| Middellandse Regiment in 1934 renamed Regiment Gideon Scheepers 1954 renamed Regiment Groot Karoo 1960 | |||||||
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 Regiment Groot Karoo emblem | |||||||
| Active | 1934 to 1999 – disbanded | ||||||
| Disbanded | 1999 | ||||||
| Country |  South Africa | ||||||
| Allegiance |
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| Branch | |||||||
| Type | Mechanised Infantry | ||||||
| Size | Battalion | ||||||
| Part of |
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| Garrison/HQ | Graaf Reinet,Cradock, Eastern Cape | ||||||
| Mottos | Dulce Est Pro patria Mori (It is sweet to die for your country) | ||||||
| Battle honours |
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| Commanders | |||||||
| First Commanding Officer | Lt Col H.T.v.G. Bekker | ||||||
| OC 1939 | Lt Col W.L. Kingwall | ||||||
| OC 1945 | Lt Col Borchers | ||||||
| OC 1954 | Commandant F.A. Stetzhorn | ||||||
Regiment Groot Karoo was aninfantrybattalion of theSouth African Army. As a reserve force unit, it had a status roughly equivalent to that of aBritishArmy Reserve or United StatesArmy National Guard unit.
Regiment Groot Karoo was established in 1934 as one of the newAfrikaans languageCitizen Force units of theUnion Defence Force.[1] Regiment Groot Karoo has changed its 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 inCraddock, but had sections atGraaf Reinet,Steynsburg,Burgersdorp,Middelburg,Umtata andAliwal North.
The regiment's first formal training was conducted inEast 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.
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 theMauritania on 10 June, arriving in Suez on 22 June and then transported to Mareopolis.[2]
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 toBagush. 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 andMersa Matruh.
The regiment was involved in the attack onBardia between 29 December 1941 and 2 January 1942. A Company of the regiment was involved in the attack onSollurn. After the fall of Sollurn, the regiment moved on toBarrani but had to return to Sollurn to strengthen positions there.
B Company was moved toTobruk 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 toQuassasin and again reassigned into 1 Rand Light Infantry as the DMR(Die Middellandse Regiment) Company, a reference to their previous regiment. By January 1943, these elements were returned to South Africa.
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 regiment participated in theSouth African Border War, as part of82 Mechanised Brigade.
The conflict that took place from 1966 to 1989 inSouth West Africa (nowNamibia) andAngola betweenSouth Africa and its allied forces (mainlyUNITA) and theAngolan government,South-West Africa People's Organisation (SWAPO), and their allies, theSoviet Union andCuba.[3]
With the 200 year celebrations of Graaf-Reinet, the regiment received freedom of entry. It already had freedom but this time it was granted as a mechanised unit.
The regiment was transferred to the newly established 9 Division. By 1999, however the regiment was disbanded.
| Awarded to Die Middellandse Regiment/Regiment Groot Karoo |
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 |
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| From | Honorary Colonel - Die Middellandse Regiment | To |
| 11 April 1947 | Lt. Col W.L. KingwillMC | nd |
| From | Officers Commanding - Die Middellandse Regiment | To |
| 1 April 1934 | Lt Col H.T.v.G. Bekker | 1936 |
| 1936 | Lt. Col L.J. De Jongh | 1937 |
| 1937 | Lt. Col W.L. KingwillMC | 1942 |
| February 1942 | Major L.E. LanhamMC | 6 September 1942 |
| 1 May 1946 | Lt Col BorchersMM | 1947 |
| 1947 | Lt. Col W.G. Kingwill | 1954 |
| From | Officers Commanding - Regiment Gideon Scheepers | To |
| August 1954 | Cmdt F.A. Stetzhorn | 31 December 1959 |
| From | Officers Commanding - Regiment Groot Karoo | To |
| 1 January 1960 | Cmdt F.A. Stetzhorn | 8 May 1963 |
| 9 May 1963 | Cmdt C.A. Greeff | 9 May 1973 |
| 3 August 1973 | Cmdt L.P. Pretorius | nd |
| c. 1992 | Cmdt Dougie Stern | nd |
| c. 1992 | Cmdt A. P. C. Aucamp | nd |
| From | Regimental Sergeants Major - Die Middellandse Regiment Regiment Groot Karoo | To |
| c. 1986 | WO1 Jan Heyneke | c. 1987 |
| c. 1992 | WO1 J. A. N. Cloete | c. 1992 |
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. Memorabilia of this regiment can be viewed at the Graaff-Reinet Military History Museum.[4]
