency in Southern Africa, 1945–1994
Political science (17 works) · History (14 works) · African history and culture studies (13 works) · Law (11 works) · Ancient history (9 works) · Geography (9 works) · Archaeology (8 works) · South African History and Culture (8 works) · Politics (7 works) · Sociology (7 works)