Talk:South African Army Infantry Formation

Cape Town Rifles "Dukes" Sea-landed?

According to this organigram the Dukes are supposed to be a "Sea-landed" unit, rather than "ordinary" motorised infantry. Roger (Dodger67) (talk) 20:22, 5 December 2014 (UTC)

So nobody has an opinion about this? The organigram is on the official army website, but unfortunately undated. Roger (Dodger67) (talk) 09:38, 13 December 2014 (UTC)

Let me check. I'll get back to you. BoonDock (talk) 20:02, 13 December 2014 (UTC)

From a senior Officer in one of their sister regiments "They are sea landed but have not converted yet we call them the ducks". ;-) BoonDock (talk) 20:40, 13 December 2014 (UTC)

Thanks, so it's more wishful thinking than actual reality at this time. I should try to re-read the whole of the 2014 Defence Review during the holidays, with a pencil in hand this time, it may prove enlightening. ~ I wonder when the Seriti report might appear? Roger (Dodger67) (talk) 23:42, 14 December 2014 (UTC)

Alliances

The "Alliances" section is a little odd. Are there actual formal alliances between those units? What about other units? I'm going going to add some prose there. Please check and update as needed. BoonDock (talk) 05:42, 14 December 2014 (UTC)

There's no reason why the old formal linkages, especially to British Army units, would have been annulled, but they may not be very well kept up and communicated... Buckshot06 (talk) 00:37, 18 December 2014 (UTC)

Actually there is a reason. The policy from the SA Government! BoonDock (talk) 08:55, 18 December 2014 (UTC)

Is there a formal policy that you can cite, that has changed the situation recently? (Also, anything else you've found on the brigades and 7 & 8 Divs?) Buckshot06 (talk) 09:19, 18 December 2014 (UTC)

You misunderstand me. There was a HUGE backlash against anything "British" in the military when the National Party took over in 1948. This was epitomised by FC Erasmus when he began what was essentially a pogrom on his takeover as Minister of Defence. When the Union became a Republic in 1961, this was formalised and all alliances had to be broken as well as the removal of Royal from the name of the Carbineers and DLI. Since 1994, SA has once again officially become part of the Commonwealth, so Alliances are, in theory, permitted. It's more complicated than actual policy however, as there is a definite lack of warmth from the new government to any alliances on the part of the Reserve Force with Western military units. That's my opinion, based on a variety of experiences. I'm sure if we searched hard enough we could find some references that would make this clear. BoonDock (talk) 09:36, 18 December 2014 (UTC)

I'm working on sourcing that history of 84 Mot written by Ken Gillings "about 20 years ago" he tells me. I've been in touch with the Reserve Force Office in Durban and I'm waiting to hear back from them. Ken doesn't have copies any more. Worst comes to worst I'll try to get it from the Documentation Centre in Pretoria. BoonDock (talk) 09:36, 18 December 2014 (UTC)

Schanskop Regiment to Tshwane Regt

Schanskop Regt, recently renamed the Tshwane Regiment, made history on 3 December 2002 by presenting the biggest medal parade of Reserve Force members since /the establishment of the Infantry Formation. This parade took place at the SA Army College, which proved to be an appro-priate venue for such a historical event. Over 200 Reserve Force members attended the parade and over 100 medals were presented. Several mem- bers of the surrounding commando units also received good service medals, including a Southern Cross Medal pre- sented to the Officer Commanding of the Bronkhorstspruit Commando, Lt Col F.P.J. Steenkamp. The name "Tshwane Regiment" was recently approved to be in line with the area where the Regiment is situated. This Regiment was originally established as the Yskor Pretoria Commando in 1969 and over the years several commando units and regiments, such as Hillcrest, Munitoria, Regiment Pretorius and 2 Regiment Noord-Transvaal were amalgamated with Regiment Schanskop.

• SA Soldier, March 2003, p.16 Buckshot06 (talk) 00:37, 18 December 2014 (UTC)