The Blaauwberg Armoured Regiment (formerly Regiment Oranjerivier) is a reserve armoured

regiment A regiment is a military unit. Its role and size varies markedly, depending on the country, military service, service, or administrative corps, specialisation. In Middle Ages, Medieval Europe, the term "regiment" denoted any large body of l ...

of the

South African Army The South African Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of South Africa, a part of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), along with the South African Air Force, South African Navy and South African Military Health Servi ...

History

Origin

The Regiment was founded as an

Afrikaans language Afrikaans is a West Germanic language spoken in South Africa, Namibia and to a lesser extent Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe and also Argentina where there is a group in Sarmiento that speaks the Patagonian dialect. It evolved from the Dutc ...

unit on 1 July 1952 as ("Regiment North-West

Cape A cape is a clothing accessory or a sleeveless outer garment of any length that hangs loosely and connects either at the neck or shoulders. They usually cover the back, shoulders, and arms. They come in a variety of styles and have been used th ...

"), but this name was changed in the same year to Regiment Hertzog.

Citizen Force Unit

Due to a reorganisation of the Citizen Force the unit was redesignated Regiment Oranjerivier (Regiment Orangerivier) on 1 January 1960. At this time the unit was part of 17 Brigade. In 1961 after considerable discussion a regimental

motto A motto (derived from the Latin language, Latin , 'mutter', by way of Italian language, Italian , 'word' or 'sentence') is a Sentence (linguistics), sentence or phrase expressing a belief or purpose, or the general motivation or intention of a ...

, ("Eyes and Ears") was officially adopted. This motto was inspired by the

eagle Eagle is the common name for the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family of the Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of Genus, genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus ''Aquila ( ...

s that hunt over the

Kalahari Desert The Kalahari Desert is a large semiarid climate, semiarid sandy savanna in Southern Africa covering including much of Botswana as well as parts of Namibia and South Africa. It is not to be confused with the Angolan, Namibian, and South African ...

Equipment Upgrade

In the early 1970s the regiment's Marmon-Herrington Armoured Cars were replaced by the far more versatile and effective Eland 60.

Border War

Under
7 South African Infantry Division 7 South African Infantry Division was a formation (military), formation of the South African Army, active from the 1960s to 1999. History Origin of 7 Division from existing and new Brigades 7 Division and 17, 18 and 19 Brigades were establishe ...

Regiment Oranjerivier became the armoured car regiment of 71 Motorised Brigade (part of ''

7 South African Infantry Division 7 South African Infantry Division was a formation (military), formation of the South African Army, active from the 1960s to 1999. History Origin of 7 Division from existing and new Brigades 7 Division and 17, 18 and 19 Brigades were establishe ...

'') on 15 November 1974. A year later the headquarters of the regiment was moved to Cape Town. The regiment was mobilized together with most other the other units of ''71 Brigade'' to serve in Southern

Angola Angola, officially the Republic of Angola, is a country on the west-Central Africa, central coast of Southern Africa. It is the second-largest Portuguese-speaking world, Portuguese-speaking (Lusophone) country in both total area and List of c ...

during

Operation Savannah Operation Savanna (or Operation Savannah) was the first insertion of SOE trained Free French paratroops into German-occupied France during World War II. This SOE mission, requested by the Air Ministry, was to ambush and kill as many pilots as ...

. Sub-units of the ROR were located from

Katima Mulilo Katima Mulilo or simply Katima is the capital of the Zambezi Region in Namibia. It had 46,401 inhabitants in 2023, and comprises two electoral constituencies, Katima Mulilo Rural and Katima Mulilo Urban. It is located on the B8 national roa ...

in the east to

Chitado Chitado is a town and commune of Angola, located in the province of Cunene. See also * Communes of Angola The Communes of Angola () are administrative units in Angola after municipalities. The 163 municipalities of Angola are divided in ...

in the west. Members of one of these sub-units were the first South African Citizen Force troops to make contact with a conventionally deployed foreign battle group when they were fired on by a

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

T-54 The T-54 and T-55 tanks are a series of Soviet medium tanks introduced in the years following the Second World War. The first T-54 prototype was completed at Nizhny Tagil by the end of 1945.Steven Zaloga, T-54 and T-55 Main Battle Tanks 1944–2 ...

tank A tank is an armoured fighting vehicle intended as a primary offensive weapon in front-line ground combat. Tank designs are a balance of heavy firepower, strong armour, and battlefield mobility provided by tracks and a powerful engine; ...

