Regiment Oranjerivier

Regiment Oranjerivier

Active	1 July 1952 to present
Country	South Africa
Allegiance	Republic of South Africa Republic of South Africa
Branch	South African Army South African Army
Type	Armoured Car Regiment
Size	One Battalion
Part of	South African Army Armour Formation Army Conventional Reserve
Garrison/HQ	Cape Town Fort iKapa
Motto(s)	Occuli et Auris (Eyes & Ears)^[1]^{:78 & 136}
Anniversaries	1 July (Regimental Day)
Equipment	Rooikat armoured fighting vehicle
Commanders
Current commander	Major J. P. Wessels 14 February 2015 – Present
Insignia
Beret Colour	Black
Armour Squadron emblems
Armour beret bar circa 1992

Regiment Oranjerivier (ROR) (named after the Orange 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 Armoured Corps/South African Army Armoured Formation and is based in Cape Town.^[2]

History

The Regiment was founded as an Afrikaans language unit on 1 July 1952 as Regiment Noordwes-Kaap ("Regiment North-West Cape"), but this name was changed in the same year to Regiment Hertzog.

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, Occuli Et Auris ("Eyes and Ears") was officially adopted.^[1] This motto was inspired by the eagles that hunt over the Kalahari Desert.

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 7th South African Infantry Division

Regiment Oranjerivier became the armoured car regiment of 71 Motorised Brigade (part of 7th South African Infantry Division) 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 during Operation Savannah. Sub-units of the ROR were located from Katima Mulilo in the east to Chitado 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 Russian T-54 tank at Cahama 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/Namibia 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 vehicles.

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. 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.^[1]^{:80 & 136}

Under 9th South African Division

Sometime since 1974 regimental headquarters appears to have moved to Cape Town. The Regiment appears to have been transferred with much of the rest of 71 Motorised Brigade to * 9th South African Division on the brigade's upgrading to a division on 2 January 1992.

Under the SANDF

9th S.A. 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 armoured fighting vehicle, equipped with a 76 mm quick-fire gun.

Rooikat 76mm Armoured Car

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.
The Regiment received the Freedom of Upington on 4 May 1966 and the Freedom of Keimoes on 11 June 1968.
The symbol of command of the Regiment's Commanding Officer is a silvered 90mm practice round.

SADF Regiment Oranjerivier Stable belt

SADF Regiment Oranjerivier beret badge

SANDF Regiment Orange River with 9 Division Flash

Leadership

Leadership
From	Honorary Colonel	To
From	Commanding Officers	To
1952	Cmdt M.N. Slabber	1956
1956	Cmdt J.A.B. Strauss	1967
1967	Cmdt M.D. Radford	1968
1968	Cmdt G. van Rooyen JCD	1975
1975	Cmdt J. Lourens JCD	1980
1980	Cmdt H.A.C. Bremer JCD	1983
1984	Cmdt J. Maltez JCD	1989
1989	Lt Col C.G. van Zyl JCD	1996
1996	Lt Col W.A. Rall JCD	2003
2003	Lt Col H.M. Matthee	2005
2005	Lt Col W.A. Rall JCD	2009
2009	Lt Col J.S. Olivier	13 February 2015
14 February 2015	Major J.P. Wessels	Present
From	Regimental Sergeants Major	To

Freedom of Entry

4 May 1966 Upington,
11 June 1968 Keimoes,

References

1 2 3 Crook, Lionel, Col (Rtd) (1994). Greenbank, Michele, ed. 71 Motorised Brigade: a history of the headquarters 71 Motorised Brigade and of the citizen force units under its command. Brackenfell, South Africa: L. Crook in conjunction with the South African Legion. ISBN 9780620165242. OCLC 35814757.
↑ https://web.archive.org/web/20130619082941/http://www.saarmourassociation.co.za/regiment-oranjerivier.aspx. Archived from the original on June 19, 2013. Retrieved June 1, 2012. Missing or empty |title= (help)

South African Army Units

Department of Defence, South African National Defence Force, South African Army

Divisions and Brigades

Brigades	43 South African Brigade 44 Parachute Brigade 46 South African Brigade

Armoured Formation (SAAAF)

Training	School of Armour

Tank	Regular 1 South African Tank Regiment Reserve Pretoria Regiment Natal Mounted Rifles Regiment President Steyn

Armoured Car	Regular 1 Special Service Battalion Reserve Umvoti Mounted Rifles Regiment Oranjerivier Regiment Mooirivier Light Horse Regiment

Infantry Formation (SAAIF)

Training	South African Infantry School

Parachute Infantry	Regular 44 Para 1 Para 44 Pathfinders 13 Signal Squadron 18 Light Regiment 44 Medical Task Group 101 Air Supply Unit SAOSC 44 Training Wing Parachute Packing Wing Reserve 2 Para 3 Para

Air Assault Infantry	Regular 6 SAI Reserve First City Regiment Prince Alfred's Guard

Seaborne Infantry	Regular 9 SAI Reserve Cape Town Rifles ("Duke's")

Light Infantry	Regular 21 SAI Reserve Rand Light Infantry Regiment Oos Rand Regiment Paul Kruger

Mechanised Infantry	Regular 1 SAI 8 SAI Reserve Regiment De La Rey Regiment Northern Transvaal Cape Town Highlanders Regiment Western Province Witwatersrand Rifles

