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4th SA Infantry Regiment | |
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4th SA Infantry Regiment Cap badge | |
Active | 1914-1918 |
Allegiance | |
Branch | |
Size | Regiment |
Part of | |
Motto(s) | “Mors Lucrum Mihi” (Death is my reward) |
Battle honours |
4th SA Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment of the South African Army, during World War One.
To join the British Imperial Forces for the war in Europe, the South African Infantry Regiment was raised (also known as the South African Scottish) because the 1912 Defence Act restricted its Active Defence Force from operating outside South Africa.
The regiment's companies were formed from volunteers from various units:
Totalling 160 officers and 5648 other ranks, the regiment embarked for England from Cape Town and were quartered at Bordon in Hampshire for about two months for refresher training.
The 4th SA Infantry Regiment and the larger South African Brigade initially served with the British 9th (Scottish) Division. Following the Brigades decimation in March 1918, it was reconstituted and incorporated in September into the 66th (2nd East Lancashire) Division until the end of the War.
After a short campaign in North Africa against a Turkish attack on the Suez Canal the SA Scottish were sent to France. Here they took part in the Battle of Delville Wood as part of the battle of the Somme in 1916. Between July 12 and 19th the total casualty rate was about 74% of those who went into action. By the end of July, the SA Scottish had suffered 868 casualties. After Delville Wood, the shattered SA Scottish were reformed and served on the Western Front in particular at Vimy Ridge, the Somme, the battle of Passchendale, Marrieres Wood, and the battle of Messines.
Lt Colonel F.A. Jones, DSO
The regiments collar badge were identical to those of the Cape Town Highlanders except they bore a different motto in Latin “Mors Lucrum Mihi” (Death is my reward) which was the family motto of the Regiments Commanding Officer, Lt Colonel F.A. Jones. The regiment was a kilted unit, wearing the Murray of Athol tartan.
The 9th (Scottish) Division, was an infantry division of the British Army during World War I, one of the Kitchener's Army divisions raised from volunteers by Lord Kitchener to serve on the Western Front during the First World War.
The South African Army is the army of South Africa, first formed after the Union of South Africa was created in 1910. The South African military evolved within the tradition of frontier warfare fought by Boer Commando (militia) forces, reinforced by the Afrikaners' historical distrust of large standing armies. It then fought as part of the wider British effort in World War II, but afterwards was cut off from its long-standing Commonwealth ties with the ascension to power of the National Party in South Africa in 1948. The army was involved in a long and bitter counter-insurgency campaign in Namibia from 1966 to 1990. It also played a key role in controlling sectarian political violence inside South Africa during the late 1980s and early 1990s.
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The South African 1st Infantry Brigade was an infantry brigade of the army of the Union of South Africa during World Wars I and II. During World War I, the Brigade served as a British formation in Egypt and on the Western Front, most famously the Battle of Delville Wood. It was reactivated at the start of the Second World War as a South African formation and served in East Africa and the Western Desert; the Brigade disbanded on 1 January 1943.
This page details the South African Army order of battle in 1940, before and after the formation of expeditionary forces.
1st SA Infantry Regiment was an infantry regiment of the South African Army, during World War One.
http://www.1914-1918.net/south_africa.html The South African Forces in France, Imperial War Museum, ISBN 0901627895