The 5th South African Infantry Brigade was an infantry

Infantry

Infantrymen are soldiers who are specifically trained for the role of fighting on foot to engage the enemy face to face and have historically borne the brunt of the casualties of combat in wars. As the oldest branch of combat arms, they are the backbone of armies...

 brigade of the army

South African Army

The South African Army is the army of South Africa, first formed after the Union of South Africa was created in 1910.The South African military evolved within the tradition of frontier warfare fought by commando forces, reinforced by the Afrikaners' historical distrust of large standing armies...

 of the Union of South Africa

Union of South Africa

The Union of South Africa is the historic predecessor to the present-day Republic of South Africa. It came into being on 31 May 1910 with the unification of the previously separate colonies of the Cape, Natal, Transvaal and the Orange Free State...

 during World War II

Military history of South Africa during World War II

During World War II, many South Africans saw military service. The Union of South Africa participated with other British Commonwealth forces in battles in North Africa against Erwin Rommel and his Nazi forces, and many South African pilots joined the Royal Air Force and fought against the Axis...

. The Brigade formed part of the South African 1st Infantry Division and was formed on 13 August 1940. It served in East Africa

East Africa

East Africa or Eastern Africa is the easterly region of the African continent, variably defined by geography or geopolitics. In the UN scheme of geographic regions, 19 territories constitute Eastern Africa:...

 and the Western Desert

Libyan Desert

The Libyan Desert covers an area of approximately 1,100,000 km2, it extends approximately 1100 km from east to west, and 1,000 km from north to south, in about the shape of a rectangle...

 and was disbanded on 1 January 1943.

East Africa

Officer Commanding: Brigadier Bertram Frank ArmstrongArmstrong was captured at Sidi Rezeg on 23 or 24 November 1941 and was flown directly from North Africa to Germany for interrogation. Matthews, D. Capt. With the 5th South African Infantry Brigade at Sidi Rezegh. South African Military History Journal – Vol 10 No 6.

• 1st South African Irish Regiment
  South African Irish Regiment
  The South African Irish Regiment is an infantry regiment of the South African Army. As a reserve unit, it has a status roughly equivalent to that of a British Territorial Army or United States Army National Guard unit.-Origins:...
  
  
• 2nd Regiment Botha
  Regiment Botha
  Regiment Botha is an infantry regiment of the South African Army. As a reserve unit, it has a status roughly equivalent to that of a British Territorial Army or United States Army National Guard unit...
  
  
• 3rd Transvaal Scottish Regiment
  Transvaal Scottish Regiment
  The Transvaal Scottish Regiment is an infantry regiment of the South African Army. As a reserve unit, it has a status roughly equivalent to that of a British Territorial Army or United States Army National Guard unit.-History:...
  
  
• No. 1 S.A. Armoured Car Company
• 5th Field Company, SA Corps of Engineers
• 11th Field Ambulance, SA Medical Corps
• No. 3 Mobile General Workshops, SA Technical Services Corps
• 1 Brigade Signals Company, SA Corps of Signals

Western Desert

The Brigade was almost totally destroyed by the German 15th Panzer and Italian Ariete Divisions at Sidi Regez on 23 November 1941. Although partially re-staffed and re-equipped, the Brigade never served operationally after this defeat