1 Reconnaissance Commando (South Africa)
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1 Reconnaissance Commando (South Africa)
The 1 Reconnaissance Commando was the first South African special forces unit, founded by General Fritz Loots - the founder of the South African Special Forces, and the first General Officer Commanding of the South African Special Forces. He appointed 11 qualified paratroopers (known as "The Dirty Dozen", although they were made up of only 11 men) as the founder members. Included in these 11 paratroopers was Jan Breytenbach, who was placed in command of the Founder Members by General Loots. History Major General Loots and the Chief of the Army, Lt. General Willem Louw realised the need for a South African Defence Force to have a special operations capability, but the Chief of the , General Rudolph Hiemstra resisted. It was not until Admiral Hugo Biermann became Chief of the South African Defence Force in 1972 that the go-ahead was granted. The unit was originally based at Oudtshoorn in the Cape Province, but was moved to Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning ...
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Special Forces
Special forces and special operations forces (SOF) are military units trained to conduct special operations. NATO has defined special operations as "military activities conducted by specially designated, organized, selected, trained and equipped forces using unconventional techniques and modes of employment". Special forces emerged in the early 20th century, with a significant growth in the field during the Second World War, when "every major army involved in the fighting" created formations devoted to special operations behind enemy lines. Depending on the country, special forces may perform functions including airborne operations, counter-insurgency, counter-terrorism, foreign internal defense, covert ops, direct action, hostage rescue, high-value targets/manhunt, intelligence operations, mobility operations, and unconventional warfare. In Russian-speaking countries, special forces of any country are typically called , an acronym for "special purpose". In the United State ...
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Willem Louw
Lieutenant-General Willem Petrus Louw (Bloemhof, 24 November 1920 – 4 July 1980) was a South African military commander. He joined the South African Army in the Special Service Battalion in 1938, and served in Italy in World War II. Military career After enlisting as a private, he served as an NCO in the Technical Service Corps (SAOC) and was seconded to the South African Infantry. In 1943 he attended a Candidate Officers' course and was appointed a 2nd Lieutenant in the South African Army Armoured Corps. He was transferred to the 6th Armoured Division and deployed to the Middle East and Italy. After the war, he served in various posts and in 1959 became Officer Commanding North West Cape Command In 1960 he attended a Parachute Instructors' course in England. He was promoted to Commandant (Lieutenant Colonel) in January 1961 and in April 1961 became the founder and first commanding officer of 1 Parachute Battalion. He was promoted to Colonel in 1964 and appointed OC o ...
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Military Units And Formations Of South Africa In The Border War
A military, also known collectively as armed forces, is a heavily armed, highly organized force primarily intended for warfare. It is typically authorized and maintained by a sovereign state, with its members identifiable by their distinct military uniform. It may consist of one or more military branches such as an army, navy, air force, space force, marines, or coast guard. The main task of the military is usually defined as defence of the state and its interests against external armed threats. In broad usage, the terms ''armed forces'' and ''military'' are often treated as synonymous, although in technical usage a distinction is sometimes made in which a country's armed forces may include both its military and other paramilitary forces. There are various forms of irregular military forces, not belonging to a recognized state; though they share many attributes with regular military forces, they are less often referred to as simply ''military''. A nation's military may f ...
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Disbanded Military Units And Formations In Durban
The fifth season of the American television series ''Arrow'' premiered on The CW on October 5, 2016, and concluded on May 24, 2017, with a total of 23 episodes. The series is based on the DC Comics character Green Arrow, a costumed crime-fighter created by Mort Weisinger and George Papp, and is set in the Arrowverse, sharing continuity with other Arrowverse television series. The showrunners for this season were Marc Guggenheim and Wendy Mericle. Stephen Amell stars as Oliver Queen, with principal cast members David Ramsey as John Diggle, Willa Holland as Thea Queen, Emily Bett Rickards as Felicity Smoak, and Paul Blackthorne as Quentin Lance also returning from previous seasons. They are joined by Echo Kellum as Curtis Holt, who was promoted to a series regular from his recurring status in the previous season, and new cast member Josh Segarra. The series follows billionaire playboy Oliver Queen (Stephen Amell), who claimed to have spent five years shipwrecked on Lian Yu, a mys ...
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Defunct Organisations Based In South Africa
Defunct (no longer in use or active) may refer to: * ''Defunct'' (video game), 2014 * Zombie process or defunct process, in Unix-like operating systems See also * * :Former entities * End-of-life product * Obsolescence Obsolescence is the state of being which occurs when an object, service, or practice is no longer maintained or required even though it may still be in good working order. It usually happens when something that is more efficient or less risky r ...
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Special Forces Of South Africa
Special or specials may refer to: Policing * Specials, Ulster Special Constabulary, the Northern Ireland police force * Specials, Special Constable, an auxiliary, volunteer, or temporary; police worker or police officer Literature * ''Specials'' (novel), a novel by Scott Westerfeld * ''Specials'', the comic book heroes, see ''Rising Stars'' (comic) Film and television * Special (lighting), a stage light that is used for a single, specific purpose * ''Special'' (film), a 2006 scifi dramedy * ''The Specials'' (2000 film), a comedy film about a group of superheroes * ''The Specials'' (2019 film), a film by Olivier Nakache and Éric Toledano * Television special, television programming that temporarily replaces scheduled programming * ''Special'' (TV series), a 2019 Netflix Original TV series * ''Specials'' (TV series), a 1991 TV series about British Special Constables * ''The Specials'' (TV series), an internet documentary series about 5 friends with learning disabilities ...
