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| Free State Artillery Corps Vrystaatse Artillerie Regiment General Dan Pienaar Artillery Regiment | |
|---|---|
 SANDF Vrystaatse Artillerie Regiment emblem | |
| Active | 1854 to present |
| Country |  South Africa |
| Allegiance | |
| Branch | |
| Type | Reserve Artillery |
| Part of | South African Army Artillery Formation Army Conventional Reserve |
| Garrison/HQ | Kroonstad |
| Motto | Aequo Animo Ac Virtute " Power gives peace of mind" |
| Battle honours |
|
| Insignia | |
| Collar Badge | Bursting grenade with seven flames |
| Beret Colour | Oxford Blue |
| Artillery Battery Emblems |  |
| Artillery Beret Bar circa 1992 |  |
| Abbreviation | GDPR |
TheGeneral Dan Pienaar Artillery Regiment (formerly theVrystaatse Artillerie Regiment) is a reserveartilleryregiment of theSouth African Army.
In 1854 the Free-State became an independent Republic. The British forces withdrew, leaving behind four 9-pounder garrison guns in the Queen's Fort in Bloemfontein. This was for many years the only ordnance the Free State Republic had.
TheFree State Artillery Corps was subsequently founded in 1864 on a request by PresidentJohannes Henricus Brand and housed in Queen's Fort.
By the outbreak of the Anglo-Boer War, the corps was commanded by Major Richard Friedrich Wilhelm Albrecht. The unit (in 1898 some 160 men, 24 cannons of various calibers) served on the Western front, Natal front and into the Guerrilla phase of the War. The unit played a major role in every major battle of the war where Free State forces fought.
In 1922, 3 Permanent Battery was formed. This unit was split up on 1 July 1926 into two units namely 4 Burgher Battery and 5 Burgher Battery.
In 1932 these two were renamed1 Oranje-Vrystaat Veldartillerie and2 Oranje Vrystaat Veldartillerie.
On 1 February 1940 these units were joined as12th Field Battery and saw service in Egypt. They took heavy casualties at Tobruk and El-Alamein.
On 18 April 1946 the unit was renamed6 Field Artillery Regiment.
Vrystaatse Artillerie Regiment was based at Tempe, Bloemfontein, but relocated toKroonstad in 2007.[1] The relocation coincided with the revitalization of the unit through the joining of Army Territorial Reserve members with the closing of the Commandos.
On Freedom Day of 1997 (27 April) in Upington, Northern Cape, South Africa, a Battery from the regiment rendered a 21-gun salute in honour of President Nelson Mandela,[2] who delivered his address during the celebration ceremony.
In August 2019, 52 SA Army Reserve Force units had their names changed to reflect the diverse military history of South Africa.[3] The Vrystaatse Artillerie Regiment became theGeneral Dan Pienaar Artillery Regiment, and were given 3 years to design and implement new regimental insignia.[4]
The current honorific is a remembrance of Major GeneralDan Pienaar, who served in both World Wars and was more known as commander of the1st South African Infantry Division, which served the Allied forces and was part of the victorious forces that took part in theSecond Battle of El Alamein (October 1942).
2007–Present MWO H.Beyers
Bloemfontein
2012 Ladysmith
