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1st South African Infantry Division

The 1st South African Infantry Division was an infantry division of the army of the Union of South Africa. During World War II the division served in East Africa from 1940 to 1941 and in the Western Desert Campaign from 1941 to 1942. The division was disbanded on 1 January 1943, for conversion into what would become the 6th South African Armoured Division. The division was also briefly active after the war from 1 July 1948 to 1 November 1949.

Outbreak of war
When Neville Chamberlain declared war on 3 September 1939, the Union Defence Force consisted of 5,385 Permanent Force members, 14,631 Citizen Force members and 122,000 Commandos of which only 39,000 were considered suited for field deployment. The Defence Act also prohibited the deployment of its members beyond the confines of southern Africa. On 4 September, General Hertzog resigned and was replaced by General Smuts –  and two days later, on 6 September South Africa declared war against Germany.

The "phoney war" luckily granted more time and by 22 September a policy paper had been submitted calling for the formation of two "Forces" and was approved in mid October, laying the foundations for the formation of 1 and 2 SA Divisions. In March 1941, fearing the Italian commitment to war, General Wavell requested the services of a South African Brigade Group in Kenya via the Imperial General Staff. Prime Minister Smuts consented.

Initially, to circumvent the limitations of the South African Defence Act (Act No 13 of 1912), only volunteers were recruited and they were subject to an oath on induction whereby they consented to being deployed anywhere in Africa, this being a pre-requisite for acceptance into the Union forces. Men who attested under these terms were entitled to wear the distinct insignia of the Mobile Field Force, a red / orange shoulder strap which was to become known as the "Red Tab". The Defence Act was later amended.

Advance party to East Africa
The formation of the 1st South Africa Infantry Brigade Group was approved on 13 May 1940. Although approved, South Africa was desperately short of equipment and had few armoured vehicles save for a limited number of locally designed prototype armoured cars. Due to this limited infantry and armour offensive capacity, all that could initially be mobilised was an anti-aircraft detachment. Thus, part of the 1st SA Anti-Aircraft brigade, who arrived in Mombasa on 1 June 1940 as an advance party to protect Mombasa harbour from feared Italian air attacks, becoming the first South African land forces to be deployed outside of South Africa since the First World War. On 10 June 1940, Italy declared war and on the next day South Africa officially declared war on Italy. Two hours after the South African declaration, four Ju 86's of the South African Air Force bombed Italian troops at a Banda Camp close to Moyale, a few kilometres across the Kenya border into Ethiopia.

1st Brigade Group Mobilised
In order to rapidly provide forces to East Africa, as well as due to the lack of trained manpower –  it was decided to initially form a single Infantry Brigade from the 1st Duke of Edinburgh's Own Rifles, the 1st Royal Natal Carabineers and the 1st Transvaal Scottish with brigade artillery and support elements (Refer ORBAT below). On 13 July, the 1st South African Brigade Group under command of Colonel John Daniel was issued its movement order and it assembled at Zonderwater for the farewell parade, with General Smuts taking the salute –  ironically, that Sunday being celebrated as "Delville Wood Day".

Embarkation commenced in Durban the next day, with Brigade HQ, 1st Transvaal Scottish and attached troops boarding the MS Dilwara while the Royal Natal Carbineers and a number of voluntary aid nurses boarded the Devonshire. The Duke of Edinburgh's Own Rifles followed in the Rajula. The convoy cast off on 17 July 1940.

Establishment
On 13 August 1940 the 1st South African Infantry Division was officially constituted –  consisting of the 1st SA Brigade Group already in Kenya and the 2nd and 5th South African Infantry Brigade Groups. Brig-Gen George Brink was appointed as commander with Lt. Col W.H.E. Poole as GSO 1. The Division HQ landed at Mombasa on 11 November 1940.

East African Campaign
''This account only reflects the role of the 1st SA Infantry Division. For an account of the 1st South African Infantry Brigade in East Africa, see 1st Infantry Brigade (South Africa).''

Dominating the Dida Galgalla (Desert of the Night)
After the success of the 1st South African Infantry Brigade against the Italians at the El Wak border post on 16 December 1940, Lieutenant-General Alan Cunningham was intent on opening access into the Galla-Sidamo area across the Chalbi Desert by advancing eastwards from the eastern side of Lake Rudolf and to support a possible rebellion by the Shifta tribe against the Italians. This was the first offensive to be assigned to 1 SA Division. The division then consisted of the 2nd and 5th SA Brigades (located at Marsabit), the 25th East African Brigade (at Lokitaung) as well as six companies of the 2nd Abyssinian Irregulars. Almost on a daily basis, division infantry and armoured cars crossed the Dida Galgalla in search of enemy patrols. The Italians maintained a well established outpost at Turbi Hills, from which they had clear observation of any vehicle or troop movements in the Dida Galgalla. From December 1940 to February 1941 patrols had never been able to engage Italian patrols or elements –  as they withdrew deeper into Abyssinia on sighting the South African patrols entering the Dida Galgalla, only to return the next day.

El Yibo
Before advancing into southern Abyssinia, General Brink was compelled to protect his western flank and to deny water sources to the Italians. For this reason, on 16 January the 1st Natal Mounted Rifles (of the 2nd Brigade), No 2 Armoured Car Company, 12 SA Field Battery and two irregular companies attacked the string of wells at El Yibo and El Sardu in the Kenyan Northern Frontier District. After three days of fighting, supported by the SAAF, the enemy withdrew from El Yibo on the night of 17 January and on the afternoon of 18 January, the 2nd Field Force Battalion, which had been moved up from the brigade reserve, entered an abandoned El Sardu. With the only water sources in the area in the hands of the South Africans, the advance into Abyssinia could commence.

Gorai and Hobok
2nd and 5th Brigades crossed the Abyssinian border north of Dukana late afternoon on 31 January 1941, moving in parallel columns to assault the Italian positions in the Mega-Moyale complex. The Italians had well established and entrenched advance positions at Goai Crater, El Gumu and Hobok –  which were to be taken before the main forces at Mega-Moyale could be attacked. 2nd Brigade was assigned to attack Gorai on the right, while 5th Brigade was to assault El Gumu. The attack commenced early morning on 1 February and by 1600 both objectives had been secured. The armoured cars however failed to cut off the remnant Italian forces, and they retreated back towards Mega and Moyale. The next day, 3rd Transvaal Scottish and the armoured cars attacked Fort Hobok, sited on a ridge 30 km west of El Gumu supported by artillery. The armoured cars again covered the flanks and tried to cut off any retreating forces. By afternoon, the fort had been captured. The 2nd Brigade now held Gorai and the 5th Brigade, Hobok (Map 1: Point 1). It was again hoped that these raids would ignite the Shifta uprising, but as with the previous occasion, this never materialised.

Battle for Mega
Having two salients extending into Ethiopia, Cunningham and Brink decided to consolidate and to secure their lines of supply in face of the oncoming rainy season which would make the Chalbi desert impassable. The key to supply in the area were the towns of Mega and Moyale, overlooking the two major roads into Abyssinia from Kenya. These were to be taken in a two brigade assault, by first attacking Mega (Map 1: Point 2) and then Moyale (Map 1: Point 3).

The Italians inadvertently opened the offensive when one of their supply columns from Yavello drove into a 2nd Brigade detachment deployed to control the Yavello-Mega road. Poor defensive arrangements by the South Africans allowed the Italians and Banda (irregulars) to drive into the centre of the detachment. After much reactive manoeuvre and intervention by the armoured car company, the Italian supply column and supporting troops were destroyed. The South African positions now known to the Italians, they were attacked by a detachment of Italian light tanks on 16 February, which caused the armoured cars to flee westwards and allowed the tanks to descend on the unprotected infantry. After a brisk but fierce fire-fight, the Italian tanks returned to Mega, leaving the South African detachment dispersed and disorganised.

This attack had compromised surprise – and the attack on Mega was now commenced in all urgency. The 1st SA Irish (Col. Dobbs) were tasked to take the ridges east of Mega fort while the 3rd Transvaal Scottish (Lt-Col. Walter Kirby) were to occupy the a series of hills west of the fort and were to advance in line with the SA Irish. 2nd Brigade was to launch a direct attack on the fort and the Mega defensive complex. Despite incoming artillery fire, the Irish and Scottish regiments advances progressed well – but there was no sign of the 2nd Brigade who had not yet crossed the start-line, threatening to undermine the planned attack. At noon, a torrential rainstorm erupted and a thick mist enveloped the heights around Mega and it became obvious that the fort would not be taken by nightfall. The next morning, cloud and mist prevented air support –  and the Irish and Scottish battalions restarted their advance. It was only after the third day that the 2nd Brigade managed to reach their designated start-line due to poor navigation and the failure to identify serious terrain obstacles on their line of advance during reconnaissance. Clear skies on the third day permitted a coordinated attack with air support, artillery and the two brigades attacking together –  leading to an Italian surrender late that afternoon (18 February).

Mega fell with 1,000 Italian and African soldiers being captured on 22 February, and later that day one of the irregular companies attached to 2nd Brigade entered Moyale unopposed. The Italians had fled, leaving large quantities of logistical stores. The division had attained its objective and had secured the access roads into southern Abyssinia before the onset of the seasonal rains.

Operations west of Lake Rudolf
West of Lake Rudolf, the 25th East African Brigade (Brig. W. Owen) marched on Namaraputh with the objective of taking the town of Kalam (Map 1: Point 4). Opposition from Merille tribesman in the area was so fierce, that the Brigade was compelled to cease its advance and to go over to the defensive. Any advance west of the lake would first require wide area operations to subdue these irregular forces. By the time Moyale fell, allied forces had captured Mogadishu to the east and this success encouraged General Wavell to advise Cunningham that the South African division should be readied to deploy to Egypt at short notice. Cunningham thus replaced 2nd and 5th Brigades with the 21st East African Brigade and withdrew them back into Kenya.

