World War One 100th anniversary to be honoured
Centenary anniversary honoured by Witwatersrand Rifles.
The Witwatersrand Rifles was formed in 1903, out of the Railway Pioneer Regiment, which was founded in 1899 and saw service in the Anglo Boer War.
The Wit Rifles is, thus, 112 years old, headquartered in Germiston and still serves the country, with members currently on deployment in the Sudan.
The regiment’s members were drawn mainly from the mining industry across the Witwatersrand, and it was mobilised on Tuesday, August 18, 1914, with a total of 751 personnel, including officers and NCOs, for active service in German South West Africa (SWA), now Namibia.
Wit Rifles was the first of the Active Citizen Force units to be sent to SWA to engage the Germans after the declaration of war.
This year’s annual Parade and Commemoration Service will be named “Operation SWA 1914-1915” after the battle honour which was awarded to the regiment after World War One (WW1).
The regiment distinguished itself in WW2, being awarded a further 13 battle honours and subsequently served in the SWA border war, as well as undertaking internal deployments.wit
In later years, the regiment completed numerous peacekeeping deployments in Africa, as well as border protection duty.
It is supported by a very active regimental association, which meets monthly at the headquarters.
The parade will take place on April 11, at 9.30am for 10am, at the regimental headquarters, Fort Bear, situated on the corner of Barlow Road and Cavelleros Road, in Industries West.
For further information, contact Lieut-Col Kevin Townsend on 082 493 0177, or Roy Brown on 011 788-8170.
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