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| Transvaalse Staatsartillerie State Artillery Regiment | |
|---|---|
 SANDF Transvaal State Artillery emblem | |
| Active | 1898 to present |
| Country |  South Africa |
| Allegiance | |
| Branch | |
| Type | Reserve Artillery |
| Part of | South African Army Artillery Formation Army Conventional Reserve |
| Garrison/HQ | Pretoria |
| Abbreviation | SAR |
TheState Artillery Regiment (formerly theTransvaalse Staatsartillerie) is a reserveartilleryregiment of theSouth African Army.
The first attempt by theSouth African Republic (Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek orZAR) to form a professional full-time artillery unit wasBatterij Dingaan (DingaanBattery), which could be seen as the forerunner of the Transvaalse Staatsartillerie. The use of artillery pieces was not completely foreign to theBoers and that they had used the few that they had to great effect during some battles that occurred during theGreat Trek. However, prior to the formation ofBatterij Dingaan, all artillery units of the ZAR were part-time volunteers, organised under itscommando system.
In 1874, PresidentThomas Francois Burgers purchased some artillery pieces, for the intended permanent artillery corps of the ZAR, in Europe and also recruited a number of European officers in order to assist in the organisation and development of this corps, due to the lack of adequately trained and experienced artillery officers in the ZAR. The first artillery pieces purchased were 4Krupp 6,5 cmmountain guns and one obsolete FrenchMitrailleuse. The unit was commanded by Captain Otto Riedell, a former Austrian artillery officer. However, after the British annexation of the ZAR on 12 April 1877,Batterij Dingaan was disbanded. The members of the battery, most of who were not citizens of the ZAR, joined the three British volunteer corps, which had been created in order to assist thegarrison with the defence ofPretoria.
Shortly after the British occupation of the ZAR ended in 1881, the executive council of the ZAR mandated the formation of theArtillerie Korps van de Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek (Artillery Corps of the South African Republic). During the same year the executive council also mandated the formation of theTransvaalsche Rijdende Politie Korps (Transvaal Mounted Police Corps). This police force was amalgamated with the artillery corps in 1882 under the name ofTransvaalsche Artillerie Corps (Transvaal Artillery Corps). However, this amalgamation was found to be unfeasible and the artillery and policing functions were subsequently separated again. The artillery formation was named theStaatsartillerie van de Zuid-Afrikaansche Republiek (State Artillery of the South African Republic) and had a strictly military function and structure.
Batteries of the Staatsartillerie went on to serve in theMalaboch War (1894) and the Mahoeba War (1894–1895).[1]
After theJameson Raid, the government of the ZAR decided to build afort around the prison inJohannesburg (seeJohannesburg Fort) as well as forts to defendPretoria. In order to man these forts, the formation of a separateVesting Artillerie (Fortress Artillery) was proposed. In 1898, despite some resistance to this idea (mainly because of the cost), theVolksraad approved increasing the manpower of the Staatsartillerie by 100 men in order to form theCorps Vesting Artillerie (Fortress Artillery Corps). This Corps was organised as an arm of the Staatsartillerie. By 1899 the Fortress Artillery Corps had grown to a unit with 9 officers and 148 men.
At this time, the Staatsartillerie was under the overall command of alieutenant-colonel and was subdivided into several units, including:
(The commanding officer of the Staatsartillerie was the sole person to hold the rank of lieutenant-colonel in the armed forces of the South African Republic. It was also the highest rank after the ZAR'sCommandant-General.)
With the outbreak of the Anglo-Boer War, the unit was reorganised. The Fortress Artillery was disbanded and the Military band was redesignated as Medical assistants. The main armament of the Staatsartillerie consisted of C96 Krupp 77 mm Field guns, 75mm Creusot field guns, 37mm Vickers Maxim "Pom-Pom", 120mm Krupp Howitzers and the famous 4155mm Creusot Fortress guns or "Long Toms". The unit was divided into four divisions and sent to Natal, Mafeking, Colesberg and Kimberley. The Natal Front guns was commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel S.P.E. Trichardt, the Kimberley guns by Lieutenant Arthur Carlblom, the Mafeking guns by Captain Piet van der Merwe and the Colesberg guns by Lieutenant Willem Baay. With the collapse of the Boer offensive, the Staatsartillerie retreated to the Free State in order to halt Lord Roberts' advance on Pretoria. After the capture of Pretoria, they retreated with the Boer forces to the Eastern Transvaal. Due to lack of ammunition and the changing Boer strategy, the guns were dumped in theKrokodil River or blown up atKomatipoort. They were reorganised as a mounted infantry unit.
During the Boer War, the Staatsartillerie performed stellar service. They were the first modern artillery unit to use indirect fire (Battle of Dalmanutha 21–27 August 1900) and the first to use their guns as fire support to the infantry. Their outstanding service led to Winston Churchill to comment "these are the finest gunners in the world....they can teach the Royal Artillery a lesson or two."
It was not the Battle of Dalmanthutha where indirect was first used, – they did it first atSpioenkop (24 January 1900) and then at theThukela Heights (12 to 27 February 1900) – six months earlier.
The British then started experimenting with it during the north bank operations of the Thukela Heights.
At Spioenkop, Cmdt Hendrik Prinsloo's signaller, Louis Bothma, signalled corrections from Aloe Knoll to Maj Francois Wolmarans at Louis Botha's HQ on Mt Alice. Wolmarans then relayed them to Lt von Wichmann and Lt Grothaus along the iNthabamnyama and to Gen Schalk Burger's Free State Krupp between the Twin Peaks.
The regiment ceased to exist at the end of the Anglo-Boer War, in 1902.
More than half a century later, in 1954, a Citizen Force artillery regiment, named9 Veldregiment (9 Field Regiment) was established in Pretoria. In 1960, it was renamedTransvaal Staatsartillerie, in honour of the old regiment.[2][3]
During the Border War, the Transvaalse Staatsartillerie was affiliated with both7 South African Infantry Division and8th Armoured Division (South Africa):
In August 2019, 52 Reserve Force units had their names changed to reflect the diverse military history of South Africa.[4] The Transvaalse Staatsartillerie became theState Artillery Regiment, and have 3 years to design and implement new regimental insignia.[5]
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