The South West Africa Campaign was the conquest and occupation of German South West Africa (modern Namibia) by forces from the Union of South Africa acting on behalf of the British Imperial Government at the beginning of the First World War.. Background. The 1915 South-West Africa Campaign.. During World War I, South African troops opened hostilities with an assault on the Ramansdrift police station on 13 September 1914. South Africa’s contribution to the East Africa campaign extended beyond 1916, the year most South Africans served there under General Jan Smuts. The South African participation in the First World War has been overshadowed by the Union Defence Force (UDF) deployment to France and Flanders during 1916-1918. Having crushed this rebellion, General Botha led some 40,000 loyal Afrikaners to victory over the Germans in July 1915.

The initial attack was halted in September 1914 when some South African troops deserted to the Germans. In 1915, at the start of World War I, the German colony was taken over and occupied in the South-West Africa Campaign by the Union of South Africa, acting on behalf of the British Imperial Government.
South-West African campaign. South African troops rest during a march into German South West Africa. The terms of the purchase were fraudulent, but the German government nonethel… South Africa’s World War 1 German South West Africa campaign is best and briefly summarised as follows: An invasion of German South-West Africa from the south failed at the Battle of Sandfontein (25 September 1914), close to the border with the Cape Colony. The South African railheads at Steinkop and Prieska were between 80km and 480km from the border with German South-West Africa. South-West African campaign On 9 July 1915, enemy forces in German South-West Africa (now Namibia) surrendered to the Allies. Louis Botha’s War: The Campaign in German South-West Africa, 1914–1915 - Kindle edition by Cruise, Adam. South African national memory of the war primarily focuses on the defence of Delville Wood and the sinking of the S.S. Mendi. Herero and Namaqua Genocide was a campaign of racial extermination and collective punishment that the government of German South-West Africa (modern-day Namibia) undertook against the Herero and Nama people.It is considered to have been the first genocide of the 20th century. 22 Feb–9 Jul 1915 Conquest of German South West Africa . It took place between 1904 and 1907 during the Herero Wars. The South-West Africa Campaign in 1915: Date: 15 September 1914 – 9 July 1915: Location: South Africa, Namibia: Result: British and South African victory: Territorial changes: South-West Africa annexed to the Union of South Africa until 1990: ... German militia and settlers: 7,000 Boer commandos: 500–600: Casualties and losses; find out more Born on 8 December 1891 in Bloemfontein, Charles Campbell Wood was drawn to the military as a young man when World War One broke out, he initially joined the South African Medical Corps as a Private and took part in the German South West African Campaign (now Namibia), for which he was awarded his World War 1, 1914-15 Star on 7 September 1914.