Pieter Grobbelaar

Who was Pieter Grobbelaar?

General Pieter Grobbelaar SSA DSO was a South African military commander. He joined the South African Army as a part-time Citizen Force soldier in 1929 and became a full-time Permanent Force member in 1933. During World War II he commanded 7th Reconnaissance Battalion as a Lieutenant Colonel, and was second in command of 12th SA motorised infantry brigade in Italy.

After World War II he served as OC Free State Command, OC Northern Transvaal Command and the SA Military College

He served as Army Chief of Staff from 1953 to 1958, as Inspector-General from 1958 to 1959, as Deputy Commandant-General from 1959 to 1960, and as Commandant-General, i.e. head of the South African Defence Force, from 1961 to 1965.