Engagements Website www.saarmour.co.za Commanders Notable commanders Lt Col George Brink Lt Col CEG (Papa) Britz Lt Col WHE Poole Lt Col HB Klopper Lt Col Bok Kriel Gen Jannie Geldenhys[c] Lt Col. W.R. Van Der Riet [d] Insignia Cap Badge A spray of three protea flowers, bound by a ribbon bearing the initials and motto Beret Colour Black Armour Squadron emblems Armour beret bar c. 1992 Military unit
1 Special Service Battalion (usually abbreviated to 1SSB ) is an armoured regiment of the South African Army and only one of two such in its regular force. The Regiment is based at Tempe near Bloemfontein.
It was previously known in Afrikaans as 1 Spesiale Diens Bataljon (1 SDB ).
History 1 Special Service Battalion
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1 Special Service Battalion Rooikat at the entrance to 1SSB, Bloemfontein. Following World War II, the Special Service Battalion was re-organised into 2 battalions - 1 Special Service Battalion and 1 South African Infantry Battalion .
When the South African Armoured Corps was thus officially proclaimed in 1946 and Special Service Battalion was included in the corps as the only full-time unit, its symbols and colours were incorporated.
1 SSB also took part in the South African Border War , serving in South-West Africa and Angola .[1]
Rooikat Armoured Car More recently, the unit also took part in Operation Boleas , which was a South African intervention in its neighbouring country of Lesotho in 1998.
1 SSB had a sister unit for a number of years in the post-World War II era, designated 2 Special Service Battalion , which was based in the town of Zeerust . This unit has now been disbanded.
1 SSB also detached squadrons to various battlegroups in the South West African campaign
63 Mech Battlegroup to which 1 SSB detached elements Equipment pre 1995 Variant Description Comment Image Eland 60 South Africa 60 mm (2.4 in) Mortar platform Eland 90 South Africa 90 mm (3.5 in) Fire support platform and assault gun
Current The regiment is equipped primarily with Ratel infantry fighting vehicles and Rooikat armoured cars.
Future Under Project Hoefyster, the SANDF will eventually replace the Ratel family of vehicles with the Badger system.[2] [3] Five versions are contemplated of which two are earmarked for 1 SSB:
Missile (turreted Denel ZT3 Ingwe) Fire Support (turreted 30 mm (1.2 in) cannon, but with more ammunition than the section vehicle) Variant Description Comment Image Denel Badger various types South Africa Various armaments
Regimental symbols The cap badge is a spray of three protea flowers, bound by a ribbon bearing the initials and motto. Regimental motto : Eendrag Maakt Mag (English: Unity is Strength) Regimental communications icon : [clarification needed ] Regimental deployment strength : 1,000 soldiers Regimental honour roll : Soldiers who died during active combat duty and soldiers who died during training.[4] Regimental traditional contact meeting : Pantseraksie , once a year Previous Dress Insignia SADF era 1 Special Services Battalion insignia SADF era Operation Hooper participation bar SADF era 1 SSB D Squadron with 2 SAI insignia Current Dress Insignia Leadership 1 Special Services Battalion Leadership From Commanding Officers To May 1933 Lt. Col. GE Poole DSO November 1933 December 1933 Lt. Col. P de Waal January 1934 February 1934 Lt. Col.