Cahama Cahama is a town, with a population of 12,767 (2014 census), and a municipality of Cunene Province, Angola. The population of the municipality was 70,061 according to the 2014 census in an area of 9,700 km. The municipality consists of the c ...

in March 1976. During the same period the unit lost its first member ever to enemy fire. The regiment went on to serve several more times on the

South-West Africa South West Africa was a territory under South African administration from 1915 to 1990. Renamed ''Namibia'' by the United Nations in 1968, it became independent under this name on 21 March 1990. South West Africa bordered Angola ( a Portu ...

Namibia Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...

border as well as inside Angola. This included Operation Prone in Southern Angola during August/October 1988, where the regiment used a large number of Ratel 90

infantry fighting vehicle An infantry fighting vehicle (IFV), also known as a mechanized infantry combat vehicle (MICV), is a type of armoured fighting vehicle and armoured personnel carrier used to carry infantry into battle and provide direct fire, direct-fire suppo ...

s. On 2 November 1990, the ROR was awarded the Rooikat Floating Trophy - the first time the trophy had been awarded - as the best unit in the

South African Armoured Corps The South African Army Armour Formation provides an Armoured warfare, Armour capability to the South African Army. The Formation came into being as part of a restructure. South African Armour Corps units previously under the command of various dif ...

. In November 1991 the regiment moved to Wingfield and gained an independent unit HQ with their own facilities, separated by some distance from that of 71 Brigade headquarters.

Under 9 South African Infantry Division

Sometime since 1974 regimental headquarters appears to have moved to

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

. The regiment appears to have been transferred with much of the rest of 71 Motorised Brigade to * 9 South African Infantry Division on the brigade's upgrading to a division on 2 January 1992.

Under the SANDF

9 S.A. Infantry Division was disbanded in 1997, and ROR transferred to the new armoured 'type' formation, the South African Army Armoured Formation. The regiment currently uses the

Rooikat The Rooikat (Afrikaans for "Caracal"; ) is a South African armoured reconnaissance vehicle equipped with a stabilised high velocity gun for organic anti-tank and fire support purposes. The Rooikat's main armament was built with the Oto Mela ...

armoured fighting vehicle An armoured fighting vehicle (British English) or armored fighting vehicle (American English) (AFV) is an armed combat vehicle protected by vehicle armour, armour, generally combining operational mobility with Offensive (military), offensive a ...

, equipped with a 76 mm quick-fire gun.

Name Change

In August 2019, 52 Reserve Force units had their names changed to reflect the diverse military history of South Africa. Regiment Oranjerivier became the Blaauwberg Armoured Regiment, and have 3 years to design and implement new regimental insignia.

Regimental Symbols

*Regimental badge: An eagle with outspread wings with the regimental motto beneath. The badge is worn on the traditional Armoured Corps black

beret A beret ( , ; ; ; ) is a soft, round, flat-crowned cap made of hand-knitted wool, crocheted cotton, wool felt, or acrylic fibre. Mass production of berets began in the 19th century in Southern France and the north of History of Spain (1808 ...

. *The Regiment received the

Freedom Freedom is the power or right to speak, act, and change as one wants without hindrance or restraint. Freedom is often associated with liberty and autonomy in the sense of "giving oneself one's own laws". In one definition, something is "free" i ...

of Upington on 4 May 1966 and the Freedom of

Keimoes Keimoes (Khoekhoe: ''Kai mãs'') is a town in the Northern Cape province of South Africa. It lies on the Orange River and is about halfway between Upington and Kakamas. History It attained municipal status in 1949. The name of the town translates ...

on 11 June 1968. *The symbol of command of the Regiment's Commanding Officer is a

silver Silver is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol Ag () and atomic number 47. A soft, whitish-gray, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical conductivity, thermal conductivity, and reflectivity of any metal. ...

ed 90mm practice round.

Previous Dress Insignia

SADF era Regiment Oranjerivier insignia ver 2

Leadership

Freedom of Entry

* 4 May 1966 -

Upington Upington () is a town founded in 1873 and located in the Northern Cape province of South Africa, on the banks of the Orange River. The town was originally called Olijvenhoutsdrift ('Olive wood drift'), due to the abundance of olive wood trees i ...

* 11 June 1968 -

References

{{SA Army Units Armoured regiments of South Africa Military units and formations in Cape Town Military units and formations established in 1952