1 Special Service Battalion

1 Special Service Battalion
1 Special Service Battalion
	SANDF 1 Special Service Battalion emblem
Active	1 May 1933 – present
Country	South Africa
Branch	South African Army
Type	Armoured
Part of	South African Armoured Formation
Garrison/HQ	Tempe 29°05′0″S 26°11′0″E / 29.08333°S 26.18333°E
Nickname(s)	1 SSB 1 SDB
Motto(s)	Eendrag Maakt Mag (Unity is Strength)
Colors	Orange over Blue which must be divided by Silver and where it is not possible to use silver white will be used in place
Equipment	Ratel IFV; Rooikat;
Engagements	World War II; South African Border War; Operation Boleas; Operation Merlyn (1989); Operation Agree (1989);
Website	www.saarmour.co.za
Commanders
Notable; commanders	Lt Col George Brink; Lt Col CEG (Papa) Britz; Lt Col WHE Poole; Lt Col HB Klopper; Lt Col Bok Kriel; Gen Jannie Geldenhys; Lt Col. W.R. Van Der Riet;
Insignia
Cap Badge	A spray of three protea flowers, bound by a ribbon bearing the initials and motto
Beret Colour	Black
Armour Squadron emblems
Armour beret bar c. 1992

1 Special Service Battalion (usually abbreviated to 1SSB) is an armoured regiment of the South African Army and only one of two such in its regular force. The Regiment is based at Tempe near Bloemfontein.

It was previously known in Afrikaans as 1 Spesiale Diens Bataljon (1 SDB).

History

1 Special Service Battalion

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1 Special Service Battalion

Rooikat at the entrance to 1SSB, Bloemfontein.

Following World War II, the Special Service Battalion was re-organised into 2 battalions - 1 Special Service Battalion and 1 South African Infantry Battalion.

When the South African Armoured Corps was thus officially proclaimed in 1946 and Special Service Battalion was included in the corps as the only full-time unit, its symbols and colours were incorporated.

1 SSB also took part in the South African Border War, serving in South-West Africa and Angola.^[1]

Rooikat Armoured Car

More recently, the unit also took part in Operation Boleas, which was a South African intervention in its neighbouring country of Lesotho in 1998.

1 SSB had a sister unit for a number of years in the post-World War II era, designated 2 Special Service Battalion, which was based in the town of Zeerust. This unit has now been disbanded.

1 SSB also detached squadrons to various battlegroups in the South West African campaign

63 Mech Battlegroup to which 1 SSB detached elements

Equipment

pre 1995

Variant	Description	Comment	Image
Eland 60	South Africa	60 mm (2.4 in) Mortar platform
Eland 90	South Africa	90 mm (3.5 in) Fire support platform and assault gun

Current

The regiment is equipped primarily with Ratel infantry fighting vehicles and Rooikat armoured cars.

Variant	Description	Comment
Rooikat 76	South Africa	76 mm (3.0 in) cannon
Ratel 90	South Africa	90 mm (3.5 in) cannon
Ratel ZT3	South Africa	antitank missile

Future

Under Project Hoefyster, the SANDF will eventually replace the Ratel family of vehicles with the Badger system.^[2]^[3] Five versions are contemplated of which two are earmarked for 1 SSB:

Missile (turreted Denel ZT3 Ingwe)
Fire Support (turreted 30 mm (1.2 in) cannon, but with more ammunition than the section vehicle)

Variant	Description	Comment	Image
Denel Badger various types	South Africa	Various armaments

Regimental symbols

The cap badge is a spray of three protea flowers, bound by a ribbon bearing the initials and motto.
Regimental motto: Eendrag Maakt Mag (English: Unity is Strength)
Regimental communications icon : ^{[clarification needed]}
Regimental deployment strength : 1,000 soldiers
Regimental honour roll : Soldiers who died during active combat duty and soldiers who died during training.^[4]
Regimental traditional contact meeting : Pantseraksie, once a year

