Regiment Oos Transvaal


Regiment Oos Transvaal / iWombe Anti-Aircraft Regiment is a reserve force regiment of the South African Army Air Defence Artillery Formation.

History

Origin

Regiment Oos Transvaal was established on 1 October 1964. Its first headquarters was a Magistrates Court office in Brakpan in 1968, but by 1975, its Headquarters had moved on to Benoni. Renamed Apex Military Base, it was opened officially by Lt Gen Geldenhuys in 1976.

Equipment

Regiment Oos Transvaal was originally meant to be equipped with 35mm Oerlikon but by December 1964, a decision was made that Regiment Oos Transvaal would use Bofors and Oerlikon guns, comprising a Bofors regiment, two 40mm Bofors batteries and a 35mm Oerlikon battery. In 1977 however the Regiment had been equipped as a 20mm anti-aircraft cannon regiment, with six batteries each of 18 guns.

Operations

Regiment Oos Transvaal supplied its R Battery for service in Operation Savannah in January/March 1976 while its P Battery served in the same border area from March to May.
Regiment Oos Transvaal formed part of a reaction force in 1980 but by 1983 forward, members of the Regiment were involved directly in a number of operations such as Operation Prone in 1988.

Present day

Regiment Oos Transvaal is currently equipped with the Oerlikon GDF Mk.5 35mm gun.

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 changed to the iWombe Anti-Aircraft Regiment.

Leadership

Regimental symbols

Previous Dress Insignia

Battle honours

The Freedom of Brakpan was granted to the Regiment on 14 April 1984.