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Umvoti Mounted Rifles
The Umvoti Mounted Rifles (named after the Umvoti River) 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. It is part of the South African Army Armour Formation and is based in the town of Pinetown. History Origin On 16 May 1864, years ago, the Umvoti Mounted Rifles (UMR) was founded in Greytown as the Greytown Mounted Rifles. There were some 45 men in the original unit, under command of Capt A.S. Wyndham who was also the Magistrate of Greytown at the time. The ''Umvoti Mounted Rifles Hall'' is the oldest hall in Greytown. It was built in 1880 as a Masonic Hall, but later became the headquarters of the Regiment. It is currently used by the Greytown public works department. The ''Umvoti Mounted Rifles'' was formed in 1893 at Greytown, Natal by the redesignation of the left Wing of the Natal Carbineers. On 1 July 1913 the Regiment absorbed the '' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Armored Car (military)
A military armored (or armoured) car is a lightweight wheeled armored fighting vehicle, historically employed for reconnaissance, internal security, armed escort, and other subordinate battlefield tasks. With the gradual decline of mounted cavalry, armored cars were developed for carrying out duties used to be assigned to light cavalry. Following the invention of the tank, the armored car remained popular due to its faster speed, comparatively simplified maintenance and low production cost. It also found favor with several colonial armies as a cheaper weapon for use in underdeveloped regions. During World War II, most armored cars were engineered for reconnaissance and passive observation, while others were devoted to communications tasks. Some equipped with heavier armament could even substitute for tracked combat vehicles in favorable conditions—such as pursuit or flanking maneuvers during the North African Campaign. Since World War II the traditional functions of th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
KwaZulu-Natal Province
KwaZulu-Natal (, also referred to as KZN and known as "the garden province") is a province of South Africa that was created in 1994 when the Zulu bantustan of KwaZulu ("Place of the Zulu" in Zulu) and Natal Province were merged. It is located in the southeast of the country, with a long shoreline on the Indian Ocean and sharing borders with three other provinces and the countries of Mozambique, Eswatini and Lesotho. Its capital is Pietermaritzburg, and its largest city is Durban. It is the second-most populous province in South Africa, with slightly fewer residents than Gauteng. Two areas in KwaZulu-Natal have been declared UNESCO World Heritage Sites: the iSimangaliso Wetland Park and the uKhahlamba Drakensberg Park. These areas are extremely scenic as well as important to the surrounding ecosystems. During the 1830s and early 1840s, the northern part of what is now KwaZulu-Natal was established as the Zulu Kingdom while the southern part was, briefly, the Boer Natalia ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
84 Motorised Brigade (South Africa)
84 Motorised Brigade was a formation of 8 South African Armoured Division, a combined arms force consisting of infantry, armour and artillery. The brigade was formed on August 1, 1974 in Durban as part of the 8 South African Armoured Division. The Brigade was located at Lords Grounds, which has a military history since 1842. Initial Structure Under this reorganisation, the following units were transferred from Natal Command to the new command: Brigade Training and Exercises As a Citizen Force formation, 84 Motorised Brigade would make use of call-up orders for its personnel to generally report for 3 months service. Headquarters staff would then leave for Lohatla, where a transfer camp would be established to process troops en route to the operational area in northern South West Africa. Processing of units would include personal documentation, a medical examination, inoculation and the issuing of equipment and weapons. Each unit on completion of the necessary processing ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
8th Armoured Division (South Africa)
8 South African Armoured Division was a formation of the South African Army, active from the 1970s to 1999. History 8 South African Division was established as an Armoured Formation on August 1, 1974, consisting of 81 Armoured Brigade, 82 Mechanised Brigade and 84 Motorised Brigade. It was, in many respects, a mirror of 7th South African Infantry Division. A provisional 1977 order of battle had 8 Armoured Division organised as follows: Divisional Breakdown Divisional Level Attached Units Artillery, maintenance, engineers, signals and provost (Military Police) Brigades 81 Armoured Brigade Headquartered in Pretoria, 81 Armoured Brigade consisted of the following units: 82 Mechanised Brigade Headquartered in Potchefstroom, 82 Mechanised Brigade consisted of the following units: =South West Africa Angolan theater= During Operation Packer which succeeded Operation Hooper in March 1988, 82 Mechanised Brigade protected the eastern bank of the Cuito River. During t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1st South African Brigade
The South African 1st Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade of the army of the Union of South Africa during World Wars I and II. During World War I, the Brigade served as a British formation in Egypt and on the Western Front, most famously the Battle of Delville Wood. It was reactivated at the start of the Second World War as a South African formation and served in East Africa and the Western Desert; the Brigade disbanded on 1 January 1943. World War I When the First World War broke out in 1914, the South African government chose to join the war on the side of the Allies. General Louis Botha, the then prime minister, faced widespread Afrikaner opposition to fighting alongside Great Britain so soon after the Second Boer War and had to put down a revolt by some of the more militant elements before he could mobilise and deploy troops as an expeditionary force (some 67,000 troops) to invade German South-West Africa (now Namibia). The South African Union Defence Act of 19 ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Natal Command