[e] William John Evered Poole CB CBE DSO LOM (USA)[g] April 1935 May 1935 Lt. Col. J Danie January 1936 February 1936 Maj. JR Wocke December 1937 January 1938 Lt. Col. HB Klopper September 1939 October 1939 Lt. Col. HP van Noorden December 1939 January 1940 Lt. Col. GCA van Dam June 1940 June 1940 Lt. Col. CEG (Papa) Brits DSO August 1946 September 1946 Lt. Col. GN Nauhaus OBE May 1949 June 1949 Maj. EE Fodred MC August 1949 September 1949 Maj. PE Ferguson MC January 1951 February 1951 Cmdt. CS Leisegang DSO September 1953 October 1953 Cmdt[h] Werndly van der Riet SSA SM MC December 1960 January 1961 Cmdt. S Hugo. SM June 1963 July 1963 Cmdt. JJ Wahl. MC October 1964 November 1964 Cmdt. JR Dutton . SSA SD November 1967 December 1967 Cmdt. WH Matthews. SM November 1968 December 1968 Cmdt. MB Anderson May 1969 April 1969 Cmdt. WC Meyer September 1972 October 1972 Cmdt. PJ Schalkwyk July 1973 August 1973 Maj. AJ Snyman[i] November 1973 November 1973 Cmdt. APR Carstens November 1976 December 1976 Cmdt[j] Reginald Otto SD & Bar SM MMM December 1979 January 1980 Cmdt. FA Botha November 1981 December 1981 Cmdt. AJ van Niekerk November 1983 December 1983 Cmdt. HT Heinze November 1986 December 1986 Cmdt. AJ Kriel May 1989 June 1989 Cmdt. AJ van Jaarsveld November 1989 December 1989 Cmdt[k] Chris Gildenhuys SM MMM December 1993 January 1994 Col. GM Louw. HC MMM unk From Regimental Sergeants Major To May 1933 RSM J Whammond. MC DCM MM February 1934 March 1934 RSM LJ van den Heever May 1934 June 1934 RSM BS Scheepers May 1935 June 1935 RSM SP Conje June 1935 September 1936 RSM CEG Brits March 1937 April 1937 RSM JO van Blommenstein May 1940 June 1940 RSM JW Hamilton January 1943 February 1943 WO1 S du Plessis. MC August 1946 September 1946 WO1 WE Wocke October 1951 November 1950 WO1 S du Plessis. MM September 1953 October 1953 WO1 WJ van der Merwe. SM December 1965 January 1966 WO1 BJP Ehlers. PMM October 1972 November 1972 WO1 MA Booyens PMM MMM September 1976 October 1976 WO1 JP. O'Neill November 1978 December 1978 WO1 PH Rohrbeck PMM January 1979 February 1979 WO1 GDF van Baalen PMM MMM November 1984 June 1984 WO1 IJ Prinsloo November 1988 December 1988 WO1 WF Snyman PMM MMM November 1993 December 1993 WO1 JAB van Zyl nd From Chaplains To December 1987 Lt[l] Heerden van Niekerk[m] December 1988
Alliances Battle honours Battle Honours List of Battle Honours for 1 SSB
Future This unit will together with 1 SA Tank Regiment form the Armoured Brigade of the new Mechanized Division to be formed under Army vision 2020.[5]
See also South Africa portal South African Armoured Corps
Notes References ^ Engelbrecht, Leon (1 March 2010). "Fact File: 1 Special Service Battalion". defenceweb.co.za . DefenceWeb. Retrieved 4 November 2014 . ^ Engelbrecht, Leon. "SA Army horse shod by December? | defenceWeb". Archived from the original on 2015-02-24. Retrieved 2015-03-25 . ^ Greve, Natalie. "Land Systems SA secures sights contract for Denel's Badger". Archived from the original on 2014-08-20. Retrieved 2015-03-25 . ^ Dovey, John. "1 SSB Roll of Honour". Archived from the original on 25 December 2014. ^ Le Roux, Len, ed. (2007-11-01). "Security challenges shaping the future South African Army" (PDF) . South African Army vision 2020 . issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com. ISBN 978-1-920114-24-4 . Retrieved 2022-10-25 . External links "SA Armour Museum". Archived from the original on 23 June 2012. Curator SA Armour Museum. "SA Armour Association Museum". Archived from the original on 6 February 2010. "Exercise Seboka" (PDF) . Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 May 2011. Dovey, John. "1 SSB Roll of Honour". Archived from the original on 25 December 2014. South African Army Units
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