although the casualty rate among locals was lower than for the first world war, the conflict brought other strains as a significant number of south africans became prisoners of war after the fall of tobruk. few families were not directly affected by the world conflict, including that of james craib, whose sons, desmond and alistair, were both combatants. alistair's fate was particularly poignant as he survived the war only to be killed in an aircraft crash on his way home to south africa.