Previous Dress Insignia

SADF era 1 Special Services Battalion insignia

SADF era Operation Hooper participation bar

SADF era 1 SSB D Squadron with 2 SAI insignia

Current Dress Insignia

SANDF Armoured Formation beret badge circa 1996 forward

Leadership

1 Special Services Battalion Leadership
From	Commanding Officers	To
May 1933	Lt. Col. GE Poole DSO	November 1933
December 1933	Lt. Col. P de Waal	January 1934
February 1934	Lt. Col.^[e] William John Evered Poole CB CBE DSO LOM (USA)^[g]	April 1935
May 1935	Lt. Col. J Danie	January 1936
February 1936	Maj. JR Wocke	December 1937
January 1938	Lt. Col. HB Klopper	September 1939
October 1939	Lt. Col. HP van Noorden	December 1939
January 1940	Lt. Col. GCA van Dam	June 1940
June 1940	Lt. Col. CEG (Papa) Brits DSO	August 1946
September 1946	Lt. Col. GN Nauhaus OBE	May 1949
June 1949	Maj. EE Fodred MC	August 1949
September 1949	Maj. PE Ferguson MC	January 1951
February 1951	Cmdt. CS Leisegang DSO	September 1953
October 1953	Cmdt^[h] Werndly van der Riet SSA SM MC	December 1960
January 1961	Cmdt. S Hugo. SM	June 1963
July 1963	Cmdt. JJ Wahl. MC	October 1964
November 1964	Cmdt. JR Dutton. SSA SD	November 1967
December 1967	Cmdt. WH Matthews. SM	November 1968
December 1968	Cmdt. MB Anderson	May 1969
April 1969	Cmdt. WC Meyer	September 1972
October 1972	Cmdt. PJ Schalkwyk	July 1973
August 1973	Maj. AJ Snyman^[i]	November 1973
November 1973	Cmdt. APR Carstens	November 1976
December 1976	Cmdt^[j] Reginald Otto SD & Bar SM MMM	December 1979
January 1980	Cmdt. FA Botha	November 1981
December 1981	Cmdt. AJ van Niekerk	November 1983
December 1983	Cmdt. HT Heinze	November 1986
December 1986	Cmdt. AJ Kriel	May 1989
June 1989	Cmdt. AJ van Jaarsveld	November 1989
December 1989	Cmdt^[k] Chris GildenhuysSM MMM	December 1993
January 1994	Col. GM Louw. HC MMM	unk
From	Regimental Sergeants Major	To
May 1933	RSM J Whammond. MC DCM MM	February 1934
March 1934	RSM LJ van den Heever	May 1934
June 1934	RSM BS Scheepers	May 1935
June 1935	RSM SP Conje	June 1935
September 1936	RSM CEG Brits	March 1937
April 1937	RSM JO van Blommenstein	May 1940
June 1940	RSM JW Hamilton	January 1943
February 1943	WO1 S du Plessis. MC	August 1946
September 1946	WO1 WE Wocke	October 1951
November 1950	WO1 S du Plessis. MM	September 1953
October 1953	WO1 WJ van der Merwe. SM	December 1965
January 1966	WO1 BJP Ehlers. PMM	October 1972
November 1972	WO1 MA Booyens PMM MMM	September 1976
October 1976	WO1 JP. O'Neill	November 1978
December 1978	WO1 PH Rohrbeck PMM	January 1979
February 1979	WO1 GDF van Baalen PMM MMM	November 1984
June 1984	WO1 IJ Prinsloo	November 1988
December 1988	WO1 WF Snyman PMM MMM	November 1993
December 1993	WO1 JAB van Zyl	nd
From	Chaplains	To
December 1987	Lt^[l] Heerden van Niekerk^[m]	December 1988

Alliances

United Kingdom - 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards

Battle honours

Battle Honours
List of Battle Honours for 1 SSB

Future

This unit will together with 1 SA Tank Regiment form the Armoured Brigade of the new Mechanized Division to be formed under Army vision 2020.^[5]

