The Blaauwberg Armoured Regiment (formerly Regiment Oranjerivier) is a reserve armoured regiment of the South African Army.
History
Origin
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.
Citizen Force Unit
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.
Equipment Upgrade
In the early 1970s the regiment's Marmon-Herrington Armoured Cars were replaced by the far more versatile and effective Eland 60.
Regiment Oranjerivier became the armoured car regiment of 71 Motorised Brigade (part of 7 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 RussianT-54tank at Cahama in March 1976. During the same period the unit lost its first member ever to enemy fire.
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
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 * 9 South African Infantry Division on the brigade's upgrading to a division on 2 January 1992.
In August 2019, 52 Reserve Force units had their names changed to reflect the diverse military history of South Africa.[2] Regiment Oranjerivier became the Blaauwberg Armoured Regiment, and have 3 years to design and implement new regimental insignia.[3]
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.
^ abcCrook, 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.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
^"New Reserve Force unit names". defenceWeb. 7 August 2019. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
^"Renaming process has resulted in an Army structure that truly represents SA". IOL. 16 August 2019. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
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