Pretoria Armour Regiment

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Pretoria Regiment Pretoria Armour Regiment
SANDF Pretoria Regiment emblem
Active	1 July 1913 – present
Country	South Africa
Allegiance	Republic of South Africa  Republic of South Africa
Branch	South African Army  South African Army
Type	Armoured Regiment
Part of	South African Armoured Formation Army Conventional Reserve
Garrison/HQ	Magazine Hill, Patriot Street, Salvo KopPretoria
Motto(s)	Nulli Secundus ("Second to None")
Equipment	Stuart light tank (retired) Sherman tank (retired) Eland Mk7 (retired) Ratel Olifant
Commanders
Commanding Officer	Lt Col MJB Chabalala (2017 – Current)
Insignia
Beret Colour	Black
Armour Squadron emblems
Armour beret bar circa 1992
Abbreviation	PAR

The Pretoria Armour Regiment (formerly the Pretoria Regiment) is a reserve armoured regiment of the South African Army.

History[]

Origin[]

The regiment was formed in Pretoria on 1 July 1913 as the 12th Infantry (Pretoria Regiment) – 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.^[1]

The Royal Colonel[]

On 24 October 1930 it was once again renamed, to the Pretoria Regiment (Princess Alice's Own) after Princess Alice, Countess of Athlone. The Regiment became fully bilingual with the addition of a 2nd Battalion staffed predominantly by Afrikaners.^[1]

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.^[1]

Renamed again[]

After the establishment of the Republic of South Africa in 1961, the unit was again renamed Pretoria Regiment by the South African Defence Force. In the 1960s, recruits were trained on Centurion tanks and the new Eland armoured cars.^[1] The regiment assisted in the development of the Olifant MBT.

Border War[]

The regiment was placed under the command of the 8th Armoured Division (South Africa) 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.^[2]

SANDF era[]

Name Change[]

In August 2019, 52 Reserve Force units had their names changed to reflect the diverse military history of South Africa.^[3] The Pretoria Regiment became the Pretoria Armour Regiment, and have 3 years to design and implement new regimental insignia.^[4] Unlike others it was only a confirmation of the regiment's armoured role.

Equipment[]

Name	Type	Country of Origin	In Service	Notes
Ford CMP[1]	Utility truck	Canada	Retired
Bedford MK[1]	Utility truck	United Kingdom	Retired
SAMIL	Utility truck	South Africa	Yes	SAMIL 20, 50, and 100 variants.[1]
Morris C8[5]	Artillery tractor	United Kingdom	Ceremonial
Eland[1]	Armoured Car	South Africa	Retired
Ferret	Scout Car	United Kingdom	Ceremonial	Mk 2.[5]
Marmon-Herrington	Armoured Car	South Africa	Retired	Mk IV.[1]
Ratel[5]	Infantry Fighting Vehicle	South Africa	Yes
Sherman Firefly[1]	Medium Tank	United Kingdom	Retired
Centurion[1]	Main Battle Tank	United Kingdom	Retired
Skokiaan[1]	Main Battle Tank	United Kingdom/ South Africa	Retired
Semel[1]	Main Battle Tank	United Kingdom/ South Africa	Retired
Olifant[1]	Main Battle Tank	United Kingdom/ South Africa	Yes	Mk 1A.

Insignia and honours[]

Regimental Symbols[]

• Badges: An impala on a mountain representing the Magaliesberg range to north of Pretoria, with in the foreground some succulents. Beneath the impala and the mountain is a ribbon bearing the regiment's motto, Nulli Secundus ("Second to None"). This motto was granted to the regiment by the then Prime Minister Louis Botha after the 1914 – 1915 campaign.^[6]

Previous dress insignia[]

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.

• The regiment has been allied with The Royal Welsh Fusiliers since 1995 (as it was previously from 1927 to 1961).

Divisional Affiliation[]

• 8th South African Armoured Division
  • 81 Armoured Brigade

Alliances[]

•  United Kingdom – The Royal Welsh

Battle honours[]

Conflict	Honour[citation needed]	Year(s)
World War I	South-West Africa Campaign	1914–1915
World War II	Battle of Madagascar	1942
World War II	Bagnoregio	1944
World War II	Sarteano (Trasimene Line)	1944
World War II	La Foce	1944
World War II	Florence	1944
World War II	Gothic Line	1944
World War II		1944
World War II	Po Valley (Spring offensive)	1945
South African Border War	Battle of Cuito Cuanavale[citation needed]	1988

Official mascot[]

During the Second World War, the sole Class 21 2-10-4 Texas type locomotive of the South African Railways (SAR) 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 military unit in Pretoria, the Pretoria Regiment (Princess Alice's Own). The Class 21 was the only SAR locomotive to be honoured in this way by the armed forces.^[7][8]

References[]