Transfer to Egypt
The Division HQ, Division troops and 5 SA Infantry Brigade arrived in Suez, after an eleven-day voyage from Mombassa on 3 May 1941. The 2nd Brigade arrived in Suez on 8 June from Berbera and was forthwith assigned to 2 SA Infantry Division. The 1st Brigade sailed from Massawa on 12 June 1941 to Egypt. At the peak of operations in 1940, there were 77,000 troops in Kenya of which 27,000 were South African.

Situation
During the time the division had spent in East Africa, the Desert War had progressed and by the time of their arrival in Egypt:
 * The initial advance by the Italians to the Egypt border had been checked (August 1940), with constant raids being launched across the border fence. The Italians were demoralised and had lost approximately three thousand men against British losses of little more than one hundred.
 * By September the Italians had attacked and taken Sollum, Halfaya Pass, and Sidi Barrani and dug in around Sidi Barrani and established several fortified campsin the area, stopping eighty miles west of the British defences at Mersa Matruh.
 * In December 1940, the Western Desert Force launched Operation Compass, the British counterattack. The Italians were caught completely off-guard and by 10 December, the British and Indian forces had taken more than 20,000 Italian prisoners. The following day, the British and Indian forces attacked Sollum. Sidi Barrani fell on the same day.
 * The 4th Indian Division was replaced with the newly arrived Australian 6th Division. The Australians then pressed on to capture Bardia and Tobruk, with little or no opposition. In early February, the Italians were in headlong retreat along the coast, pursued by the Australians.
 * An overland advance by the 7th Armoured Division through Mechili to Beda Fomm, cut off the Italian line of retreat. Combe Force, an ad hoc flying column was sent racing ahead of the tanks and they reached Beda Fomm just ahead of the Italians, and established a roadblock. After a hard and narrowly won battle on 6 February, the Italians surrendered 25,000 men, 200 artillery guns, 100 tanks and 1,500 vehicles. During the course of this battle, the Western Desert Force was renamed as XIII Corps.
 * In early 1941, after the British and Commonwealth victory in Cyrenaica, the military position was soon reversed. Wavell ordered a significant portion of O'Connor's XIII Corps to support Greece as part of Operation Lustre and the Germans initiated their Operation Sunflower (Unternehmen Sonnenblume). This was the deployment of the newly formed German "Afrika Korps" (Deutsches Afrikakorps) as reinforcements to the Italians to prevent total collapse. The German corps included fresh troops with better equipment and a charismatic commander, General Erwin Rommel.
 * Rommel quickly defeated the Allied forces at El Agheila on 24 March. He then launched an offensive which, by 15 April, had pushed the British back to the Egyptian border at Sollum, recapturing all of Libya except for Tobruk which was encircled and besieged with the front lines now stabilised at the Egyptian border.
 * The Western Desert Force launched Operation Brevity in May 1941. This was an inconclusive attempt to secure more ground to launch the main effort to relieve Tobruk.
 * Operation Battleaxe was launched in June. After the failure of Battleaxe, Wavell was replaced by Claude Auchinleck as Commander-in-Chief Middle East and the British forces were reinforced with XXX Corps.
 * The next offensive, Operation Crusader was planned for November 1941.

Discontented South Africans
Deployed at Matruh and responsible for constructing defensive positions, the division was still not considered ready for operations by the end of June –  having 90% of its allotted transport (many vehicles being those which had been used in the East Africa campaign) and 90% of its arms and equipment. Severe administrative problems, as well as organizational issues related to integration of the division into the Western Desert Force, caused discontent and eventually lead Gen. Brink to raise the issues with Field-Marshal Smuts and the Chief of SA General Staff when they visited Cairo in early July. Discussions indicated that Lt-Gen. Sir Alan Cunningham and Wavell were of the opinion that South Africa could not field two divisions for lack of resources. Smuts claimed that the manpower shortages were due to troops being retained for protection duties in East Africa and that a lack of shipping precluded the arrival of a further 3,000 men and he rejected the idea of reducing the South African forces into divisions of two brigade strength, as was recommended by Wavell. In addition, Brink continued to express his displeasure at the fact that the 1st Division was being utilised to construct defensive positions, instead of training in order to prepare for operations.

Differences between British and South African administration were becoming more pronounced (and so too were differences between the South Africans and other Commonwealth troops.) The insistence by the Australian government to retain the Australians in the theatre (at Tobruk at that stage) as a unified corps, caused manpower shortages in other areas in the Western Desert. Brink feared that the division would be split up and deployed piece-meal to fill these gaps, as had happened in East Africa. His insistence in this regard to Auchinleck further widened the gap between the South Africans and the Army commander. At the end of October, Brink advised XXX Corps that 1st Division would not be ready to participate in the preparatory exercise as a prelude to Crusader –  and that he required an additional 21 days for training. After consideration by Cunningham and Auchinleck, the division was permitted three days for training and was required to be available for the commencement of Crusader on 18 November, subject to Brink confirming that the division was ready for operations. Brink was faced with the dilemma of either committing untrained troops to battle, or holding back the division and having them replaced by the Indian Division –  which would invariably relegate the division to defensive duties and a significant loss of prestige to the South Africans. He declared the division "ready" and 1 SA Division was deployed for Operation Crusader.

Sidi Rezeg: November 1941
This account only reflects the role of the 1st SA Infantry Division.

Operational plan
Following the costly failure of Operation Battleaxe, General Archibald Wavell was relieved as Commander-in-Chief Middle East Command and replaced by General Claude Auchinleck. The Western Desert Force was reorganised and renamed the Eighth Army under the command of Lieutenant-General Alan Cunningham and at this stage, the division comprised only two brigades. The plan for Operation Crusader (See Map 2) was to engage the Afrika Korps with the 7th Armoured Division while the 1st SA Division and the 22 Guards Brigade covered their left flank. Meanwhile, on their right, XIII Corps, supported by 4th Armoured Brigade (detached from 7th Armoured Division), would make a clockwise flanking advance west of Sidi Omar and hold position threatening the rear of the line of Axis defensive strongpoints which ran east from Sidi Omar to the coast at Halfaya. Central to the plan was the destruction of the Axis armour by 7th Armoured Division to allow the relatively lightly armoured XIII Corps to advance north to Bardia along the coast while XXX Corps continued northwest to Tobruk and link up with a planned break-out by the 70th Division.

Advance
The division advance commenced at 0600 on 18 November with uneventful progress through the empty desert, save for two air attacks by Italian aircraft (Point 1 on Map 3). Having steadily advanced northwards, 1 SA Division was advised on 20 November to "mask" Bir el Gubi and to prevent interference from the Ariete Div into the flank of 7 Armoured Div (Point 2 on Map 3). El Gubi had now become a lesser objective after the capture of Sidi Rezeg and early morning on 21 November, the 21st and 15th Panzer had withdrawn to the north-west, not aware of the Allied advance to their south – creating the impression within the division, that the Axis forces had already been defeated.

By noon, 22 November, the Sidi Rezeg area was clear of Axis formations but by mid afternoon, German armour launched a violent attack on the area of the airfield. In this attack, 4th Armoured Brigade HQ had been destroyed (captured) and by nightfall, the SA 5th Brigade as well as the 6th New Zealand Brigade had been tasked to hurry in support of 7 Armoured Div at Sidi Rezeg (Advance 3 on Map 3), with the 5th SA Bde tasked to occupy Point 178, three miles south of Sidi Rezeg. 1st SA Bde was to disengage from the Ariete at Bir el Gubi and to advance in a night march, north –  in support of the 5th Brigade at Sidi Regez, being relieved by the 22nd Guards Brigade.

Totensonntag
By the 23rd, 5th Brigade had joined up with 7 Armoured Div, deploying straight from its advance into the centre of the armoured division area of deployment to the south of the airfield. The 1st SA Brigade was expected later the morning, from its night march from El Gubi. Unbeknownst to the division –  Rommel's plan was to attack 7 Armoured Division in a frontal assault with the Afrikakorps and to launch an attack into the rear of 7th Armoured Division with the armoured Ariette Division. The 5th SA Brigade was caught in the middle of this armoured attack.

By late morning, the 15th Panzer had launched their attack with 150 tanks aimed to link up with the Ariette Division and panzers were cutting through the rear of 7th Armoured Division into the support B Echelons. 5th SA Brigade had most of their transport and supplies destroyed in this action, but did destroy a number of German tanks. After destroying significant logistical elements –  the 15th Panzer withdrew so as to by-pass the 7 Armoured Division / 5th SA Brigade positions and to engineer a link-up with the Ariette Division. They achieved this by 1235 and Gen Crüwell prepared for a decisive attack on the Allied armour. Advance elements of the 1st SA Brigade had now met elements of 5 Brigade, but the brigades never physically linked up.

By 1315 a major tank battle was underway between Axis forces and 7 Armoured Division. At 1555 –  1st SA Division were passing a signal to 5 SA Brigade when the brigade interjected "wait....." Those were the last words received from the 5th SA Infantry Brigade. Some units retained some form of unity and managed to escape east through the New Zealand and Indian fronts. Against the German tanks, the South African infantry had no real means of defence with limited Anti-Tank capabilities, they were compelled to use 25-pounders in a direct fire role. By the time the panzers had broken into the rear of the brigade, the artillery had been subdued and all anti-tank capabilities had been destroyed. By nightfall, all that remained of 5 SA Brigade was "...little groups of disconsolate prisoners.....between frequent flares and the light of burning ammunition." "The 5th SA Brigade had been caught by an overwhelming force in the open desert, quite unprepared and without inflicting any negligible damage on its opponents." The battle had resulted in a victory for the Afrikakorps, but the 7th Armoured and 1st South African Divisions had not been annihilated and the loss of the 5th SA Brigade was not enough to set off the loss of almost 50% of the Afrikakorps tanks which went into battle. At 0100 on 24 November, Brink reported to XXX Corps that 5th SA Brigade had "ceased to exist as a fighting formation".

