Natal Mounted Rifles
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Natal Mounted Rifles is an armoured regiment of the South African Army. As a reserve unit, it has a status roughly equivalent to that of a British Territorial Army or United States Army National Guard unit. It is part of the South African Army Armour Formation and is based in the city of Durban.
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[edit] History
The Natal Mounted Rifles was formed in 1888 in Durban, Natal by the amalgamation and regimentation of several earlier and smaller units - the Victoria Mounted Rifles, Alexandra Mounted Rifles, Durban Mounted Rifles, Umzimkulu Mounted Rifles and the Royal Durban Rangers (established in 1854). The Regiment consisted of two Wings, but in 1894 the left Wing was separated - mainly for administrative reasons - and redesignated the Border Mounted Rifles.
On 1 July 1913 the Regiment was re-amalgamated with the Border Mounted Rifles, renamed the 3rd Mounted Rifles (Natal Mounted Rifles) and transferred to the Active Citizen Force of the Union Defence Force. In 1932 the Regiment's name was simplified to The Natal Mounted Rifles and in 1934 it was converted to infantry.
In addition to the campaigns in which its various constituent units fought in before the Regiment's formation, the Natal Mounted Rifles served in the Second Anglo-Boer War (1899 - 1902), the Zulu Rebellion (1906 - 1907), World War I (specifically in South-West Africa from 1914 to 1915), World War II and South Africa's post-war internal conflicts and "Border War".
[edit] Regimental Symbols
- Regimental motto: "Just and frank" (from 1888 to 1913) and "Rough but ready" (from 1913 onwards).
[edit] Alliances
[edit] Battle honours
- South Africa 1879
- South Africa 1899-1902
- Defence of Ladysmith
- Natal 1906
- South-West Africa 1914-1915
- Gibeon
- East Africa 1940-1941
- Dadaba
- Western Desert 1941-1943
- Gazala
- Best Post
- Alamein Defence
- El Alamein
- Italy 1944-1945
- The Tiber
- Celleno
- Florence
- The Greve
- Gothic Line
- Po Valley