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André Bestbier
André Bestbier (31 March 1946 – 8 August 2021) was a South African rugby union player and army officer, who was the commander of the Orange Free State Command from 1992 to 1995. Rugby career Bestbier played his provincial rugby for the Free State and made his test debut for the Springboks during the Springbok tour of France, as a replacement for Robert Cockrell after 28 minutes in the second half of the second test on 30 November 1974 at Parc des Princes in Paris. This second half appearance was his only test for South Africa, but he played in a further four tour matches for the Springboks during the French tour. Test history See also *List of South Africa national rugby union players South Africa national rugby union team players hold several international records. Several players from the South Africa national rugby union team have joined the IRB and International Hall of Fame. Individual records Career South Africa's '' ... – Springbok no. 485 Reference ...
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5 Reconnaissance Commando (South Africa) ⋅
5 (five) is a number, numeral and digit. It is the natural number, and cardinal number, following 4 and preceding 6, and is a prime number. It has attained significance throughout history in part because typical humans have five digits on each hand. In mathematics 5 is the third smallest prime number, and the second super-prime. It is the first safe prime, the first good prime, the first balanced prime, and the first of three known Wilson primes. Five is the second Fermat prime and the third Mersenne prime exponent, as well as the third Catalan number, and the third Sophie Germain prime. Notably, 5 is equal to the sum of the ''only'' consecutive primes, 2 + 3, and is the only number that is part of more than one pair of twin primes, ( 3, 5) and (5, 7). It is also a sexy prime with the fifth prime number and first prime repunit, 11. Five is the third factorial prime, an alternating factorial, and an Eisenstein prime with no imaginary part and real part of the for ...
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4 Reconnaissance Commando (South Africa)
The 4 Reconnaissance Commando is a defunct South African Special Forces unit of the South African Defence Force that was formed in July 1978, specialising in amphibious operations. History In 1976, during Operation Savannah, a need was identified for more operational special forces units and in particular units with more specialised skills. In March 1976, Major Malcolm Kinghorn formed a sub-unit specialising in amphibious operations for use in Angola during Operation Savannah. It was formed at Salisbury Island, Durban and consisted of a headquarters unit of Kinghorn and a NCO and two units of six men each and was called Charlie (C) Group of 1 Reconnaissance Commando. On 1 May 1976, the Defence Minister approved the formation of 4 Reconnaissance Commando but it would take a further two years before it was formally established. The unit was formed on the 17 July 1978 as 4 Reconnaissance Commando at Langebaan with Major Kinghorn as the first commanding officer and the first RSM ...
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Cape Province
The Province of the Cape of Good Hope ( af, Provinsie Kaap die Goeie Hoop), commonly referred to as the Cape Province ( af, Kaapprovinsie) and colloquially as The Cape ( af, Die Kaap), was a province in the Union of South Africa and subsequently the Republic of South Africa. It encompassed the old Cape Colony, as well as Walvis Bay, and had Cape Town as its capital. In 1994, the Cape Province was divided into the new Eastern Cape, Northern Cape and Western Cape provinces, along with part of the North West. History When the Union of South Africa was formed in 1910, the original Cape Colony was renamed the Cape Province. It was by far the largest of South Africa's four provinces, as it contained regions it had previously annexed, such as British Bechuanaland (not to be confused with the Bechuanaland Protectorate, now Botswana), Griqualand East (the area around Kokstad) and Griqualand West (area around Kimberley). As a result, it encompassed two-thirds of South Africa's terr ...
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Oudtshoorn
Oudtshoorn (, ), the "ostrich capital of the world", is a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa, located between the Swartberg mountains to the north and the Outeniqua Mountains to the south. Two ostrich-feather booms, during 1865–1870 and 1900–1914, truly established the settlement. With approximately 60,000 inhabitants, it is the largest town in the Little Karoo region. The town's economy is primarily reliant on the ostrich farming and tourism industries. Oudtshoorn is home to the world's largest ostrich population, with a number of specialised ostrich breeding farms, such as the Safari Show Farm and the Highgate Ostrich Show Farm , as told by Mnr. Pierre D. Toit. Bhongolethu is a township east of Oudtshoorn. Derived from Xhosa, its name means "our pride". History Settlement The pioneer farmers in the area that would be known as Oudtshoorn arrived in the 1750s, and became well-established in the area by the end of the 18th century. In addition to rearing ...
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Hugo Biermann
Hugo Hendrik Biermann, (6 August 1916 – 27 March 2012) was a senior officer in the South African Navy. He served as Chief of the Navy from 1952 to 1972 and Chief of the South African Defence Force from 1972 until 1976, the only naval officer to have served in the post. Early life Biermann's father, also named Hugo Hendrick, joined the Orange Free State postal service at the age of 12, and later joined the South African Railways and Harbours as a telegraphist. Born in Johannesburg on 6 August 1916, Biermann was one of four children. His brothers Phillip and Stefanus (Chips) served on whalecatchers that had been converted to minesweepers during the Second World War. His brother Stefanus reached the rank of rear admiral in the South African Navy. Biermann started school in the Transvaal until his father was transferred to Cape Town. He completed his schooling at Jan van Riebeeck High School and, after leaving school at the age of 16, joined the South African Training Ship ''G ...
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