The Pretoria Highlanders Regiment was a

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 ...

. As a reserve unit, it had a status roughly equivalent to that of a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

Army Reserve Army Reserve refers to a land-based military reserve force, including: *Army Reserve (Ireland) *Army Reserve (United Kingdom) *Australian Army Reserve *Canadian Army Reserve * New Zealand Army Reserve *United States Army Reserve *United States Navy ...

or United States

Army National Guard The Army National Guard (ARNG) is an organized Militia (United States), militia force and a Reserve components of the United States Armed Forces, federal military reserve force of the United States Army. It is simultaneously part of two differen ...

unit. Though the regiment was disbanded, the associated

pipe band A pipe band is a musical ensemble consisting of pipers and drummers. The term pipes and drums, used by military pipe bands is also common. The most common form of pipe band consists of a section of pipers playing the Great Highland bagpipe, ...

continues to operate.

History

World War 2

The regiment was founded by Peter Lawrence Goudie on the outbreak of

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

in 1939. He recruited 1,400 men within six weeks and also raised the funds to equip them with

Highland Highlands or uplands are areas of high elevation such as a mountainous region, elevated mountainous plateau or high hills. Generally, ''upland'' refers to a range of hills, typically from up to , while ''highland'' is usually reserved for range ...

uniforms. During

the regiment, as part of 7 South African Infantry Brigade, took part in "Operation Rose", the invasion of

Madagascar Madagascar, officially the Republic of Madagascar, is an island country that includes the island of Madagascar and numerous smaller peripheral islands. Lying off the southeastern coast of Africa, it is the world's List of islands by area, f ...

by South African forces in June 1942. As far as is known, this is the first (and only)

amphibious operation Amphibious warfare is a type of offensive military operation that today uses naval ships to project ground and air power onto a hostile or potentially hostile shore at a designated landing beach. Through history the operations were conducted ...

in which South African troops ever participated.

Post World War and into Border War

In 1946, the PH were converted to artillery and renamed ''1 Anti-Tank Regiment (PH)''. When the Army was reorganised in 1960, for internal security duties, the regiment was converted to Armoured Cars and reverted to its original name of ''Pretoria Highlanders''. In 1989 the regiment was converted to a Tank Unit until its amalgamation with Pretoria Regiment in 1997. The regiment was assigned to the 7th Division's 73 Motorised Brigade. SADF 73 Brigade Pretoria Highlanders Commemorative letter

SADF 73 Brigade Pretoria Highlanders Commemorative letter

Pipe Band

An early band was established around the time of the regiment's formation. The post-war Pretoria Highlanders Pipes and Drums was established in 1979. It was disbanded in 2005, by which time it received no official defence force support. The band was re-established and held its first gathering on 13 April 2013.

Officers Commanding

*Cmdt Keith Ingram *Cmdt Braam Botes *Cmdt Richard Webb *Cmdt Henk Kaal *Lt Col Hein Kruger

Regimental Symbols

* Uniform ** Headdress: khaki Tam O'Shanter, black glengarry; Tourie (on both): bottle green. ** Tartan: Hunting Stewart (kilt); Sporran: brown leather as working dress and silver/grey haired for mess dress . ** Hose: khaki with tops of regimental tartan, green garter flashes. * Nickname: "Jacaranda Jocks" (Pretoria is known as "the Jacaranda City")

Previous Dress Insignia

Battle honours

*Madagascar 1942

External links

Pretoria Highlanders Pipes and Drums

References

{{SA Army Units Highland regiments Artillery regiments of South Africa Military units and formations established in 1939 Military units and formations disestablished in 2017