Aftermath
Having failed to link up with 5 SA Brigade, 1st Brigade withdrew south to Bir Taieb el Esem and commenced to establish a strong-point to effect its own defence. Between 24 and 26 November, elements of the 1st SA Brigade were deployed north east in attempts to support the New Zealand Division in their assault on Tobruk. Attempts to join up with the New Zealanders were repeatedly blocked (at one stage Gen Norrie himself lead a combat group from the SA Brigade) by Axis actions. On the 24th, 1st SA Brigade was attacked by the Ariete Armoured Division at Taib el Esem and were able to extricate themselves only after assistance from Gatehouse and the 4th Armoured Brigade.

The same day, Rommel committed himself to a "dash for the wire" –  with the intention of exploiting the disorganisation and confusion in the enemy's bases and cutting their supply lines. The Germans attacked towards Egypt to relieve his garrisons at Bardia and Sollum. The advance came on a route that took the Afrikakorps in succession through the headquarters of XXX Corps, 7th Armoured Division, 1st SA Division, 7th Support Group and 7th Armoured Brigade. By 1145 General Norrie stated that the "Matruh Stakes" had officially started –  as 8th Army A and B Echelons hurriedly withdrew east (Point 5 Map 3). However, fighting continued at El Duda north west of Sidi Regez, with the South Africans being involved in fierce battles in Die Kessel of Sidi Regez on 29 and 30 November. But the pressure was too great and an eastward withdrawal was inevitable. Finally, the Afrikakorps stalled as it outran its supplies and met stiffening resistance. By early December, Rommel had withdrawn to a line of defences east of Tobruk at Gazala, and the division occupied defensive positions at Mersa Matruh.

After the Sidi Regez battles, the division brigades were deployed in various offensive and defensive roles from Mersa Matruh, of which the following are noteworthy:
 * The Imperial Light Horse found an unprotected Axis tank repair depot on 9 December –  and their attack resulted in the destruction of 38 tanks (Five Mk IVs, 26 Mk IIIs and five Mk Is);
 * On 18 December 2 company of the 3rd Recce Bn of the armoured car regiment in cooperation with the 4/11 Sikhs destroyed 12 Ju 52 transports on the ground and took 300 prisoners and captured five 88 mm AA guns when they attacked an airfield at Derna.

Preparing defences at Gazala and change of command
By New Year, the 5th Brigade was re-forming at Mersa Matruh and the 2nd Brigade was earmarked for deployment to Tobruk and the 1st Brigade was to be deployed on operations outside of the division structure. The question re-arose, as to whether South Africa was capable of maintaining the division in the field. By 8 January 1942, the division was 5,570 men under-strength of the approved establishment of 23,187. On 25 January the 1st Brigade was deployed to Tobruk, tasked to fight a delaying action with the 38th Indian Infantry Brigade against the Axis who had by now started a new advance from Msus.

Although it had been agreed that Tobruk would no longer be "held at all costs" in the event of an Axis attack, it formed a critical forward base to protect the Gazala Line from air, land or sea attack. Auchinleck recommended to Ritchie that the forthcoming battle was to be fought west of Tobruk, and not on the frontier. For this reason, 2nd Brigade was also moved forward to support the 1st. By 10 February, the Gazala defences were organised on a two division basis, with the left (southern) sector occupied by the 4th Indian Division and the 1st SA Division taking responsibility for the right sector, reaching down to the sea. On 10 March, Brink injured his back and was evacuated back to South Africa –  he was replaced by Dan Pienaar from the 1st Brigade, who had now been promoted to Maj-General.

On 26 May 1942, in his Order of the Day, Gen Pienaar warned the division (now, for the first time deployed with all three brigades under Division command) of an impending attack – directly aimed at their front.

Gazala: May 1942
This account only reflects the role of the 1st SA Infantry Division.

"The Cauldron"
Rommel's advance, containing at least 10,000 vehicles was headed south, to make a long sweeping right-hook around the southern end of the Allied line. The Afrika Korps diary speaks of a bright moonlit night where they advanced without having any contact with the enemy. However the 4th SA Armoured Car Regiment had been tracking their advance and reporting the progress three to four times per hour. The following morning, the German—Italian forces made contact with the 7th Armoured Division, east of Bir Hakeim where General Messervy of the 7th Armoured Division was taken prisoner. 7th Armoured as well as the Free French at Bir Hakeim held up the advance but by late morning, Axis forces had advanced well behind the southern flank and were now heading north behind the Allied lines. The 90th Light captured and held El Adem. With Allied forces now recovering and re-deploying into better assault positions, the Axis forces were caught in an area known as "The Cauldron" between Bir Hakeim to the south, Tobruk to the north east and the Allied minefields between the Axis and their supply lines to the west. Three days armoured fighting ensued in the area of the Cauldron. To better secure his positions, Rommel then drove two Italian formations directly west, through the Allied minefields to re-establish his supply channels. All this time, opposite the 1st SA Division positions to the north of the Gazala Line, the German 15th Rifle Brigade (Brigade Stab zbv (mot) 15), and the Italian Sabratha and Trento Divisions remained quiet.

By 12 June, the remaining Free French had been forced to withdraw from Bir Hakeim. At Bir el Hatmat, Rommel had dispersed the tactical HQs of the two British Divisions as well as the HQs of the 9th and 10th Indian Infantry Brigades and other smaller units and the 22nd Armoured Brigade had been forced from the battlefield by renewed attacks from 15th Panzer. In "The Cauldron", three Indian infantry battalions, a reconnaissance regiment and four artillery regiments had been virtually destroyed. On the day before, Axis forces had pushed towards El Adem and had forced the 201st Guards Brigade to withdraw from the Knightsbridge Box on the Gazala Line back to the Tobruk perimeter. On the 14th, Auchinlek authorised Ritchie to withdraw from the Gazala line and the 1st SA and the 50th Northumbrian Divisions were ordered to withdraw along the coastal road back towards Tobruk.

Retreat
While the 1st SA and 50th Divisions were preparing for their withdrawal on the Via Balbia, Axis forces were wreaking havoc on the escarpment amongst Allied forces and Rommel dictated his 170mm guns to open fire from the escarpment down onto the Via Balbia as the South Africans and British were destroying their ammunition dumps in the Gazala Line Rommel tasked 15th and 21st Panzer with breaking north and severing the Via Balbia close to Elwet et Tamar, cutting off the two Divisions to the west. With the road being unable to accommodate two divisions, elements of the 50th Division broke out in a south westerly direction in a wide sweep eventually turning back east towards the Allied lines. The South Africans withdrew to series of defensive boxes at Williams Post, Best Post, "Point 187," Commonwealth Keep and then Acroma. The 21st and 15th Panzer attacks forced the 1st SA Division to fight a rearguard action and to withdraw through each of the respective boxes well into the night. Chased by Axis tanks, driving east on the Via Balbia, the first elements reached Tobruk during the night of 13/14 June. The division was now spread out between the original Gazala defences and Tobruk, as each element tried to make their way east.

Gazala Gallop
By 1400 on 15 June, 1st SA Division and elements of the 50th Northumbian Division were close to Gambut, headed towards the Egypt frontier. At the same time, Ritchie had ordered the balance of Eighth Army to withdraw to the defensive positions at Mersa Matruh, some 100 miles east of the frontier, leaving Tobruk to hold out and threaten the Axis lines of communication in much the same way as in 1941 –  This became known as the Gazala Gallop. At dawn on 21 June, the Tobruk Garrison surrendered to the Axis forces. On the same day, 1st SA Division were ordered to withdraw a further 220 miles east, to El Alamein.

First Battle of El Alamein: July 1942
Having arrived back from the Gazala Line, the division spent two weeks improving defences on the El Alamein defences in the "Alamein Box". Auchenlik had issued an order instructing all surplus personnel to be sent back to the Delta, which greatly displeased Pienaar. The division had been deploying two brigades of infantry, each accompanied by a battery of artillery to protect the areas west and south of the defensive box. Auchinlecks order effectively meant that Pienaar could only hold the box with one under-strength brigade Before these troops could be returned, battle was joined with the 90th Light Infantry Division in the early morning hours of 1 July.

At 0605 Axis transports were seen advancing to within 2,000 yards of the 3rd Brigade positions and they were engaged with machine and anti-tank gun fire from the Imperial Light Horse. During the early morning hours, the 90th Light had lost direction and veered too far north, resulting in the clash with ILH. While the Rand Light Infantry were driving off German towed artillery, South African Air Force Boston light bombers bombed their supply columns. By 0730 the 90th Light had been halted and were pinned down by the South Africans, determined to avenge Gazala and the surrender of Tobruk. The 90th Light only managing to extricate themselves under cover of a dust storm later in the day. The Axis attack had been stopped all along the Allied line of defence.

