Original South African WWI 1st South African Infantry Brigade Recruitment Poster - Printed at Pretoria - 25 ¼ x 40”

Original Item. Only One Available. The South African 1st Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade of the army of the Union of South Africa during World Wars I and II. During World War I, the brigade served as a British formation in Egypt and on the Western Front, most famously the Battle of Delville Wood. The 1st Infantry Brigade Group was the first unit to be formed as a constituent part of the South African Overseas Expeditionary Force.

This is an extremely scarce WWI South African recruitment poster which is recruiting for the 1st South African Infantry Brigade. The poster was put together by the Union Imperial Service Contingents, and the poster lists the Rates of Daily Pay, Separation Allowance for wives and children remaining in South Africa, and other union government allowance information. The poster is a lovely 25¼ x 40” in size and is marked at the bottom 6768-21/9/18-5000, THE GOVERNMENT PRINTING AND STATIONARY OFFICE, PRETORIA, meaning the poster was printed in the Capital of South Africa, Pretoria.

The poster only has heavy fold creasing and is in good shape overall with some tears along the edges. The poster has a great patina, and we can find no evidence of another example out there, making this a truly unique find! We likely won’t see another like it again.

Comes ready to frame and display!

Note: The Poster will ship folded.

When the First World War broke out in 1914, the South African government chose to join the war on the side of the Allies. General Louis Botha, the then prime minister, faced widespread Afrikaner opposition to fighting alongside Great Britain so soon after the Second Boer War and had to put down a revolt by some of the more militant elements before he could mobilise and deploy troops as an expeditionary force (some 67,000 troops) to invade German South-West Africa (now Namibia).

The South African Union Defence Act of 1914 prohibited the deployment of South African troops beyond the borders of the South Africa and its immediate neighbouring territories. To send troops to Europe to support the Commonwealth in World War I, Generals Botha and Smuts created the South African Overseas Expeditionary Force. However, because of the limitations of the Defence Act, they issued a General Order (Order 672 of 1915) which stated that "The South African Overseas Expeditionary Force will [sic] be Imperial and have the status of regular British Troops." "Status" was meant to imply administrative purposes, as Britain was paying for the maintenance of the force in the field for the sake of local political sensitivities. Regrettably, this Administrative Order later meant that the South African units which served as part of the Overseas Expeditionary Force were not, as South African units, entitled to retain Regimental Colours awarded to them for battles fought as "British" units.

During December 1915 it was decided to send the South African brigade to Egypt, where the Senussi tribe led by Gaafer Pasha, was threatening to overrun the country. On 23 January 1916 the 2nd South African Infantry Regiment first saw action at Halaxin. Brig Gen Lukin's column of the Western Frontier Force comprised; 1st and 3rd South African Infantry Regiments, The Dorsetshire Yeomanry, the 1st/6th Royal Scots, a squadron of The Royal Buckinghamshire Yeomanry and the Nottinghamshire Battery of the Royal Horse Artillery. They marched along the coast and engaged the enemy at the Battle of Agagia on 26 February 1916. With the aid of the Dorsetshire Yeomanry's cavalry the Senussi were routed and Gaafer Pasha and his staff captured. After successfully bringing this brief campaign to a close, Brig Gen Lukin and his brigade were transferred to France.

The Somme offensive opened on 1 July 1916 and was initially intended as a diversionary battle to draw German forces away from the French front at Verdun which was under severe pressure. Allied Command hoped that the preliminary barrage would destroy the German trenches, exterminating the defenders and enabling the Allied infantry to occupy the German lines with minimal opposition. This initial bombardment failed to neutralise the German infantry and British suffered in excess of 54 000 casualties in the first day's fighting, of whom over 19 000 were killed.

The losses of 1 July 1916 were considerable and only countered partially by the successes achieved the same day in Gen Rawlinson's XIII Corps sector, and this was to dramatically influence the South African Brigade in the coming offensive. General Haig realised that he had to capitalise on the successes achieved on the right of the British line and he urged General Rawlinson to exploit this by securing Mametz Wood and the Contalmaison area to prepare for an attack on the German second line on the Longueval-Bazentin le Petit ridge. This attack would extend on the right to Longueval Village and Delville Wood. First, however, Bernafay Wood and Trones Wood, which were situated to the south of Longueval Village and Delville Wood, would have to be captured.