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| 1 Medium Regiment (S.A.H.A), S.A.A. | |
|---|---|
 1 Medium Regiment (S.A.H.A), S.A.A. | |
| Active | 1946–1960 |
| Allegiance |
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| Branch | |
| Type | Artillery |
| Size | Regiment |
| Part of |
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| Battle honours | |
1st Medium Regiment was anartilleryregiment of theSouth African Army, formed in 1946 followingWorld War II.
1st Medium Regiment. South African Artillery, (SAHA), was established with headquarters inCape Town on 1 January 1946.[1] Appointed to command the regiment was Lt Colonel Norman Munnik, having originally been commissioned into the 1st Heavy Battery, Coast Artillery on the 30 July 1935 as a2nd Lieutenant.[2]
Lt Colonel Frank Whitmore Mellish, MC was also appointed as the regiment's Honorary Colonel, with effect from 17 September 1946.[2]
This regiment should not be confused with another regiment of identical title in the UDF history, an Active Citizen Force (ACF) unit formed in Johannesburg around 1939, specifically to continue the memory of the South African Heavy Artillery batteries that fought in France in 1915–1918.
Those citizens who had been balloted to ACF units around Cape Town, reported to the New Drill Hall at Tennant Street in Cape Town, for medical examination and attestation.
After receiving their kit, recruits started about five months of training. Foot and rifle drill, parades took place every Tuesday and Thursday nights at the early morning market inSir Lowry Road.Mustering training took place atYoungsfield where the regiment had its hangar storing its soft vehicles, Jeeps, Ford 1 ton radio vehicles, 3 ton cargo,Mack gun tractors,5.5 inch guns and all associated stores and equipment. Training took place on Saturdays and two full Saturdays per month for part of the year were normally allocated.
1 Medium Regiment withCape Field Artillery utilised the military camp atOudtshoorn for live fire training. Recruit camps were about three weeks at the end of which the continuous training period ended on the range conducting "dry runs" and live shell firing first with25-pounders and on the last day, with 5.5 inch guns.
The regiment was declared anAfrikaans unit in the early 1950s and training gunnery terminology had to be translated at Oudtshoorn from English.
On 5 November 1953, it was announced that 1 Medium Regiment was being transferred to Outeniqua Command and in doing so Cape Town lost its most important Afrikaans speaking unit.
The regiment was finally disbanded and disestablished on 1 March 1960, when the Citizen Force was once again reorganised.