Cracks Widen
Cracks and fissures had again become visible between the 1st SA Div and the Army command. 1st SA Brigade had been deployed on the flank, on Ruweisat Ridge and by this time they had become somewhat isolated during the previous days fighting and the Allied bombing missions of the previous night. The Brigade had lost its Officer Commanding as well as its Brigade Major during the previous two days fighting and over 15,000 shells had fallen on their strongpoint, known as "Hotbox," from the area of the Trieste Division. Pienaar advised Norrie that their position was "untenable" and Norrie replied that if that was the case, he would "..... relieve the Brigade, place it in reserve and replace it with another formation." Offended by this –  Pienaar called 8th Army HQ and was advised by Dorman-Smith that the Brigade was to remain where it was. Not satisfied, Pienaar insisted on speaking to Auchinleck, who ordered that the Brigade hold its ground – but offered to relieve the Brigade within two days when the 9th Australian Division reached El Alamein. Pienaar's demands of the evening of 2 July shook the 8th Army command's confidence in the morale of the division and Auchinleck stated that the division could no longer be exposed to "undue operational strain," fearing that material losses to the division, especially after the surrender of the 2nd SA Division at Tobruk, would lead to political disaster. Auchinleck deployed the 9th Australian Division to re-enforce the northern sector of the line held by the South Africans three days later. Pienaar had also been falsely accused of supporting the retreat to the Delta and engaging the Axis from behind the Suez Canal – he remained resolved to fight, stating to an American war correspondent at Alam Halfa in July 1942 "....Here I stop, I've retreated far enough, whether we hold the damn thing or not!"

Alam Halfa: August 1942
Rommel launched one more assault on 31 August, aimed at Alam el Halfa ridge. The division responded by launching a number of successful raids at the enemy forces after last light, once they had stopped their advance for the night on 31 August. By noon on 1 September, 15th Panzer were immobilised by lack of fuel south of Alam Halfa. Pienaar re-organised the division to occupy the positions with one brigade and released two brigades as part of "battle groups" to act against the immobilised Axis division. The report that these forces were available was not welcomed at Corps and Army headquarters, and these mobile formations were not used. After the counter-attack was eventually organised, the Axis had already started to withdraw and fighting was broken off on 7 September.

Battle plan
For what was to become the final South African assault on the Axis forces (Operation Lightfoot), the division was tasked attack on a two-brigade front to secure the southern end of Mieiriya Ridge. The Indian 4th and Northumbrian 50th Divisions were deployed to their south and to the north, was the 2nd New Zealand Division. The South Africans were to attack towards the south west with 2nd SA Infantry Brigade (Brig. W.H.E. Poole) on the right and 3rd SA Infantry Brigade (Brig. R. Palmer) on the left. 1st SA Infantry Brigade was deployed further south and was responsible for creating an anti-tank screen to protect the left flank of the South African attack (See Map 4). The Australians and Highlanders were to force a northern corridor through the Axis minefields while the New Zealanders and South Africans were to do the same in the southern sector.

Break-In: Operation Lightfoot
Operation Lightfoot started at 2140 on 23 October with a five-hour fire plan, the start of which signified H-Hour for the infantry assault. Pienaar had deployed each of the lead brigades, with on battalion leading for the first phase to the "red line" –  after a pause of an hour and a quarter, the two trailing battalions would pass through to the final objective on Miteiriya Ridge. 1st Brigade –  who was not part of the main advance was provided with a special force of armoured cars, machine guns and anti-tank guns to guard their and the division's left flank (Refer Map 4). They were also allocated a mobile element of the 8th Royal Tanks. The divisional artillery, reinforced by three troops from X Corps was to fire a fire-plan of timed concentrations – using smoke on the intermediate and final objectives to cover re-organisation and to help with direction finding.

The two South African brigades advanced with 40mm Bofors guns marking the lines of advance between the respective battalions and the first objectives on the Corps objective line called "Oxalic" were occupied by the Natal Mounted Rifles at 2350. The Cape Town Highlanders were the last battalion to reach their individual unit objectives on Oxalic – and were established on Miteiriya Ridge by 0800 the following morning. The fact that the 1st and 10th Armoured Divisions had not broken through into the open areas west of the line as originally planned, meant that Montgomery had to change his orders – moving to an attritional World War I type of battle, which Montgomery in a semblance of a novelty – dubbed "Crumbling Actions." By the evening of 26 October (as from the H-Hour on the 23rd), the South Africans had suffered 600 casualties, as compared to 2,000 in the 51st Division, 1,000 Australians and a similar number of New Zealanders.

"Crumbling Operations"
During the night of 25/26 October, some South African and other elements which had not yet established themselves on their exact Oxalic objectives, made corrective moves and by dawn the entire XXX Corps was finally in their initial phase objectives. The Australians and the 1st Armoured Division had launched attacks in the north, being the start of the "crumbling" process, while at the same time, there was much re-organisation and re-deployment to the south. On 26 October Leese issued orders for the 1st SA Division to "side-step" north in conjunction with a similar move by the 4th Indian Division and to extend their lines to occupy the area held by the New Zealand Division and the 9th Armoured Brigade. Once this move was completed, these relieved units were to be withdrawn into reserve. During the order group to issue these instructions, Pienaar again voiced an objection to orders – on the grounds that he had insufficient transport to make the move in the required time. Freyberg, in a move to "spike his guns" asked Pienaar again, if the only limiting factor was transport? Pienaar confirmed – and when Freyberg offered him transport from the New Zealand Division, no more was heard of the matter and the re-deployment was executed. The South Africans were now stretched on a wider front, between the Australians and 51st Division in the north and the Indian 4th Division on Ruweisat Ridge, with 5th SA Brigade on the right, 3rd SA Brigade on its left and 1st SA Brigade being pulled back as the divisional reserve.

Break-Out: Operation Supercharge
On the night of 2/3 November, the Australians noticed signs of withdrawal by Axis units in the coastal salient and by 1000 Montgomery had received similar reports from the south. Contrary to Hitler's instructions – Rommel had started to withdraw. The final plan to destroy the Axis forces, code named "Supercharge" was put into action. The 1st SA Division played no role in this phase of the operation – but the South African armoured cars attached to XXX Corps were actively involved in the attempted destruction and subsequent pursuit.

At 0540 on 4 November, after repeated attempts at breaking through the Axis lines – Lt-Col Reeves-Moore lead the South African armoured cars into the rear of the Axis positions, "....the eager children of any mechanized pursuit... scampered at dawn into the open desert beyond the mines and trenches and guns, to make their exuberant mischief amid the disintegrating enemy". They soon started causing the havoc for which they had been intended – A Sqn capturing two 88mm guns, two 105 mm guns, two 110mm guns, a Breda portee, six trucks and 130 prisoners; while B Sqn captured five trucks, a staff car, one 105 mm and one 150 mm gun and 100 prisoners within a matter of hours.

While the armoured cars were dashing west, the 1st SA Division had moved further north and over the previous two nights had relieved the 51st Highland Division. During the night of 3/4 November, the last unit to move into its new position was the 1st Cape Town Highlanders, who moved during a major artillery barrage in support of an attack by the 5th Indian Infantry Brigade. The regiment awoke on 4 November to silence and the absence of gunfire, save for the sound of Allied vehicles advancing west in pursuit of the retreating enemy. For the 1st South African Division, the war had ended.

Disbandment
The Union Defence Force had finalised a decision to convert the 1st SA Infantry Division into an Armoured Division and the Axis withdrawal from El Alamein marked the end of fighting for the division in the Middle East. By 1 December, advance parties were already returning to South Africa to assist with the establishment of the intended armoured division and later in the month, General Dan Pienaar was recalled to South Africa to lead the formation of the new division. He and eleven other officers boarded a Lockheed Lodestar on 17 December to fly back to South Africa. The aircraft stopped to re-fuel at Kisumu on the shores of Lake Victoria and on takeoff on 19 December, it plunged into the lake, killing all on board.

On 1 January 1943, the 1st SA Infantry Division embarked for home, with troops returning to their parent units in South Africa. The division had been dissolved and many of its former units were to be absorbed into the 6th South African Armoured Division. The designation 1st South African Infantry Division was also used briefly by a successor formation in 1948–49.

Higher formations served under

 * 22 July 1940 – 3 May 1941: East African Field Force: General Sir Alan Gordon Cunningham
 * 4 May – 31 October 1941: XIII Corps, 8th Army: Lieutenant-General Sir Noel Monson de la Poer Beresford-Peirce (April 1941 – October 1941).
 * 1–22 November 1941: XXX Corps, 8th Army: Lieutenant-General Charles Willoughby Moke Norrie
 * 23 – 30 November 1941: XIII Corps: General Sir Alfred Reade Godwin-Austen (October 1941 – February 1942)
 * 1 December 1941 – 1 January 1943: XXX Corps, 8th Army:
 * Lieutenant-General Charles Willoughby Moke Norrie (Nov 1941 – July 1942).
 * Lieutenant-General William Havelock Ramsden (July 1942 – Sept 1942).
 * Lieutenant-General Sir Oliver William Hargreaves Leese (Sept 1942 – May 1943).

