Royal Natal Carbineers Natal Carbineers Ingobamakhosi Carbineers | |
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Active | 13 March 1855 to present |
Country | South Africa |
Allegiance |
|
Branch |
|
Type | Infantry |
Role | Motorised Infantry |
Size | One Battalion |
Part of | South African Infantry Formation Army Conventional Reserve |
Garrison/HQ | The Drill Hall, Pietermaritzburg |
Nickname(s) | One Carbs |
Motto(s) | Pro Patria (For the Fatherland) |
Anniversaries | 13 March (Regimental Day) |
Commanders | |
Officer Commanding | Lieutenant Colonel M. Mhlope |
Insignia | |
Company level Insignia | |
SA Motorised Infantry beret bar circa 1992 | |
Abbreviation | IC |
The Ingobamakhosi Carbineers (formerly Natal Carbineers) is an infantry unit of the South African Army.
The regiment traces its roots to 1854 but it was formally raised on 15 January 1855 and gazetted on 13 March of that year, as the Natal Carbineers.
In 1913, the regiment’s two ‘wings’ became known as the First and Second Mounted Rifles (Natal Carbineers) and in 1934 they re-assumed the name 1st and 2nd Natal Carbineers.
The following year, they became the Royal Natal Carbineers, a title which remained in use until the country became a republic in 1961.
The regiment has been active since 1994 in internal duties in support of the police as well as border protection. They have also contributed to external peace-keeping missions to inter alia MONUSCO in the DRC.
In August 2019, 52 Reserve Force units had their names changed to reflect the diverse military history of South Africa. [1] The Natal Carbineers became the Ingobamakhosi Carbineers, and have 3 years to design and implement new regimental insignia. [2] The new name was decided on to reflect the merging of two proud military traditions. Ingobamakhosi [lower-alpha 1] which was a Zulu Regiment in the 19th century and Carbineers to reflect the horse-borne, carbine bearing soldiers [lower-alpha 2] that formed the regiment. A loose translation of the new name could be "The King's Own Carbineers" [lower-alpha 3] .
Since its inception, the Natal Carbineers [lower-alpha 4] have participated in every campaign in KwaZulu-Natal. Their baptism of fire came during the Langalibalele Rebellion in 1873 where they suffered their first casualties in action in the Drakensberg. Subsequently, during the Anglo-Zulu War, the Carbineers suffered minor losses [5] at the Battle of Isandlwana on 22 January 1879. [6] [7]
The Natal Carbineers participated in the invasion of Zululand in January 1879, and on 22 January, 23 members of the Regiment perished in the famous battle of Isandlwana. [5] The unit was subsequently relegated to garrison duties at Landman’s Drift on the Mzinyathi, or Buffalo River. [7]
In September 1899, the Natal Carbineers were mobilised for active service in the British campaign to subdue the Boer republics of the Transvaal and Orange Free State. The Regiment served until October 1900, when the Natal Volunteer Forces were demobilized. Some men continued their service in the Volunteer Composite Regiment until the end of the war in May 1902. [7]
The Natal Carbineers saw extensive service in the Natal (or Bambatha) Uprising of 1906. From February to July 1906, the Regiment participated in the numerous sweeps and drives through the mountainous terrain of Zululand, as the Natal Colonial forces sought to trap and destroy the elusive ‘rebel’ warriors. The Carbineers were present at the decisive battle at Mhome Gorge on 10 June, where the back of the uprising was broken. [7]
The Natal Carbineers, then known as the 1st and 2nd Mounted Rifles, were mobilized on 23 August 1914. Both wings saw service in German South-West Africa, while the 2nd Battalion was also involved in the suppression of the short-lived Afrikaner Rebellion of 1914.
On 17 July 1940 the 1st (Royal) Natal Carbineers sailed for Kenya as part of the 1st South African Brigade. Their destination was the Italian colonial empire in East Africa. For the next 10 months the Regiment participated in the South African advance through Italian Somaliland and Abyssinia (now Ethiopia), until Italian resistance was broken at Amba Alagi in May 1941.
