This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "1 Special Service Battalion" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(February 2013) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

1 Special Service Battalion
SANDF 1 Special Service Battalion emblem
Active	1 May 1933 – present
Country	South Africa
Branch	South African Army
Type	Armoured
Part of	South African Armoured Formation
Garrison/HQ	Tempe29°05′0″S26°11′0″E / 29.08333°S 26.18333°E /-29.08333; 26.18333
Nickname	1 SSB1 SDB
Motto	Eendrag Maakt Mag (Unity is Strength)
Colors	Orange over Blue which must be divided by Silver and where it is not possible to use silver white will be used in place
Equipment	Ratel IFV Rooikat
Engagements	World War II South African Border War Operation Boleas Operation Merlyn (1989)[a] Operation Agree (1989)[b]
Website	www.saarmour.co.za
Commanders
Notable commanders	Lt ColGeorge Brink Lt Col CEG (Papa) Britz Lt ColWHE Poole Lt ColHB Klopper Lt ColBok Kriel GenJannie Geldenhys[c] Lt Col.W.R. Van Der Riet[d]
Insignia
Cap Badge	A spray of threeprotea flowers, bound by a ribbon bearing the initials and motto
Beret Colour	Black
Armour Squadron emblems
Armour beret barc. 1992

1 Special Service Battalion (usually abbreviated to1SSB) is anarmouredregiment of theSouth African Army and only one of two such in its regular force. The Regiment is based atTempe nearBloemfontein.

It was previously known in Afrikaans as1 Spesiale Diens Bataljon (1 SDB).

1 Special Service Battalion

class=notpageimage|

1 Special Service Battalion

Following World War II, theSpecial Service Battalion was re-organised into 2 battalions - 1 Special Service Battalion and1 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 theSouth African Border War, serving inSouth-West Africa andAngola.^[1]

More recently, the unit also took part inOperation Boleas, which was a South African intervention in its neighbouring country ofLesotho in 1998.

1 SSB had a sister unit for a number of years in the post-World War II era, designated2 Special Service Battalion, which was based in the town ofZeerust. This unit has now been disbanded.

1 SSB also detached squadrons to various battlegroups in the South West African campaign

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

The regiment is equipped primarily with Ratel infantry fighting vehicles andRooikat armoured cars.

Variant	Description	Comment	Image
Rooikat 76	South Africa	76 mm (3.0 in) cannon
Ratel 90	South Africa	90 mm (3.5 in) cannon
Ratel ZT3	South Africa	antitank missile

Under Project Hoefyster, the SANDF will eventually replace the Ratel family of vehicles with theBadger 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

• The cap badge is a spray of threeprotea flowers, bound by a ribbon bearing the initials and motto.
• Regimentalmotto: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 (Armour Action), once a year

•  United Kingdom -1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards

Battle Honours

List of Battle Honours for1 SSB

This unit will together with1 SA Tank Regiment form theArmoured Brigade of the new Mechanized Division to be formed under Army vision 2020.^[5]

South African Armoured Corps

• "SA Armour Museum". Archived fromthe original on 23 June 2012.
• Curator SA Armour Museum."SA Armour Association Museum". Archived fromthe original on 6 February 2010.
• "Exercise Seboka"(PDF). Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 25 May 2011.
• Dovey, John."1 SSB Roll of Honour". Archived fromthe original on 25 December 2014.

• Armoured regiments of South Africa
• Military units and formations established in 1933
• Military units and formations in Bloemfontein

• Pages using gadget WikiMiniAtlas
• Articles containing French-language text
• Articles containing Afrikaans-language text
• Articles needing additional references from February 2013
• All articles needing additional references
• Coordinates on Wikidata
• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Wikipedia articles needing clarification from October 2022