East Africa, 1 January 1941
According to Orpen Division Commander: Lieutenant-General George Brink
 * 2nd South African Infantry Brigade (Brigadier F.L.A. Buchanan)
 * 1st Natal Mounted Rifles
 * 1st Field Force Battalion
 * 2nd Field Force Battalion
 * No. 2 S.A. Armoured Car Company
 * 12th Field Company, SA Corps of Engineers
 * 12th Field Ambulance, SA Medical Corps
 * No. 2 Mobile General Workshops, SA Technical Services Corps
 * 3 Brigade Signals Company, SA Corps of Signals
 * 5th South African Infantry Brigade (Brigadier Bertram Frank Armstrong)
 * 1st South African Irish Regiment
 * 2nd Regiment Botha
 * 3rd Transvaal Scottish Regiment
 * 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
 * 1st Brigade Signals Company, SA Corps of Signals
 * 25th East African Infantry Brigade (Brigadier W. Owen)
 * 2/3 King's African Rifles, Kenya Territorial Territorial Infantry
 * 2/4 King's African Rifles
 * 27th Indian Mountain Battery, Royal Artillery Corps
 * Detachment Armoured Cars
 * Somaliland Camel Corps
 * 3rd Field Company, SA Corps of Engineers
 * 6th Uganda Field Ambulance, Medical Corps
 * 25th East African Brigade Gp Company, Signals
 * Division Troops
 * 7th, 8th and 9th Field Batteries, Transvaal Horse Artillery, SA Artillery Corps
 * 3rd Anti-Tank Battery, SA Artillery Corps
 * One section, 6th Anti-Aircraft Battery, SA Artillery Corps
 * One platoon of 1/3 King's African Rifles (Machine gun)
 * No. 2 Abyssinian Irregular Company
 * No. 5 Abyssinian Irregular Company
 * 21st Field Park Company, SA Engineering Corps

Western Desert, 17 October 1942
According to Orpen

Division Commander: Major General Daniel Hermanus ("Dan") Pienaar
 * 1st South African Infantry Brigade Brig. E.P. Hartshorn
 * 1st Duke of Edinburgh's Own Rifles SA Infantry Corps
 * 1st Royal Natal Carabineers SA Infantry Corps
 * 1st Transvaal Scottish SA Infantry Corps
 * One Sqn 3rd SA Armoured Car Regt SA Tank Corps
 * 3rd and 4th Anti-Tank Batteries SA Artillery Corps
 * 1st Light Anti-Aircraft Battery SA Artillery Corps
 * 1st Field Company SA Engineering Corps
 * 11th and 15th Field Batteries of 4th Field Regt SA Artillery Corps
 * 7th, 19th and 20th Field Batteries of 7th Field Regt SA Artillery Corps
 * 2nd South African Infantry Brigade Brig. W.H.E. Poole
 * 1st Cape Town Highlanders SA Infantry Corps
 * 1st Natal Mounted Rifles SA Infantry Corps
 * 1st Field Force Battalion SA Infantry Corps
 * 2nd Field Force Battalion SA Infantry Corps
 * B Company (Machine Gun), Die Middelandse Regiment SA Infantry Corps
 * 4th Company (Machine Gun), Regiment President Steyn SA Infantry Corps
 * 1st and 2nd Anti-Tank Batteries SA Artillery Corps
 * 3rd Light Anti-Aircraft Battery (less two Troops) SA Artillery Corps
 * 1st, 3rd and 14th Field Batteries of 1st Field Regt SA Artillery Corps
 * 3rd South African Infantry Brigade Brig. R.J. (Bobby) Palmer
 * 1st Imperial Light Horse SA Infantry Corps
 * 1st Rand Light Infantry SA Infantry Corps
 * 1st Royal Durban Light Infantry SA Infantry Corps
 * One Troop 3rd Light Anti-Aircraft Battery SA Artillery Corps
 * 2nd Field Company SA Engineering Corps
 * Division Troops
 * 2nd Regt. Botha, SA Infantry Corps
 * Regt. President Steyn (less one company), SA Infantry Corps
 * 3rd SA Armoured Car Regt (less one Sqn), SA Tank Corps
 * 8th Royal Tank Regiment, (part of 23rd Armoured Brigade Group) equipped with Valentine tanks

Attached formations
Not reflected in the above order of battle due to date discrepancies:
 * 21st East African Infantry Brigade from 27 February 1941 to 6 April 1941
 * Polish Independent Carpathian Rifle Brigade from 3 February 1942 to 18 March 1942
 * Free French Brigade from 3 February 1942 to 10 February 1942
 * 6th South African Infantry Brigade from 18 March 1942 to 20 April 1942

title: 1st South African Infantry Division


text:
Borough of Eastleigh

The Borough of Eastleigh is a local government district with borough status in Hampshire, England. It is named after its main town of Eastleigh, where the council is based. The borough also contains the town of Hedge End along with several villages, many of which form part of the South Hampshire urban area.

The neighbouring districts are Fareham, Winchester, Test Valley, Southampton and (across Southampton Water) New Forest. Water bounds much of the borough, with Southampton Water and the River Hamble bordering the east and southwest of the district. The borough lies within the Hampshire Basin.

The original Eastleigh borough was formed in 1936 following the incorporation of the former Eastleigh Urban District Council. The borough as it is today was formed in 1974, when the existing Borough of Eastleigh expanded to include part of the former Winchester Rural District as a result of the Local Government Act 1972. The borough's Latin motto, "Salus populi suprema lex" translates as "The Welfare of the People is the most important Law".

The borough is served by two motorways and seven railway stations as well as an international airport. There is also a ferry linking Hamble-le-Rice in Eastleigh to Warsash in Fareham, and a disused canal running through the north of the borough.

There are eight scheduled monuments and around 180 listed buildings in the borough, with Netley Abbey, Bursledon Windmill, the chapel of Netley Hospital, and Netley Castle among them. The borough also contains eight conservation areas and around 20,000 trees protected by tree preservation orders.

History
The borough's origins begin with the formation of an ecclesiastical parish covering the hamlets of Eastley and Barton in 1868, in an area which was beginning to be developed around Bishopstoke railway station which had opened in 1839 to serve the older village of Bishopstoke a mile to the east. Author Charlotte Mary Yonge, a resident of Otterbourne, donated £500 (£0 at 2024 values) towards the cost of building a parish church and in return was asked which of the two villages to name the parish after; she chose Eastley, but also chose to alter the spelling to Eastleigh as she considered this more modern. The parish grew rapidly: it had a population of 515 in 1871, over 1,000 in 1881 and 3,613 in 1891.

Despite the creation of the ecclesiastical parish, Eastleigh remained part of the civil parish of South Stoneham. In order to facilitate the creation of pavements with kerbs, drains and sewers, and street lights, a local government district covering the ecclesiastical parish of Eastleigh was established in 1893, governed by a local board. Such districts were converted into urban districts in 1894, when Eastleigh was also made its own civil parish. Eastleigh Urban District was enlarged to take in the community of Bishopstoke in 1899, becoming the Eastleigh and Bishopstoke Urban District. The name was changed back to just Eastleigh in 1932.

The first Eastleigh Borough was incorporated in 1936 under the Municipal Corporations Act 1882. This conversion from Eastleigh Urban District Council to Eastleigh Borough Council allowed the authority to create byelaws and appoint a mayor. Notice of the petition for incorporation was served on the 1 February 1936, and the matter being raised for consideration on 16 March, along with petitions for the creation of boroughs for Crosby and Sale in North West England, among others.

The modern borough was created in 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, covering the former borough plus seven parishes from the Winchester Rural District, being Botley, Bursledon, Fair Oak, Hamble, Hedge End, Hound and West End. Eastleigh's borough status passed to the enlarged district from its creation, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor, continuing Eastleigh's series of mayors dating back to 1936.

In 2006, the borough was ranked the ninth best place to live in the UK by a Channel 4 programme.

Governance
Eastleigh Borough Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by Hampshire County Council. The whole borough is also covered by civil parishes, which form a third tier of local government.

The council has a strong tradition of attending to environmental matters and in 2008 was named a beacon council under the theme "Tackling Climate Change".

Political control
The council has been under Liberal Democrat majority control since 1994.

The first election to the council was held in 1973, initially acting as a shadow authority alongside the outgoing authorities until the new arrangements took effect on 1 April 1974. Political control since 1974 has been as follows:

Leadership
The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in Eastleigh. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since 1976 have been:

Composition
Following the 2024 election the composition of the council was:

The next election is due in May 2026.

Elections
Since the last boundary changes in 2018 the council has comprised 39 councillors representing 14 wards, with each ward electing two or three councillors. Elections are held three years out of every four, with roughly a third of the council being elected each time for a four year term of office. Hampshire County Council elections are held in the fourth year of the cycle when there are no borough council elections.

Most of the borough is covered by the Eastleigh parliamentary constituency, represented by Paul Holmes of the Conservative Party. The remaining wards, which cover Chandler's Ford and Hiltingbury, belong to the Winchester constituency, represented by Steve Brine of the Conservative Party.

Premises
The council has its main offices at Eastleigh House on Upper Market Street in Eastleigh. The building does not have a council chamber and so full council meetings are held in various locations, including The Point, a theatre which is the former town hall that was built in 1899 for the old Eastleigh and Bishopstoke Urban District Council. It remained the town hall until 1974 when new offices were built at the junction of Leigh Road and Villeneuve St Georges Way. Between 1974 and 2014 the council was based at Civic Offices on Leigh Road, before moving to Eastleigh House, an existing office building in the town centre which was refurbished and extended to become the council's main offices.

Geography
The southern part of the borough is bounded on the east by the River Hamble (separating it from Fareham) and on the west by Southampton Water (separating it from the New Forest). The Hamble flows into Southampton Water at Hamble-le-Rice, thus accounting for the borough's southern boundary. Further north, the borough borders Southampton to the west and the City of Winchester district to the north. As well as Southampton Water and the River Hamble, a number of watercourses flow through Eastleigh, including the River Itchen, Monks Brook and the Itchen Navigation.

The largest settlement in the borough is the town of Eastleigh itself, with a continuous urban area which now includes Chandler's Ford, Bishopstoke and Boyatt Wood. The only other settlement in the borough with town status is Hedge End. Due to the urban nature of Southampton and the town of Eastleigh, the western side of the borough is generally more built up than the east. There are three country parks in the borough, Itchen Valley in West End and Lakeside, located just to the south of the town of Eastleigh, are managed by the borough council while Royal Victoria Country Park is managed by Hampshire County Council.

The borough is within the Hampshire Basin, with an underlying geology of mainly Cretaceous chalk.

