Military history of South Africa (One of them, John Vorster, was to become future Prime Minister of South Africa.) (See Jan Smuts during World War II.) Prime Minister Jan Smuts was the only important non-British general whose advice was constantly sought by Britain's war-time Prime Minister Winston Churchill. Smuts was invited to the Imperial War Cabinet in 1939 as the most senior South African in favour of war. On 28 May 1941, Smuts was appointed a Field Marshal of the British Army, becoming the first South African to hold that rank. Ultimately, Smuts would pay a steep political price for his closeness to the British
South African Police 1926, the South African Mounted Riflemen were disbanded and their duties taken over by the South African Police. In 1939, the SAP took over the South West African Police and became responsible for policing South West Africa, which was under South African administration at that time. Police officials often called on the army for support in emergencies. In turn, one SAP brigade served with the 2nd Infantry Division of the South African Army in North Africa during World War II. After the war, the South African Police joined INTERPOL on 1 January 1948. When the conservative National Party edged out