Origin Regiment Westelike Provinsie (RWP) was one of eight
Afrikaner-oriented Traditional Citizen Force infantry units raised by the
Union Defence Force on 1 April 1934, as part of a programme to rebuild the UDF after the
Great Depression.
Predecessors While RWP was only raised in 1934, it regards itself as the successor to several small and short-lived units which were formed in the Western Cape country districts in the nineteenth century and early twentieth century. They were:
First Volunteer Movement •
Stellenbosch Volunteersformed 1856, disbanded •
Worcester volunteersformed 1856, disbanded •
Paarl Rifle Corpsformed 1856, disbanded 1859 •
Malmesbury Volunteer Cavalryformed 1856, disbanded •
Paarl Cavalryformed 1857, disbanded 1859 •
Paarl United Volunteersformed 1859, disbanded •
Robertson and Montague Rifle Corpsformed 1860, disbanded No volunteer units in these districts between 1866 and 1878.
Second Volunteer Movement •
Worcester Volunteer Riflesformed 1878, disbanded •
Worcester Volunteer Riflesformed 1885, disbanded 1901 •
Paarl Volunteer Riflesformed 1885, disbanded 1897 •
Wellington Volunteer Riflesformed 1885, disbanded 1901 •
Victoria College Volunteer Riflesformed 1888, disbanded 1899 •
Robertson Volunteer Riflesformed 1890, disbanded •
Malmesbury Volunteer Riflesformed 1892, disbanded 1896. • Western Riflesan administrative grouping, which existed from 1893 to 1908, of the
Worcester,
Paarl,
Wellington,
Stellenbosch,
Robertson, and
Malmesbury units • Western Light Horseformed at
Worcester 1903, disbanded 1908 •
Paarl Volunteersformed 1906, disbanded 1909. No volunteer units in these districts between 1909 and 1913.
Citizen Force • Western Province Mounted Riflesformed at
Worcester 1913, disbanded 1929 •
1st Western Province Riflesformed at
Worcester 1913, disbanded 1929 •
2nd Western Province Riflesformed at
Malmesbury 1913, disbanded 1929 •
3rd Western Province Riflesformed at
Stellenbosch 1913, disbanded 1929 No CF units in these districts existed between 1929 and 1934.
Garrison The regiment was based in the country town of
Stellenbosch, outside
Cape Town, and recruited its members from the surrounding districts of the western part of the Cape Province. At that time, Citizen Force service was voluntary.
Brandy The new Regiment lost no time in ensuring that the inner man was cared for and in 1936 the first specially bottled R.W.P brandy was produced. and became
No. 12 Armoured Car Company,
South African Tank Corps. After months of training in this new role,
No. 12 Armoured Car Company was amalgamated with
No. 11 Armoured Car Company (RSWD)
Regiment Suid Westelike Distrikte, to form
5th Armoured Fighting Vehicle Regiment,
South African Tank Corps. The Regiment moved to
Egypt in September 1941 but was disbanded on 13 October 1941 after arrival. The personnel were used as reinforcements for depleted armoured car regiments already operating in the
Western Desert with whom they participated in many of the well known battles in North Africa like
Sidi Rezegh,
Bir Hakeim,
Gazala, and
El Alamein. On the disbandment of the
South African Tank Corps early in 1943, former RWP personnel were absorbed into the
Royal Natal Carbineers and
Imperial Light Horse and soon adapted themselves to tank warfare, serving with distinction in their new units with the
6th South African Armoured Division in Italy.
Post war The regiment was presented with a Regimental Colour by his Majesty King
George VI during the visit of the royal family to South Africa on 31 March 1947. The wartime Prime Minister Gen
Jan Smuts accepted the appointment as Colonel-In-Chief of the regiment from 17 September 1948.
Remustered and renamed In 1949, RWP itself was converted to Armour, and it was renamed
Regiment Onze Jan, after 19th-century Afrikaner political leader
Jan Hofmeyr, in 1951. From 1952, Citizen Force recruits were chosen by ballot rather than volunteering. During the 1950s and 1960s the Regiment was part of the part-time component of
Western Province Command.
With the SADF When the Army was re-organised for internal security duties in 1960,
Regiment Onze Jan was converted back to infantry and was renamed
Regiment Boland. Regiment Boland later moved to
Paarl and, after the introduction of
national service conscription (in 1968), it formed a second battalion in
Worcester on 1 September 1970. The two battalions were separated in April 1974. 1 Regiment Boland resumed the original title
Regiment Westelike Provinsie and moved to Cape Town, while 2 Regiment Boland remained in Worcester as
Regiment Boland. The only remnant of their association is the similar cap-badges of the two regiments.
Operations RWP served in the
Angola campaign in 1976, and carried out several tours of duty in the
Border War in
South West Africa. It was also deployed on internal security duties in the Townships during the 1985–90 State of Emergency.
With the SANDF Military service has been voluntary again since 1994. 71 Motorised Brigade and 9 Division were dissolved in the late nineties and the regiment presently forms part of the
South African Army Infantry Formation.
Name change In August 2019, 52 Reserve Force units had their names changed to reflect the diverse military history of South Africa. Regiment Westelike Provinsie was renamed
General Jan Smuts Regiment, and have 3 years to design and implement new regimental insignia.
Jan Smuts, the regiment's honorific, was chosen because Smuts was
Colonel-in-Chief of the then Regiment Westelike Provinsie from 1948 until his death. Having served in the Boer War and in both World Wars, the latter of as part of what is now today the SANDF, he was promoted Field Marshal in 1941. == Regimental Symbols ==