Regiment Groot Karoo

Middellandse Regiment in 1934, renamed to Regiment Gideon Scheepers in 1954, renamed to Regiment Groot Karoo in 1960

Regimental badges

Active

1934 to 1990 - disbanded

Country

South Africa

Allegiance

Allied forces
South Africa

Branch

South African Army

Type

Mechanised Infantry

Size

Battalion

Part of

South African Infantry Corps
Army Conventional Reserve

Garrison/HQ

Graaf Reinet, Cradock, Eastern Cape

Motto(s)

"Dulce Est Pro patria Mori" (It is sweet to die for your country)

Battle honours

Battle Honours
Awarded
Western Desert 1941-43
Bardia
Gazala
Alamein Defence
El Alamein

Disbanded

1990

Commanders

Last Commanding Officer

Lt Col H.T.v.G. Bekker

Regiment Groot Karoo was an infantry battalion of the South African Army. As a reserve force unit, it had a status roughly equivalent to that of a British Army Reserve or United States Army National Guard unit.

Formation

Regiment Groot Karoo was established in 1934 as one of the new Afrikaans language Citizen Force units of the Union Defence Force.^[1] Regiment Groot Karoo has changed it name over its operational lifespan, it was initially referred to as the Middellandse Regiment, then Regiment Gideon Scheepers and finally the regiment Groot Karoo.

The Middellandse Regiment was established as an Infantry battalion with Lieutenant Colonel H.T.v.G. Bekker as its first commanding officer. The Regiment was garrisoned in Craddock, but had sections at Graaf Reinet, Steynsburg, Burgersdorp, Middelburg, Umtata and Aliwal North. The Regiment's first formal training was conducted in East London in 1935 and mainly dealt with the use of the Vickers machinegun. By 1939 however, the Regiment’s headquarters was moved to Graaff Reinet, where a new commander, Lt. Col. W.L. Kingwill was appointed.

World War II

With South Africa’s entry in World War II, the Middellandse Regiment got the opportunity to prove itself. Mobilisation orders was received on 5 September 1940. The Regiment was assigned to the 9th Infantry Brigade and finally to the 2nd South African Division. The Regiment left for Egypt on board the Mauritania on 10 June, arriving in Suez on 22 June and then transported to Mareopolis.

By the middle of August 1941, the Regiment was transported to El Alamein. After 5 October 1941, 2nd South African Division was placed under command of the 8th Army and moved to Bagush. The Regiment was now responsible for anti-aircraft and area defence at the Fuka airfield as well as protecting the railway line and coast between Bagush and Mersa Matruh.

The Regiment was involved in the attack on Bardia between 29 December 1941 and 2 January 1942. A Company of the Regiment was involved in the attack on Sollurn. After the fall of Sollurn, the Regiment moved on to Barrani but had to return to Sollurn to strengthen positions there.
B Company was moved to Tobruk in March 1942 under command of 3rd Brigade. With the eventual fall of Tobruk, 444 members of the Regiment were taken prisoner. Due to the fact that the majority of the Regiment were now prisoners of war, the Regiment was officially disbanded on 6 September 1942, while the remaining members were transferred to Regiment 'President Steyn'. These elements were moved to Quassasin and again reassigned into 1 Rand Light Infantry as the DMR Company, a reference to their previous Regiment. By January 1943, these elements were returned to South Africa.

Reformed

By 1 May 1945 the Middellande Regiment was reformed at Cradock with Lt. Col. Borchers as its new commanding officer. By 1947, the Regiment was again returned to Graaff-Reinet.

By 1953 the Regiment was changed from an armoured vehicle reconnaissance unit to an armoured regiment. During this time the Regiment was also notified that its name was being changed to that of 'Regiment Gideon Scheepers'. The rational was that the previous name had no real purpose except to distinguish it from other units and just indicated a locality where the Regiment originated from. The new name also brought a change in the unit’s insignia, but the merino rams head was retained with it now facing head-on. The laurel wreath was removed and the letters 'RGS' was added. This became effective from 1 January 1954. A new commanding offer, Commandant F.A. Stetzhorn was also appointed.

During 1959 at a commander’s conference at the Eastern Province Command, it was again proposed to change the name of the Regiment back to its original name. That proposal was rejected but the regiment was still renamed to that of Regiment Groot Karoo. This took effect on 1 January 1960. The Regimental emblem remained except the letters on the bottom changed to RGK.

In 1960, the Regiment was ordered to mobilise because of an internal state of emergency in the country. At the same time the Regiment was converted to an armoured-infantry unit.

The Border War

The Regiment participated in the South African Border War, also known as the Namibian War of Independence, as part of 82 Mechanised Brigade. The conflict that took place from 1966 to 1989 in South-West Africa (now Namibia) and Angola between South Africa and its allied forces (mainly UNITA) and the Angolan government, South-West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO), and their allies, the Soviet Union and Cuba.

Affiliated Division

8th South African Armoured Division
- 82 Mechanised Brigade

Insignia

Previous Insignia

SADF 82 Mechanised Brigade Regiment Groot Karoo Flash

82 Mechanised Brigade Operational Badge field and office versions of which this Regiment was part of

Battle honours

Western Desert 1941-1943
- Bardia
- Gazala
- Alamein Defence
- El Alamein

Insignia

The regimental badge depicts a Merino sheep’s head, in reference to the large scale sheep farming of the area in which it was located.

References

"unknown". Scientia Militaria, South African Journal of Military Studies. 8 (4). 1978.

↑ Potgieter, DJ (1971). Standard Encyclopaedia of Southern Africa. Cape Town: Nasou Limited. p. 657. ISBN 978-0-625-00324-2.

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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