Regiment Boland was an

infantry Infantry, or infantryman are a type of soldier who specialize in ground combat, typically fighting dismounted. Historically the term was used to describe foot soldiers, i.e. those who march and fight on foot. In modern usage, the term broadl ...

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

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

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Territorial Army or

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unit.

History

Origin

Regiment Boland traced its ancestry back to ''Regiment Westelike Provincie'' (RWP) (now called ''Regiment Westelike Provinsie''), which was one of the

Afrikaner Afrikaners () are a Southern African ethnic group descended from predominantly Dutch settlers who first arrived at the Cape of Good Hope in 1652.Entry: Cape Colony. ''Encyclopædia Britannica Volume 4 Part 2: Brain to Casting''. Encyclopæd ...

-oriented units that was raised by the Union Defence Force in 1934. RWP was renamed ''Regiment Onze Jan'' in 1951, only to be changed again in 1960, to ''Regiment Boland''.

The second battalion

The Regiment acquired a second battalion in 1972, with the 1st Battalion being headquartered at

Paarl Paarl (; ; derived from ''parel'', meaning "pearl" in Dutch) is a city with 294,457 inhabitants in the Western Cape province of South Africa. It is the largest city in the Boland, Western Cape, Cape Winelands. Due to the growth of the Mbekweni ...

and the 2nd Battalion at

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71 Brigade

When 71 Infantry Brigade was formed in August 1974 as a separate formation, the Cape Town Rifles (Dukes) remained with Western Province Command and Regiment Westelike Provincie joined Regiment Boland and the Cape Town Highlanders as the infantry battalions of the brigade. Regiment Boland was therefore transferred to Western Province Command as a counter-insurgency battalion in July 1986 after it had been replaced by Cape Town Rifles (Dukes) in early 1984. However, the 1st Battalion fought to regain their original name and this succeeded in 1974, when the two battalions became independent units - the 1st Battalion became ''Regiment Westelike Provincie'' and was headquartered in

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 ...

, while the 2nd Battalion retained the designation ''Regiment Boland''. The only remnant of their association was the similar cap-badges of the two Regiments.

Disbandment

Regiment Boland was disbanded in 1997.

Regimental Symbols

Dress Insignia

Battle honours

References

External links

* SA Military History Journal {{SA Army Units Infantry regiments of South Africa Military units and formations of South Africa in the Border War Military units and formations established in 1934 South African Army Military units and formations disestablished in 1997