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
Active	1 October 1964 -
Country	South Africa
Allegiance	Republic of South Africa Republic of South Africa
Branch	South African Army  South African Army
Type	Reserve Artillery
Part of	South African Army Air Defence Artillery Formation Army Conventional Reserve
Garrison/HQ	Benoni
Battle honours	SE Angola
Insignia
Collar Badge	Bursting grenade with seven flames
Beret Colour	Oxford Blue
Battery emblems
Beret bar circa 1992
Abbreviation	IAAR

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]

Leadership

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.