Pretoria Regiment


The Pretoria Regiment / Pretoria Armoured Regiment is an armoured regiment of the South African Army. As a reserve unit, it has a status roughly equivalent to that of a British Army Reserve or United States Army National Guard unit. The Regiment is stationed in the city after which it was named, Pretoria. It is part of the South African Army Armour Formation.

History

Origin

The regiment was formed in Pretoria on 1 July 1913 as the 12th Infantry – a unit of the Active Citizen Force – by the amalgamation of several units: the Pretoria Company of the Transvaal Scottish, the Central South African Railway Volunteers, the Northern Mounted Rifles and the Pretoria detachment of the Transvaal Cycle and Motor Corps.

World War One

The Regiment landed from the sea and served in German South West Africa at Aus and Tschaukaib in the south. They were part of the advance on Tsumeb in July 1915.

Rand Revolt

The regiment prevented a force of armed strikers from damaging the Pretoria-Germiston Railway line in May 1922.

Renamed

In 1928, it was renamed The Pretoria Regiment.

The Royal Colonel

On 24 October 1930 it was once again renamed, to The Pretoria Regiment after Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone. The Regiment became fully bilingual with the addition of a 2nd Battalion staffed predominantly by Afrikaners.

World War Two

During World War II, the Regiment was converted to an armoured formation attached to the 11th South African Armoured Brigade, South African 6th Armoured Division. The unit was demobilised after the war, and in 1946 it was re-organised as a part-time force, consisting of two separate regiment-sized formations. These were re-integrated in 1954.

Renamed again

After the establishment of the Republic of South Africa in 1961, the unit was again renamed The Pretoria Regiment by the South African Defence Force. In the 1960s, recruits were trained on Centurion tanks and the new Eland armoured cars. The regiment assisted in the development of the Olifant MBT.

Border War

The regiment was placed under the command of the 8th Armoured Division in this period.
The regiment saw service in the Border War in operations such as Operation Prone.
One squadron of the regiments tanks was attached to 61 Mechanised Battalion Group for operations near Cuito Cuanavale sustaining no personnel or vehicle casualties.

SANDF era

Name Change

In August 2019 52 units of the Reserve Force had their names to reflect the diversity of the current SANDF.
This unit had its name slightly changed to the Pretoria Armoured Regiment.

Equipment

NameTypeCountry of OriginIn ServiceNotes
Ford CMPUtility truckRetired
Bedford MKUtility truckUnited KingdomRetired
SAMILUtility truckYesSAMIL 20, 50, and 100 variants.
Morris C8Artillery tractorUnited KingdomCeremonial
ElandArmoured CarRetired
FerretScout CarUnited KingdomCeremonialMk 2.
Marmon-HerringtonArmoured CarRetiredMk IV.
RatelInfantry Fighting VehicleYes
Sherman FireflyMedium TankUnited KingdomRetired
CenturionMain Battle TankUnited KingdomRetired
SkokiaanMain Battle TankUnited Kingdom/Retired
SemelMain Battle TankUnited Kingdom/Retired
OlifantMain Battle TankUnited Kingdom/YesMk 1A.

Insignia and honours

Regimental Symbols

An unusual backing appeared on the regiment's cap badge around 1945 when it was associated with a British unit, the 24th Guards Brigade, when they were both part of the 6th South African Armoured Division. The two units had fought side by side on the Italian Front and ended their association by celebrating their co operation; the 24th Guards Brigade gave their arm badge as a present to the unit. The two wings are therefore those depicted on the Guards Brigade arm patch.

Alliances

ConflictHonourYear
World War ISouth-West Africa Campaign1914–1915
World War IIBattle of Madagascar1942
World War IIBagnoregio1944
World War IISarteano 1944
World War IILa Foce1944
World War IIFlorence1944
World War IIGothic Line1944
World War IICaterelto Ridge1944
World War IIPo Valley 1945
South African Border WarBattle of Cuito Cuanavale1988

Official mascot

During the Second World War, the sole Class 21 2-10-4 Texas type locomotive of the South African Railways was often used to haul long and heavy military trains, troop trains and sometimes Italian prisoners-of-war to the military unit and prisoner-of-war camp at Sonderwater near Cullinan. In the process it was made the official mascot of the oldest military unit in Pretoria, the Pretoria Regiment. The was the only SAR locomotive to be honoured in this way by the armed forces.