Motorised Infantry	Regular 2 SAI 4 SAI 5 SAI 7 SAI 10 SAI 14 SAI 15 SAI 121 SAI Reserve Regiment Botha Regiment Christiaan Beyers Johannesburg Regiment South African Irish Transvaal Scottish Tshwane Regiment Buffalo Volunteer Regiment Durban Regiment Durban Light Infantry Kimberly Regiment Natal Carbineers Regiment Bloemspruit Regiment Piet Retief

Artillery Formation

Training	School of Artillery (South Africa)

Regular	HQ Artillery Mobilisation Regiment 4 Artillery Regiment

Reserve	Cape Field Artillery Natal Field Artillery Transvaal Horse Artillery Regiment Potchefstroom Universiteit Transvaalse Staatsartillerie Vrystaatse Artillerie Regiment Pretoria Highlanders 18 Light Regiment

Air Defence Artillery Formation

Training	School of Air Defence Artillery (South Africa)

Regular	HQ 6 Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment 10 Anti-Aircraft Regiment 44 Parachute Anti-Aircraft Regiment

Reserve	Cape Garrison Artillery Regiment Vaalriver Regiment Oos Transvaal 7 Light Anti-Aircraft Regiment (1969–97) Regiment Overvaal

Engineer Formation

Training	South African Army Engineer School

Regular	HQ 2 Field Engineer Regiment 35 Engineer Support Regiment 1 Construction Regiment Engineer Terrain Intelligence Unit

Reserve	3 Field Engineer Regiment 19 Field Engineer Regiment 44 Parachute Engineer Regiment

Training Formation

3 SAI (Training Depot)
SAACTC
Army Gymnasium
Army College
de Brug Training Area
Wallmannsthal Training Area

Support Formation

Army Support Bases (Eastern Cape, Johannesburg, Kimberley, KZN, Limpopo, Potcheftstroom, Western Cape, Mpumalanga)
Mobilisation Centre
Main Ordnance Depot
National Ceremonial Guard
15 Maint Unit
Other Maintenance Units
37 Field Workshop SAOSC
Other Field Workshops

Signals Formation

Regular	1 Sig Regt 2 Sig Regt 3 Sig Regt 4 Sig Regt 5 Sig Regt

Reserve	6 Signal Regt 7 Signal Group 11 Field Postal Unit 71 Signals Unit 84 Sigs Unit

Disbanded or Amalgamated Units

Commands	Eastern Province Command (Port Elizabeth) Natal Command Northern Transvaal Command Northern Cape Command Orange Free State Command (Bloemfontein) Western Province Command (Cape Town) West Transvaal Command Witwatersrand Command (Johannesburg) Far North Command

Corps	I South African Corps Cape Corps

Divisions	1st South African Infantry Division 2nd South African Division 6th South African Armoured Division 7th South African Infantry Division 8th South African Armoured Division 9th South African Division 10 South African Division (Operation Prone)

Brigades	16 Brigade (see 81 Armoured Brigade) 17 Brigade (see 71 Motorised Brigade) 18 Brigade (see 72 Motorised Brigade) 19 Brigade (see 82 Mechanised Brigade) 20 Brigade 60 Brigade (Battlegroups HQ Lohatla) 71 Motorised Brigade 72 Motorised Brigade 73 Motorised Brigade 74 Brigade (see 8th Armoured Division) 75 Brigade (see 9th Division) 81 Armoured Brigade 82 Mechanised Brigade 83 Brigade (planned but never existed) 84 Motorised Brigade 10 Artillery Brigade Other brigades

Battlegroups	Combat Group Juliet 61 Mech 62 Mech 63 Mech

Regiments	Artillery Locating Regiments Regiment Algoa Bay Regiment Congella Regiment Dan Pienaar Regiment De Wet Regiment Groot Karoo Regiment Highveld Regiment Hillcrest Regiment Langenhoven Regiment Louw Wepener/Oos Vrystaat Regiment Molopo Regiment North Natal Regiment Port Natal Regiment Pretorius Regiment Springs Regiment Skoonspruit Regiment University of Cape Town Regiment University of the Free State Regiment University of Pretoria Regiment University of Stellenbosch Regiment Vanderbiljpark Regiment Vrystaat 5 Forward Air Delivery Squadron 6 Field Artillery Regiment 7 Medium Artillery Regiment 10 Armoured Squadron 14 Field Artillery Regiment 19 Rocket Regiment 24 Field Artillery 25 Field Artillery 26 Field Artillery SA Army Troop Information Unit

Battalions	32 Battalion SSB 2 Special Service Battalion 11 SAI 12 SAI 13 SAI 111 Battalion 112 Battalion 113 Battalion 115 Battalion 116 Battalion 117 Battalion 121 Battalion 151 Battalion

Military Areas	Walvis Bay Military Area Soutpansberg Military Area

Commando System	South African Commando System

State Presidents Guard	State Presidents Guard

SWATF	Regular Infantry Battalions 31/201 Battalion 33/701 Battalion 34/202 Battalion 35/101 Battalion 301 Battalion 36/203 Battalion 37/102 Battalion 41/911 Battalion/Regiment Windhoek 912 Battalion/Regiment Erongo 913 Battalion/Regiment Namutoni Modular Infantry Battalions 51 Battalion 52 Battalion 53 Battalion 54 Battalion 55 Battalion SWATF Brigade 91 Reaction Force Brigade Support Structures Logistics Brigade SWA Mil School Special Forces 1 SWA Specialist Unit 2 SWA Specialist Unit 1 SWA Parachute Battalion Air Component 1 SWA Commando Squadron

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