Soil in the borough is principally of poor to moderate agricultural quality although high grade land is present in pockets. The south of the borough has acid soils and gravels, but poorly drained clays predominate in the north. Most of the borough is covered by a series of clays and marls, with sandy and lignitic beds, part of the Bracklesham Group of beds. As well as clay soils, the Bracklesham Beds result in some bands of sandy soil to the north of West End, and podzol soils around the M27 motorway west of Hedge End and on small areas of the gravels on top of the beds themselves. However most of the soil over the beds is more fertile brown earth.

In the north of the borough, small pockets of valley gravels, London clay, Brickearth and Alluvium can be found, although these have mainly been built over with the exception of the Alluvium, which forms peaty soils around the floodplain of the River Itchen.

Climate
As with the rest of the UK, Eastleigh experiences an oceanic climate (Köppen Cfb). The nearest weather station to the Borough is in Southampton, which has held the record for the highest temperature in the UK for June at 35.6 C since 1976.

Demography
In the 2021 census, Eastleigh had a population of 136,443 people consisting of 66,700 males (48.9%) and 69,743 females (51.1%). The borough is much more densely populated than South East England and England as a whole, with a population density of 1,712.1 people per square km (South East England and England have population densities of 486.5 and 433.5 people per square km, respectively). 45.7% of Eastleigh's population state their religion as Christian, which is a significant decrease from 61.9% in 2011. 45.0% stated they had no religion (up from 28.5% in 2011) and 5.6% did not state a religion; the most popular non-Christian religions in the borough were Islam (1%), Hinduism (1%) and Sikhism (0.7%). The census also indicates that the residents of Eastleigh are generally in better health than those in England as a whole.

Economy
Historically, the economy of the area has strong links with the transport industry. The proximity of substantial waterways made shipbuilding a major industry in the south of the borough, and today the pleasure boat industry still dominates the area around Hamble-le-Rice and Bursledon, made famous by the television drama series on the subject, Howards' Way, which was filmed in the area. The borough is also strongly linked with the Spitfire, the first test flights of which took place from Southampton Airport in Eastleigh. Eastleigh was once the heart of the London and South Western Railway, with the Eastleigh Works building most of the company's engines. At present, the works maintains South Western Railway and CrossCountry trains. The works building is now home to Arlington Fleet Services, which provides a multitude of train maintenance services. Finally, Network Rail has a yard here, from which it carries out track maintenance.

The economy of the borough today is dominated by the retail sector, which accounts for around 33 per cent of the jobs in the borough, and this proportion is rising. As well as the large Swan Centre, a shopping centre in the town of Eastleigh, there is a large out-of-town retail development near Hedge End which includes flagship stores for Marks & Spencer and Sainsbury's among others. Eastleigh also has proportionately more manufacturing and construction jobs than the nation, but the number of jobs in these sectors is declining in the borough.

The B&Q head office is in the Portswood House in Eastleigh, Eastleigh borough.

Landmarks
There are eight scheduled ancient monuments in Eastleigh, around 180 listed buildings (9 of which are Grade II* listed, the remainder are Grade II) and over 800 tree preservation orders covering 20,000 trees across 5,000 properties. The council also maintains a "local list" of buildings which are of local importance but do not meet English Heritage's listing criteria.

The area around Netley is particularly rich in notable historic landmarks, with Netley Abbey, Netley Castle and Netley Hospital all nearby. The borough also boasts Hampshire's only functioning windmill, Bursledon Windmill, and eight conservation areas.

Transport
The M3 motorway runs through the north-west of the borough, providing a direct road route to London, and the midlands and north of England via the A34 road which joins the M3 just north of Winchester. The M27 motorway also runs through much of the borough, linking Eastleigh to the rest of the south coast.

There are seven railway stations in the borough, served by the South West Main Line, the Eastleigh to Romsey Line, the Eastleigh to Fareham Line, the West Coastway Line and the Cross Country Route. Passenger train operators serving the Eastleigh stations are South Western Railway, CrossCountry and Southern.

Southampton Airport is located in the north west of the borough, just south of the town of Eastleigh itself. The airport is the 20th largest in the United Kingdom and flights operate from there to destinations throughout the British Isles (including the Channel Islands) and some destinations in western continental Europe.

Local bus services in Eastleigh are operated by Bluestar. Stagecoach South also operate some services. National coach operators such as National Express tend not to serve Eastleigh due to the close proximity of Southampton and Winchester to the borough. Megabus does serve Southampton Airport Parkway, on a limited timetable.

The disused Itchen Navigation runs through the north of the borough, and in the south, Hamble is served by the Hamble-Warsash Ferry.

Education
The local education authority for Eastleigh is Hampshire County Council, which lists 40 schools in the borough. In addition, there are two further education colleges in the town of Eastleigh, and a number of private schools such as the Gregg School in Chartwell Green and King's School in Fair Oak.

International relationships
The Borough of Eastleigh is twinned with: has a friendship alliance with: and has one Sister City:
 * 🇫🇷 Villeneuve-Saint-Georges, France
 * 🇩🇪 Kornwestheim, Germany
 * 🇷🇺 Kimry, Russia
 * 🇺🇸 Temple Terrace, Florida, United States

Eastleigh was awarded the European Flag of Honour in 1983 to mark the twentieth anniversary of the Borough's twinning with Villeneuve-Saint-Georges. The flag, which is awarded to local authorities which promote pan-Europe relationships, was presented to the council by a European Commission representative on 18 June 1983.

Freedom of the Borough
The following people and military units have received the Freedom of the Borough of Eastleigh.

Individuals

 * Sir David Price: 1977.
 * Godfrey G. Olson : 1977.
 * Norman F.N. Norris: 1977.
 * Peter A.T. Green: 1977.
 * Frank Edward Brown: 1986.
 * Dennis A. Tranah: 1986.
 * Suzanne Bartlet: 1989.
 * George E. Raymond: 1995.
 * Margaret Kyrle}: 2003.
 * David Chidgey, Baron Chidgey: 2005.
 * Christopher Tapp: 2006.
 * Doreen Wellfare: 2008.
 * Philip Spearey: 21 January 2011.
 * David Smith: 2013.
 * Dani King: 2013.
 * Nirmal Purja: 14 March 2022.

Military Units

 * The Royal Hampshire Regiment: September 1991.
 * The Princess of Wales's Royal Regiment: 9 September 1992.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Borough of Eastleigh


text:
Johnstown Flood National Memorial

The Johnstown Flood National Memorial is a unit of the United States National Park Service. Established in 1964 through legislation signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson, it pays tribute to the thousands of victims of the Johnstown Flood, who were injured or killed on May 31, 1889 when the South Fork Dam ruptured.

History of the Johnstown Flood
Founded in 1800, Johnstown was a steel town that grew from the development of the Pennsylvania Railroad and other transportation services in Cambria County. By 1889, the town had a population of thirty thousand people who were of mostly German and Welsh ancestry. Established in the center of a narrow floodplain between Little Conemaugh and Stony Creek rivers, the community was surrounded, during the latter part of the nineteenth century, by land that had been altered by deforestation and the leveling of hills. These factors contributed to periodic floods, as did the narrow river valleys.

In 1836, the South Fork dam was built to create a reservoir (later named Conemaugh Lake) for the Pennsylvania Canal's western division. Measuring eight hundred and fifty feet at its breast section, the dam was made of earth and stone. It was reported to be the largest dam of its type in the world at the time of its construction. Subsequently abandoned by the canal system, it was purchased by private owners, including a former congressman.

Ultimately it was purchased by the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club, an exclusive recreational group composed of wealthy individuals from the Pittsburgh region, for use as a summer mountain retreat. The club paid for repairs to the dam and additional development: a main building and "cottages" to transform the area into a boating and fishing resort community.

On May 31, 1889, the South Fork dam broke from the weight of combined heavy rains and a sudden freshet that had caused a significantly higher amount of water to accumulate in its reservoir than normal. The dam's rupture released twenty million tons of water, which traveled at forty miles per hour, creating a seventy-foot-high wall of water that was propelled fourteen miles downward into the Little Conemaugh River Valley, where it flooded Johnstown. Property, industry, homes, farms, and lives were destroyed as the water, debris, oil, and bodies of flood victims were caught in the arches of a Pennsylvania Railroad-owned stone bridge. Eighty of the trapped people subsequently died in a related fire.

Although the flood lasted for only ten minutes, the catastrophic damage it caused required five years of cleanup and rebuilding to enable residents of Johnstown to recover. In addition to the thousands of initial injuries and lives lost, the community was affected by an outbreak of typhoid fever, which developed from bacteria-tainted flood waters and lack of sanitation. Forty more people died.

Surviving residents were treated and cared for by relief corps from several cities in Southwestern Pennsylvania. The federal government and foreign countries also responded with more than $3.7 million in money, food, and clothing for the town. Clara Barton and the Red Cross also responded with substantial aid.

Just sixteen when the flood happened, survivor Victor Heiser years later recollected that time during a recording of his oral history. He remembered people living in the area near the dam often saying beforehand, "That dam will give way, but it won’t ever happen to us." He said that when the flood hit, it was like a "huge wall" coming down the street. The longest-living survivor of the flood, Frank Shomo, died March 20, 1997, at the age of one hundred and eight.

History of the memorial
As a result of legislation proposed by U.S. Congressman John P. Saylor (R-PA), H.R. 931, which was supported by the Blair County Historical Society and the Pennsylvania Historical and Museum Commission, creation of this memorial was approved by the United States Congress on August 31, 1964. Signed into law by U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson on September 2, 1964, the Johnstown Flood National Memorial was officially established.

