IWombe Anti-Aircraft Regiment

The iWombe Anti-Aircraft Regiment (formerly Regiment Oos Transvaal) is a reserve air defence regiment of the South African Army.

Regiment Oos Transvaal
iWombe Anti-Aircraft Regiment
SANDF Regiment Oos Transvaal emblem
Active1 October 1964 -
Country South Africa
Allegiance
Branch
TypeReserve Artillery
Part of
Garrison/HQBenoni
Battle honoursSE Angola
Insignia
Collar BadgeBursting grenade with seven flames
Beret ColourOxford Blue
Battery emblems
Beret bar circa 1992
AbbreviationIAAR

History

Origin

Regiment Oos Transvaal [1] was established on 1 October 1964. Its first headquarters was a Magistrates Court office in Brakpan in 1968, but by 1975, its headquarters had moved on to Benoni. Renamed Apex Military Base, it was opened officially by Lt Gen Geldenhuys in 1976.

Equipment

Regiment Oos Transvaal was originally meant to be equipped with 35mm Oerlikon but by December 1964, a decision was made that Regiment Oos Transvaal would use Bofors and Oerlikon guns, comprising a Bofors regiment, two 40mm Bofors batteries and a 35mm Oerlikon battery. In 1977 however the Regiment had been equipped as a 20mm anti-aircraft cannon regiment, with six batteries each of 18 guns.

Operations

Regiment Oos Transvaal supplied its R Battery for service in Operation Savannah in January/March 1976 while its P Battery served in the same border area from March to May.

Regiment Oos Transvaal formed part of a reaction force in 1980 but by 1983 forward, members of the Regiment were involved directly in a number of operations such as Operation Prone in 1988.

Present day

Regiment Oos Transvaal is currently equipped with the Oerlikon GDF Mk.5 35mm gun.[2]

Name Change

In August 2019, 52 Reserve Force units had their names changed to reflect the diverse military history of South Africa.[3] Regiment Oos Transvaal became the iWombe Anti-Aircraft Regiment, and have 3 years to design and implement new regimental insignia.[4]

Regimental symbols

Previous Dress Insignia
SADF era Regiment Eastern Transvaal insignia

Battle honours
  • Operation Savannah (Southern Angola)

Freedom of the city

The Freedom of Brakpan was granted to the Regiment on 14 April 1984.

References
  1. http://www.rfdiv.mil.za/docs/REGIMENT%20OOS%20TRANSVAAL.pdf
  2. http://www.rheinmetall-defence.com/media/editor_media/rm_defence/publicrelations/pressemitteilungen/2014_1/aad/2014_09_17_AAD_04_Air_Defence.pdf
  3. "New Reserve Force unit names". defenceWeb. 7 August 2019. Retrieved 9 January 2021.
  4. "Renaming process has resulted in an Army structure that truly represents SA". IOL. 16 August 2019. Retrieved 8 January 2020.
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