Following the fall of Italian East Africa in May 1941, the 1st South African Brigade was dispatched to North Africa to confront the joint Italian-German forces in the see-saw offensives across Egypt and Libya. The Carbineers earned numerous individual battle honours between June 1941 and January 1943 when it sailed home for a well-earned leave. [7]
The 1st Royal Natal Carbineers landed at Taranto, Italy, on 20 April 1944, just in time for the latter phases of the battles for Cassino. From there the Regiment fought its way up the Italian boot, through Rome, until final victory in May 1945. [7]
The Natal Carbineers saw service in a counter-insurgency capacity in northern Namibia (South-West Africa) for three months from August 1976, and thereafter in numerous modular deployments over the next decade. [10] [7]
Awarded to the Natal Carbineers |
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From | Honorary Colonels | To |
July 1906 | Field Marshal His Excellency The Right Honourable Horatio Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener KG , KP , GCB , OM , GCSI , GCMG , GCIE , PC | June 1916 |
January 1920 | Col Duncan Mc Kenzie CB CMG VD Legion d’ Honneur [lower-alpha 5] | April 1932 |
June 1925 | Maj Gen Sir Nevill Maskelyne Smyth VC KCB | April 1926 |
July 1932 | Colonel David Watt Mackay CMG VD | November 1942 |
1943 | Lt Colonel George Robert Richards | 1951 |
February 1953 | Lt Col John Willoughby Verner Montgomery CMG DSO VD | April 1968 |
February 1969 | Lt Col Peter Clement Austin Francis MC ED | May 2009 |
From | Commanding Officers | To |
January 1855 | Lt Col Sir Theophilus St George Bart | July 1857 |
July 1857 | Lt Col Hon. W.C. Sargeaunt | 1857 |
1858 | Lt Col P Allen | 1862 |
1862 | Lt Col the Hon. D. Erskine | 1871 |
1871 | Capt Theophilus Shepstone jnr CMG | August 1881 |
April 1882 | Lt Col W. Royston | August 1889 |
1889 | Lt Col E.M. Greene and Maj T. Menne | 1890 |
March 1891 | Lt Col E. M. Greene CMG VD [11] | April 1903 |
May 1903 | Lt Col Duncan Mc Kenzie CB CMG VD [lower-alpha 6] [lower-alpha 7] | February 1907 |
February 1907 | Col J. Weighton VD | February 1911 |
March 1911 | Col D.W. Mc Kay CMG VD | September 1920 |
September 1920 | Lt Col R.M. Tanner DSO VD | June 1925 |
July 1925 | Lt Col R.A. Lindsay VD | June 1929 |
July 1929 | Lt Col A.G. Mc Kenzie MC VD | September 1936 |
September 1936 | Lt Col L.N. Hay MC VD | August 1940 |
August 1940 | Lt Col J.G. Mc Menamin | April 1941 |
May 1941 | Lt Col P. M. G. le Roux DSO VD | March 1942 [8] : 76 |
March 1942 [8] : 76 | Lt Col M. C. Comrie MC & bar | October 1944 |
October 1944 | Lt Col P.C.A. Francis MC ED | February 1955 |
March 1955 | Comdt J.P. Edmonds JCD SSM (USA) | January 1961 |
January 1961 | Comdt G.R. De Carle JCD MC MM | July 1966 |
August 1966 | Comdt L.R. Foster JCD | June 1968 |
June 1968 | Comdt W.E.G. Taylor JCD | December 1971 |
December 1971 | Comdt N.R. Pinnell JCD | March 1975 |
March 1975 | Comdt E.G. Witherspoon JCD | June 1981 |
June 1981 | Comdt H.D.M. Witherspoon JCD | April 1985 |
April 1985 | Comdt Eddie Hall MMM JCD | July 1990 |
July 1990 | Lt Col A.C. Simpson MMM JCD | December 1995 |
January 1996 | Lt Col R. Mottram MMM JCD | 2004 |
2004 | Lt Col Ken M. Lowe JCD | nd |
nd | Lt Col M. Mhlope | 19 July 2023 |
From | Regimental Sergeants Major | To |
1855 | G.K. Weston | 1872 |
1872 | E.M. Green | nd |
nd | L.R. Foster | 1884 |
April 1886 | W.H.A. Molyneux | 1896 |
1896 | B.M. Bowen | March 1900 |
March 1900 | WO1 W. Burkimsher DCM | January 1922 |
February 1922 | WO1 F.P.W. Barden | 1927 |
1928 | WO1 A.C. Adie | 1934 |
1934 | WO1 J.S.F. Nurden | 1936 |
1936 | WO1 E.W. Christie | 1937 |
1937 | WO1 L.R. Foster | 1941 |
1941 | WO1 E.F. Mc Lauchlin | 1941 |
1942 | WO1 K.R. Kabrita | 1944 |
1944 | WO1 W. Allenberg DCM | 1944 |
1944 | WO1 A. Robinson | 1945 |
June 1946 | WO1 T.R. Polson | December 1948 |
January 1949 | WO1 M.D.L. Johnston SM PMD JCD [lower-alpha 8] | December 1982 |
January 1983 | WO1 J.M. Schnell MMM JCD | April 1990 |
May 1990 | WO1 E. John Hall MMM JCD | March 2003 |
March 2003 | WO1 N.Cloete MMM JCD | 2009 |
2009 | MWO Ben M. Tarr JCD | 2018 |
nd | unknown | Present |
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