It was to preserve the remains of the South Fork Dam. This had been found to be structurally lacking at the time of its rupture during the Johnstown Flood on May 31, 1889. Also conserved by this legislation were the former Lake Conemaugh bed, along with the nearby farm of Elias Unger and the clubhouse of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club, which had owned the dam and reservoir. The associated land is treated as a park.

The memorial is presently located at 733 Lake Road near South Fork, Pennsylvania, about 10 miles (16 km) northeast of Johnstown, Pennsylvania.

The clubhouse and several associated buildings have since been designated as part of a National Historic Landmark District, established in 1986 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places. They are significant not only for the role of the club in the flood, but as an example of elite recreational clubs in the late nineteenth century, and the architecture of the time.

Park features
The visitor center at this national memorial offers two floors of exhibits with maps, views of the former dam, tactile displays, historic photographs of the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Club, a reproduction morgue book, the oral history of flood survivor Victor Heiser, and the film, "Black Friday." Visitors may go to s the Unger House and the Springhouse.

Visitors to the national memorial may also explore the South Fork Fishing and Hunting Clubhouse, which was acquired by the park in 2006, and the Lake View Visitor Center. Ranger-interpreted and van-guided tours are also both available.

Hiking trails connect various parts of the memorial, and picnicking areas are also present throughout.

Lakebed Rehabilitation Project
On January, 2020, the Lakebed Rehabilitation Project began at the Johnston Flood National Memorial. The project's goal was to restore the view of how the lakebed looked before the breakage of the dam in 1889. Vegetation has grown in the area so the National Park Service Wildland Fire and Aviation staff cleared it using a masticator machine. This caused problems however as there are many places that both man and machine cannot clear with safety. An organization named Allegheny Goatscape from Pittsburgh used their services of 12 goats and a donkey to provide assistance in clearing the area. The herd is able to eat an approximate of an acre of vegetation every two weeks. Another organization named Russell Tree Experts from Ohio also assisted in mechanical clearing of the lakebed. This clearing project is expected to continue till the summer of 2021.

title: Johnstown Flood National Memorial


text:
Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change

The Center for the Study of Carbon Dioxide and Global Change is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization based in Tempe, Arizona. It is seen as a front group for the fossil fuel industry, and as promoting climate change denial. The Center produces a weekly online newsletter called CO2Science.

The Center was founded and is run by Craig D. Idso, along with Sherwood B. Idso, his father, and Keith E. Idso, his brother. They came from backgrounds in agriculture and climate. According to the Idsos, they became involved in the global warming controversy through their study of Earth's temperature sensitivity to radiative perturbations and plant responses to elevated CO2 levels and carbon sequestration. The Center sharply disputes the scientific consensus on climate change shown in IPCC assessment reports, and believes that global warming will be beneficial to mankind.

Funding
According to IRS records, the ExxonMobil Foundation provided a grant of $15,000 to the center in 2000. Another report states that ExxonMobil has funded an additional $55,000 to the center. ExxonMobil stated it funded, "organizations which research significant policy issues and promote informed discussion on issues of direct relevance to the company. [...] These organizations do not speak on our behalf, nor do we control their views and messages."

The center was also funded by Peabody Energy, America’s biggest coalmining company.

Reception
A December 2009 article in Mother Jones magazine said the Center was a promoter of climate disinformation, from a family prominent in promoting climate change denial.


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1985 in LGBT rights

This is a list of notable events in the history of LGBT rights that took place in the year 1985.

Events

 * France prohibits discrimination based on lifestyle ("moeurs"), including homosexuality, in employment and services, public and private.

March

 * 26 — The Supreme Court of the United States, being divided 4—4, affirms the ruling of the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals which struck down an Oklahoma state law allowing teachers to be fired for "advocating, soliciting, imposing, encouraging or promoting public or private homosexual activity in a manner that creates a substantial risk that such conduct will come to the attention of school children or school employees". The appellate court found that the law infringed on First Amendment guarantees of free speech.

April

 * 1
 * Harvey Milk High School holds its first classes in New York City.
 * Governor Toney Anaya of New Mexico issues an executive order banning public-sector sexual orientation discrimination.

May

 * 12 — The first memorial to the LGBT victims of the Nazis, a pink granite stone monument at the former Neuengamme concentration camp inscribed "Dedicated to the Homosexual victims of National Socialism, 1985", is unveiled.
 * 21 — The United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in Hardwick v. Bowers strikes down the state of Georgia's sodomy law as unconstitutional.

August

 * 26 — The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit reverses the lower court in Baker v. Wade, finding no constitutional violation in the sodomy law of Texas. Two months later the Court refuses plaintiff Donald Baker's request for a rehearing.

September

 * 30 — A three-judge panel of the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, in a 2—1 opinion written by Anthony Kennedy, affirms in the case of Adams v. Howerton that the Immigration and Naturalization Service did not abuse its authority when it refused to recognize the marriage of Australian Anthony Sullivan and Richard Adams, under a license issued by Boulder County, Colorado, in 1975, for purposes of Sullivan's immigration. The couple leave the United States but eventually return, with Sullivan living as an illegal alien.

October

 * 4 — First openly gay member of parliament elected in West Germany.
 * 8 — Austin Latino/a Lesbian and Gay Organization (ALLGO) is formed in Austin, Texas.
 * 9 — New York City mayor Ed Koch asks the American Legion's Veterans Day parade to allow gay veterans to march. He is ignored.
 * 21 — Dan White, assassin of Harvey Milk and San Francisco mayor George Moscone, dies by suicide.

November

 * 5 — San Francisco extends anti-discrimination protection to people with AIDS.
 * 13 — Margaret Roff is elected mayor of Manchester, becoming the first openly lesbian mayor in the United Kingdom.

December

 * 24 — Governor Booth Gardner of Washington issues an executive order banning public-sector sexual orientation discrimination.

title: 1985 in LGBT rights


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Borough of Fareham

The Borough of Fareham is a local government district with borough status in Hampshire, England. Its council is based in Fareham. Other places within the borough include Portchester, Hill Head, Sarisbury, Stubbington, Titchfield and Warsash. The borough covers much of the semi-urban area between the cities of Southampton and Portsmouth, and is part of the South Hampshire conurbation. The neighbouring districts are Eastleigh, Winchester, Portsmouth and Gosport. The district's southern boundary is the coast of the Solent.

History
The town of Fareham was governed by a local board of health from 1849. Such local boards were reconstituted as urban district councils in 1894. The parish and urban district of Fareham was significantly enlarged in 1932 when the neighbouring parishes of Crofton, Hook with Warsash, Portchester, Sarisbury and Titchfield were abolished.

Fareham Urban District was reconstituted as a non-metropolitan district on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972. The reformed district was awarded borough status at the same time, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor.

Governance
Fareham Borough Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by Hampshire County Council. There are no civil parishes in the borough, which is an unparished area.

Political control
The council has been under Conservative majority control since 1999.

Political control of the council since 1974 has been as follows:

Leadership
The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in Fareham. Political leadership is provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since 1995 have been:

Composition
Following the 2024 election, the composition of the council was: The next election is due in 2026.

Premises
The council is based at the Civic Offices on Civic Way in the centre of Fareham. The building was purpose-built for the council, being completed in 1975.

Elections
Since the last boundary changes in 2024 the council has comprised 32 councillors representing 16 wards, with each ward electing two councillors. Elections are held in alternate years, with half the council (one councillor for each ward) elected each time to serve a four-year term of office.

Freedom of the Borough
The following people and military units have received the Freedom of the Borough of Fareham.

Military Units

 * HMS Collingwood (shore establishment), RN: 2 July 1974.

title: Borough of Fareham


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Borough of Guildford

The Borough of Guildford is a local government district with borough status in Surrey, England. With around half of the borough's population, Guildford is its largest settlement and only town, and is where the council is based.

The borough includes part of the Surrey Hills, a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. The neighbouring districts are Surrey Heath, Woking, Elmbridge, Mole Valley, Waverley and Rushmoor.

History
The town of Guildford was an ancient borough, with its first known charter dating from 1257. It was reformed to become a municipal borough in 1836 under the Municipal Corporations Act 1835, which standardised the way many boroughs operated across the country. The borough boundaries were enlarged several times, notably in 1836, 1933 and 1954.

The modern district was formed on 1 April 1974 under the Local Government Act 1972, covering the area of two former districts, which were both abolished at the same time: Guildford's borough status transferred to the new district from its creation, allowing the chair of the council to take the title of mayor, continuing Guildford's series of mayors dating back to at least the fifteenth century.
 * Guildford Municipal Borough
 * Guildford Rural District

Governance
Guildford Borough Council provides district-level services. County-level services are provided by Surrey County Council. Parts of the borough are covered by civil parishes, which form a third tier of local government for their areas.

The council owns significant heritage assets that include monuments such as Guildford Castle, as well museums, art collections and civic regalia.

Political control
The council has been under Liberal Democrat majority control since the 2023 election.

Political control of the old municipal borough council from 1836 to 1974 was as follows:

Political control of the modern borough council since the 1974 reforms has been as follows:

Leadership
The role of mayor is largely ceremonial in Guildford. Political leadership is instead provided by the leader of the council. The leaders since 2010 have been:

Composition
Following the 2023 election the composition of the council was:

The next election is due in 2027.

Elections
Since the last boundary changes in 2023 the council has comprised 48 councillors representing 21 wards, with each ward electing one, two or three councillors. Elections are held every four years.

Members of Parliament
The borough straddles four parliamentary constituencies:

Premises
The council is based at Millmead House on Millmead in Guildford. The original house dates from the late seventeenth century, with extensive modern additions to the rear. Prior to the local government reorganisation of 1974, the building had been the headquarters of Guildford Rural District Council. The council's annual meeting when new mayors are appointed each May is held at Guildford Guildhall.

