General Dan Pienaar Artillery Regiment
 | This article includes a list of general references, but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations. (September 2016) |
| Vrystaatse Artillerie Regiment | |
|---|---|
 SANDF Vrystaatse Artillerie Regiment emblem | |
| Active | 1854 to present |
| Country |  South Africa |
| Allegiance | |
| Branch | |
| Type | Reserve Artillery |
| Part of | South African Army Artillery Formation Army Conventional Reserve |
| Garrison/HQ | Kroonstad |
| Motto(s) | Aequo Animo Ac Virtute " Power gives peace of mind" |
| Battle honours |
|
| Insignia | |
| Collar Badge | Bursting grenade with seven flames |
| Beret Colour | Oxford Blue |
| Artillery Battery Emblems |  |
| Artillery Beret Bar circa 1992 |  |
The Vrystaatse Artillerie Regiment (Afrikaans for Free State Artillery Regiment) is an artillery regiment of the South African Army. As a reserve unit, it has a status roughly equivalent to that of a British Army Reserve or United States Army National Guard unit. It is part of the South African Army Artillery Formation.
History
Origin
The First Regiment
In 1854 the Free-State became an independent Republic. The British forces withdrew, leaving behind four 9-pounder garrison guns in the Queen's Fort in Bloemfontein. This was for many years the only ordnance the Free State Republic had.
The Free State Artillery Corps was subsequently founded in 1864 on a request by President Johannes Henricus Brand and housed in Queen's Fort.
Anglo Boer War
By the outbreak of the Anglo-Boer War, the corps was commanded by Major Richard Friedrich Wilhelm Albrecht. The unit (in 1898 some 160 men, 24 cannons of various calibers) served on the Western front, Natal front and into the Guerrilla phase of the War in 1902. The unit finally lost its guns to the British at Paardeberg.
The Second Regiment
In 1922, 3 Permanent Battery was formed. This unit was split up on 1 July 1926 into two units namely 4 Burgher Battery and 5 Burgher Battery.
In 1932 these two were renamed 1 Oranje-Vrystaat Veldartillerie and 2 Oranje Vrystaat Veldartillerie.
World War 2
On 1 February 1940 these units were joined as 12th Field Battery and did sterling service in Egypt. They took heavy casualties at Tobruk and El-Alamein.
On 18 April 1946 the unit was renamed 6 Field Artillery Regiment.
Current
Vrystaatse Artillerie Regiment was based at Tempe, Bloemfontein, but relocated to Kroonstad in 2007.[1]
Battle honours
- Anglo-Boer War 1899-1902
- Tobruk
- El-Alamein
- South-West Africa
Officers Commanding
- Cmdt P.H. Fick
- Cmdt Danie Acker 1991
Insignia
References
Bibliography
- Ultima Ratio Regum; the Artillery History of South-Africa, South-African Army Information Bureau 1987
- Swemmer D, Die Geskiedenis van die Vrystaatse Artillerie, Unpublished Manuscript, 1946
- Barnard,S.L.(ed) van der Westhuizen,G. Smit, L. Vrystaatse Artillerie: Die Geskiedenis van 6 Veldregiment