Natal Command was a Command (military formation), Command of the South African Army. It was headquartered in Durban, South Africa. By the 1980s, it was responsible for the security of the region, forming the primary level of command for military operations in support of the Police. It also provided logistic, administrative and service support to units and formations operating in its area of responsibility. History Origin Union Defence Force Under the Union Defence Force, South Africa was originally divided into 9 military districts. Lieutenant Colonel J. Daniel was Officer Commanding on 3 September 1939. The command included the 1st South African Brigade at Pietermaritzburg with two battalions of the Royal Natal Carabineers and the Umvoti Mounted Rifles, the 7th South African Infantry Brigade (including the Natal Mounted Rifles), two batteries of the South African Permanent Garrison Artillery, and the Natal Field Artillery on 3 September 1939. Brigadiers Harold Willmott and D ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II was a total war that directly involved more than 100 million Military personnel, personnel from more than 30 countries. The major participants in the war threw their entire economic, industrial, and scientific capabilities behind the war effort, blurring the distinction between civilian and military resources. Air warfare of World War II, Aircraft played a major role in the conflict, enabling the strategic bombing of population centres and deploying the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, only two nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II was by far the List of wars by death toll, deadliest conflict in hu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
South-West Africa
South West Africa ( af, Suidwes-Afrika; german: Südwestafrika; nl, Zuidwest-Afrika) was a territory under South African administration from 1915 to 1990, after which it became modern-day Namibia. It bordered Angola (Portuguese colony before 1975), Botswana ( Bechuanaland before 1966), South Africa, and Zambia ( Northern Rhodesia before 1964). Previously the German colony of South West Africa from 1884–1915, it was made a League of Nations mandate of the Union of South Africa following Germany's defeat in the First World War. Although the mandate was abolished by the United Nations in 1966, South African control over the territory continued despite its illegality under international law. The territory was administered directly by the South African government from 1915 to 1978, when the Turnhalle Constitutional Conference laid the groundwork for semi-autonomous rule. During an interim period between 1978 and 1985, South Africa gradually granted South West Africa a limite ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
World War I
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fighting occurring throughout Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Pacific Ocean, Pacific, and parts of Asia. An estimated 9 million soldiers were killed in combat, plus another 23 million wounded, while 5 million civilians died as a result of military action, hunger, and disease. Millions more died in Genocides in history (World War I through World War II), genocides within the Ottoman Empire and in the Spanish flu, 1918 influenza pandemic, which was exacerbated by the movement of combatants during the war. Prior to 1914, the European great powers were divided between the Triple Entente (comprising French Third Republic, France, Russia, and British Empire, Britain) and the Triple A ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Zulu Rebellion
The Bambatha Rebellion (or the Zulu Rebellion) of 1906 was led by Bambatha kaMancinza (c. 1860–1906?), leader of the Zondi clan of the Zulu people, who lived in the Mpanza Valley (now a district near Greytown, KwaZulu-Natal) against British rule and taxation in the Colony of Natal, South Africa. Overview In the years following the Anglo-Boer War, British employers in Natal had difficulty recruiting Black farm workers because of increased competition from the gold mines of the Witwatersrand. The colonial authorities introduced a poll tax £1 () in addition to the existing hut tax to pressure Zulu men to enter the labour market. Bambatha had occasionally been in trouble with the Natal colonial administration, and the authorities suspected that he had joined with other chiefs in expressing discontent over the tax. He was summoned to Greytown, but, fearing arrest, did not attend. He realised that the administration was intent on crushing dissent and fled to Zululand to consul ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Second Anglo-Boer War
The Second Boer War ( af, Tweede Vryheidsoorlog, , 11 October 189931 May 1902), also known as the Boer War, the Anglo–Boer War, or the South African War, was a conflict fought between the British Empire and the two Boer Republics (the South African Republic and the Orange Free State) over the Empire's influence in Southern Africa from 1899 to 1902. Following the discovery of gold deposits in the Boer republics, there was a large influx of "foreigners", mostly British from the Cape Colony. They were not permitted to have a vote, and were regarded as "unwelcome visitors", invaders, and they protested to the British authorities in the Cape. Negotiations failed and, in the opening stages of the war, the Boers launched successful attacks against British outposts before being pushed back by imperial reinforcements. Though the British swiftly occupied the Boer republics, numerous Boers refused to accept defeat and engaged in guerrilla warfare. Eventually, British scorched earth ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Infantry
Infantry is a military specialization which engages in ground combat on foot. Infantry generally consists of light infantry, mountain infantry, motorized infantry & mechanized infantry, airborne infantry, air assault infantry, and marine infantry. Although disused in modern times, heavy infantry also commonly made up the bulk of many historic armies. Infantry, cavalry, and artillery have traditionally made up the core of the combat arms professions of various armies, with the infantry almost always comprising the largest portion of these forces. Etymology and terminology In English, use of the term ''infantry'' began about the 1570s, describing soldiers who march and fight on foot. The word derives from Middle French ''infanterie'', from older Italian (also Spanish) ''infanteria'' (foot soldiers too inexperienced for cavalry), from Latin '' īnfāns'' (without speech, newborn, foolish), from which English also gets '' infant''. The individual-soldier term ' ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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