Notes

^ As part of 63 Mech
^ As part of 63 Mech
^ Later Chief, SADF
^ Later Lt Gen
^ Later Major General
^ French: Légion d'honneur - Commandeur
^
Awards
- Order of the Bath (Companion) (CB)
- Order of the British Empire (Commander) (CBE)
- Distinguished Service Order (DSO)
- Legion of Merit (Commander) (LOM) (USA)
- Legion of Honour (Commander) ^[f] (France)
- Croix de guerre 1914–1918 (Palme de bronze - Bronze palm) (France)
- Mentioned in Despatches
^ Later Lt Gen Werndly van der Riet
^ acting
^ Later Lieutenant General Reginald Otto
^ Later Brigadier General Chris Gildenhuys
^ Reverend (Dominee)
^ Dutch Reformed Church (Afrikaans: Nederduitse Gerformeerde Kerk)

References

^ Engelbrecht, Leon (1 March 2010). "Fact File: 1 Special Service Battalion". defenceweb.co.za. DefenceWeb. Retrieved 4 November 2014.
^ Engelbrecht, Leon. "SA Army horse shod by December? | defenceWeb". Archived from the original on 2015-02-24. Retrieved 2015-03-25.
^ Greve, Natalie. "Land Systems SA secures sights contract for Denel's Badger". Archived from the original on 2014-08-20. Retrieved 2015-03-25.
^ Dovey, John. "1 SSB Roll of Honour". Archived from the original on 25 December 2014.
^ Le Roux, Len, ed. (2007-11-01). "Security challenges shaping the future South African Army" (PDF). South African Army vision 2020. issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com. ISBN 978-1-920114-24-4. Retrieved 2022-10-25.

External links

"SA Armour Museum". Archived from the original on 23 June 2012.
Curator SA Armour Museum. "SA Armour Association Museum". Archived from the original on 6 February 2010.
"Exercise Seboka" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 25 May 2011.
Dovey, John. "1 SSB Roll of Honour". Archived from the original on 25 December 2014.

[1] As part of 63 Mech

[2] As part of 63 Mech

[3] Later Chief, SADF

[4] Later Lt Gen

[9] Later Major General

[10] French: Légion d'honneur - Commandeur

[11] Awards
Order of the Bath (Companion) (CB)
Order of the British Empire (Commander) (CBE)
Distinguished Service Order (DSO)
Legion of Merit (Commander) (LOM) (USA)
Legion of Honour (Commander) ^[f] (France)
Croix de guerre 1914–1918 (Palme de bronze - Bronze palm) (France)
Mentioned in Despatches

[8] Order of the Bath (Companion) (CB)

[9] Order of the British Empire (Commander) (CBE)

[10] Distinguished Service Order (DSO)

[11] Legion of Merit (Commander) (LOM) (USA)

[12] Legion of Honour (Commander) ^[f] (France)

[13] Croix de guerre 1914–1918 (Palme de bronze - Bronze palm) (France)

[14] Mentioned in Despatches

[12] Later Lt Gen Werndly van der Riet

[13] ting

[14] Later Lieutenant General Reginald Otto

[15] Later Brigadier General Chris Gildenhuys

[16] Reverend (Dominee)

[17] Dutch Reformed Church (Afrikaans: Nederduitse Gerformeerde Kerk)

[FF1SSB-5] Engelbrecht, Leon (1 March 2010). "Fact File: 1 Special Service Battalion". defenceweb.co.za. DefenceWeb. Retrieved 4 November 2014.

[6] Engelbrecht, Leon. "SA Army horse shod by December? | defenceWeb". Archived from the original on 2015-02-24. Retrieved 2015-03-25.

[7] Greve, Natalie. "Land Systems SA secures sights contract for Denel's Badger". Archived from the original on 2014-08-20. Retrieved 2015-03-25.

[8] Dovey, John. "1 SSB Roll of Honour". Archived from the original on 25 December 2014.

[18] Le Roux, Len, ed. (2007-11-01). "Security challenges shaping the future South African Army" (PDF). South African Army vision 2020. issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com. ISBN 978-1-920114-24-4. Retrieved 2022-10-25.

[a]

[b]

[c]

[d]

[1]

[2]

[3]

[4]

[e]

[g]

[h]

[i]

[j]

[k]

[l]

[m]

[5]

[f]

1 Special Service Battalion

Contents

History

Equipment

pre 1995

Current

Future

Regimental symbols

Previous Dress Insignia

Current Dress Insignia

Leadership

Alliances

Battle honours

Future

See also

Notes

References

External links

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