Demography
Guildford has the second largest population of Surrey's eleven districts (based on census statistics, only 600 residents behind Reigate and Banstead). Approximately half of the borough's population live in the town of Guildford.

Parishes
The central part of the borough, corresponding to the pre-1974 borough and covering the majority of the Guildford built-up area, is an unparished area. This area includes Bellfields, Boxgrove, Onslow Village, Park Barn, Stoughton, Westborough, and the (former) villages of Burpham, and Merrow.

The rest of the borough is covered by civil parishes: • Albury

• Artington

• Ash

• Ash Vale

• Compton

• East Clandon

• East Horsley

• Effingham

• Normandy

• Ockham

• Pirbright

• Puttenham

• Ripley

• Seale and Sands

• Send

• Shackleford

• Shalford

• Shere

• St Martha

• Tongham

• Wanborough

• West Clandon

• West Horsley

• Wisley

• Worplesdon

Notes and references
Notes  References

title: Borough of Guildford


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User talk:169.204.230.166

February 2013
Hello, I'm Chsf. I wanted to let you know that I undid one or more of your recent contributions to United States Army Airborne School because it didn't appear constructive. If you think I made a mistake, or if you have any questions, you can leave me a message on my talk page. Chsf (talk) 18:08, 7 February 2013 (UTC)
 * If this is a shared IP address, and you did not make the edit, consider creating an account for yourself so you can avoid further irrelevant notices.

Please refrain from making unconstructive edits to Wikipedia, as you did at Tom and Jerry with this edit. Your edits appear to constitute vandalism and have been reverted or removed. If you would like to experiment, please use the sandbox. Thank you. Torreslfchero (talk) 21:01, 7 February 2013 (UTC)

April 2021
Hello, and thank you for your contributions to Wikipedia. I noticed that you recently added commentary to an article, Cherokee Nation. While Wikipedia welcomes editors' opinions on an article and how it could be changed, these comments are more appropriate for the article's accompanying talk page. If you post your comments there, other editors working on the same article will notice and respond to them, and your comments will not disrupt the flow of the article. However, keep in mind that even on the talk page of an article, you should limit your discussion to improving the article. Article talk pages are not the place to discuss opinions of the subject of articles, nor are such pages a forum. Thank you. aeschyIus (talk) 20:56, 20 April 2021 (UTC)

title: User talk:169.204.230.166


text:
Ademar

Ademar is a masculine Germanic name, ultimately derived from Audamar, as is the German form Otmar. It was in use in medieval France, Latinized as Adamarus, and in modern times has been popular in French, Spanish and Portuguese-speaking countries. A feminine form Adamardis seems to have been in use from the 10th century, reduced to Aanord, Aenor by the 12th.

In the Portuguese language, Ademar is the current spelling, being Adhemar an archaic version of the name.

Bearers
Notable people with this name include:

Medieval

 * Ademar de Chabannes (d. 1034), French monk
 * Ademar Jordan (d. 1212), French knight
 * Guilhem Ademar (d. 1217), French troubadour
 * Ademar lo Negre (d. 1219), French troubadour

Modern

 * Ademar Caballero (1918–1982), Brazilian swimmer
 * Ademar José Gevaerd (1962–2022), Brazilian ufologist
 * Ademar Benítez (born 1956), Uruguayan footballer
 * Ademar Marques (born 1959), Portuguese footballer
 * Ademar da Silva Braga Júnior (born 1976), Brazilian footballer
 * Ademar Rodríguez (born 1990), Mexican footballer
 * Ademar Tavares Júnior (born 1980), Brazilian footballer
 * Ademar dos Santos Batista (born 1983), Brazilian footballer
 * Ademar Aparecido Xavier Júnior (born 1985), Brazilian footballer

title: Ademar


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User talk:Murbano

Welcome
Hello, welcome to Wikipedia.

You might want to introduce yourself to the community at the new user log.

You might find these links helpful in creating new pages or helping with the above tasks: How to edit a page, How to write a great article, Naming conventions, Manual of Style. You should read our policies at some point too.

If you have any questions, see the help pages, add a question to the village pump or ask me on my talk page.. I hope you enjoy editing here and being a Wikipedian!

And once you have an account, you can sign your name using three tildes, like this:. If you use four, you can add a datestamp too.

Again, welcome! - BCorr ¤ Брайен 21:54, Mar 2, 2004 (UTC)

One more thing -- Please see our Copyrights page before you keep editing -- we can't cut and paste articles like Mario J. Molina from other sources without the proper permission. thanks again, BCorr ¤ Брайен 21:54, Mar 2, 2004 (UTC)

authors: Template namespace initialisation script

title: User talk:Murbano


text: Template:Counties of Ireland

title: Template:Counties of Ireland


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Elephant in the room

The expression "the elephant in the room" (or "the elephant in the living room") is a metaphorical idiom in English for an important or enormous topic, question, or controversial issue that is obvious or that everyone knows about but no one mentions or wants to discuss because it makes at least some of them uncomfortable and is personally, socially, or politically embarrassing, controversial, inflammatory, or dangerous. The metaphorical elephant represents an obvious problem or difficult situation that people do not want to talk about.

It is based on the idea and thought that something as conspicuous as an elephant can appear to be overlooked in codified social interactions and that the sociology and psychology of repression also operates on the macro scale.

Various languages around the world have words that describe similar concepts.

Origins
In 1814, Ivan Krylov (1769–1844), poet and fabulist, wrote a fable entitled "The Inquisitive Man", which tells of a man who goes to a museum and notices all sorts of tiny things, but fails to notice an elephant. The phrase became proverbial. Fyodor Dostoevsky in his novel Demons wrote, "Belinsky was just like Krylov's Inquisitive Man, who didn't notice the elephant in the museum...."

The Oxford English Dictionary gives the first recorded use of the phrase, as a simile, in The New York Times on 20 June 1959: "Financing schools has become a problem about equal to having an elephant in the living room. It's so big you just can't ignore it." According to the website the Phrase Finder, the first known use in print is from 1952.

This idiomatic expression may have been in general use much earlier than 1959. For example, the phrase appears 44 years earlier in the pages of the British Journal of Education in 1915. The sentence was presented as a trivial illustration of a question British schoolboys would be able to answer, e.g., "Is there an elephant in the class-room?"

The first widely disseminated conceptual reference was a story written by Mark Twain in 1882, "The Stolen White Elephant", which recounts the inept, far-ranging activities of detectives trying to find an elephant that was right on the spot after all. This story, combined with Dostoyevsky's white bear, may have been on Jerome Frank's mind when he wrote in his dissent in United States v. Antonelli Fireworks (1946) and again in dissent in United States v. Leviton (1951) of "the Mark Twain story of the little boy who was told to stand in a corner and not to think of a white elephant."

The phrase may also be a response to philosopher Alfred North Whitehead's 1929 description of the validity of immediate experience: "Sometimes we see an elephant, and sometimes we do not. The result is that an elephant, when present, is noticed."

In 1935, comedian Jimmy Durante starred on Broadway in the Billy Rose Broadway musical Jumbo, in which a police officer stops him as he leads a live elephant and asks, "What are you doing with that elephant?" Durante's reply, "What elephant?" was a regular show-stopper. Durante reprises the piece in the 1962 film version of the play, Billy Rose's Jumbo.

Usage
The term refers to a question, problem, solution, or controversial issue which is obvious to everyone who knows about the situation, but which is deliberately ignored because to do otherwise would cause great embarrassment, sadness, or arguments, or is simply taboo. The idiom can imply a value judgment that the issue ought to be discussed openly, or it can simply be an acknowledgment that the issue is there and not going to go away by itself.

The term is often used to describe an issue that involves a social taboo or which generates disagreement, such as race, religion, politics, homosexuality, mental illness, or suicide. It is applicable when a subject is emotionally charged; and the people who might have spoken up decide that it is probably best avoided.

The idiom is commonly used in addiction recovery terminology to describe the reluctance of friends and family of an addicted person to discuss the person's problem, thus aiding the person's denial. Especially in reference to alcohol abuse, the idiom is sometimes coupled with that of the pink elephant, "the pink elephant in the room."

The expression has also been used as a metaphorical idiom in Spanish. In 1994, the 8000 Process was a legal investigation of a Colombian presidential campaign. There were accusations that the campaign of Colombian Liberal Party candidate Ernesto Samper was partially funded with drug money from the Cali Cartel. Insisting on his innocence, Samper stated that if drug money had entered the presidential campaign, it had done so "behind his back". Cardinal Pedro Rubiano, a leader of Colombia's Catholic Church, stated in an interview that not knowing that drug money financed part of the presidential campaign was similar to not noticing "an elephant entering one's living room". Since then, the events that led to drug money financing the "Samper for President" campaign have been referred to as "The Elephant."

The title of Alan Clarke's 1989 television film Elephant references the term. This was in turn influential in the naming of Gus Van Sant's 2003 film of the same name, although Van Sant thought a different expression was being referenced.

Graffiti artist Banksy, in his 2006 Los Angeles show Barely Legal, included a stuffed elephant painted to match the wallpaper as a literal presentation of the concept.

Alexandra Burke's 2012 single "Elephant" also uses the concept, as does a poem by Terry Kettering, entitled The Elephant in the Room. In a November 2013 edition of Time magazine, New Jersey governor Chris Christie was labeled as the "Elephant in the Room" on the cover page.

Similar
A variation is the phrase "elephant in the corner" which is infrequently used to the same effect.

Logician and philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein used an example of a rhinoceros in the room either to show the impossibility of disproving negative existential statements, or possibly a more subtle philosophical point.

title: Elephant in the room