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Jan Breytenbach
Jan Dirk Breytenbach (born 14 July 1932) is a retired career South African Special Forces military officer and author of military books. He is best known as the first commander of 1 Reconnaissance Commando, South Africa's first special-forces unit. In his long career, he served in the Suez Crisis, the Biafran War, the South African Border War, and the Angolan Civil War, and attained the rank of colonel before his retirement. Military career Breytenbach attended the Army Gymnasium in 1950, and was awarded the Sword of Peace in 1953 and joined the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm after serving in the Armoured Corps and saw service in the Suez Crisis in 1956. He rejoined the South African Defence Force in 1961 and soon after completed one of 1 Parachute Battalion's courses. Fritz Loots commissioned him to organise 1 Reconnaissance Commando in 1971. In 1975 Breytenbach led Operation Savannah, the SADF's covert intervention in the Angolan Civil War. The remnants of this group became ...
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South African Army
The South African Army is the principal land warfare force of South Africa, a part of the South African National Defence Force (SANDF), along with the South African Air Force, South African Navy and South African Military Health Service. The Army is commanded by the Chief of the Army, who is subordinate to the Chief of the SANDF. Formed in 1912, as the Union Defence Force in the Union of South Africa, through the amalgamation of the South African colonial forces following the unification of South Africa. It evolved within the tradition of frontier warfare fought by Boer Commando (militia) forces, reinforced by the Afrikaners' historical distrust of large standing armies. Following the ascension to power of the National Party, the Army's long-standing Commonwealth ties were afterwards cut. The South African Army was fundamentally changed by the end of Apartheid and its preceding upheavals, as the South African Defence Force became the SANDF. This process also led to ...
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44 Parachute Brigade (South Africa)
44 Parachute Brigade was a parachute infantry brigade of the South African Army. It was founded on 20 April 1978, by Colonel Jan Breytenbach, following the disbandment of 1 SA Corps and the battle of Cassinga. Upon formation, the brigade was commanded by Brigadier M. J. du Plessis, who was assigned the task of establishing by working with the Parachute Staff Officer, Colonel Jan Breytenbach. At the time du Plessis was the commanding officer of the Orange Free State Command (OFS Cmd) and had previous experience serving in 1 Parachute Battalion. Breytenbach had also been a member of 1 Parachute Battalion and had also founded the South African Special Forces Brigade and 32 Battalion. The location that was chosen for the brigade's headquarters was in the lines of the OFS Cmd Headquarters, next to the old Tempe Airfield in Bloemfontein. The brigade's units initially consisted of two Citizen Force units, 2 and 3 Parachute Battalions, that were manned by paratroopers who had comple ...
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1932 Births
Year 193 ( CXCIII) was a common year starting on Monday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Sosius and Ericius (or, less frequently, year 946 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 193 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years. Events By place Roman Empire * January 1 – Year of the Five Emperors: The Roman Senate chooses Publius Helvius Pertinax, against his will, to succeed the late Commodus as Emperor. Pertinax is forced to reorganize the handling of finances, which were wrecked under Commodus, to reestablish discipline in the Roman army, and to suspend the food programs established by Trajan, provoking the ire of the Praetorian Guard. * March 28 – Pertinax is assassinated by members of the Praetorian Guard, who storm the imperial palace. The Empire is auctioned off ...
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South African Army Officers
South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz'' ("south"), possibly related to the same Proto-Indo-European root that the word ''sun'' derived from. Some languages describe south in the same way, from the fact that it is the direction of the sun at noon (in the Northern Hemisphere), like Latin meridies 'noon, south' (from medius 'middle' + dies 'day', cf English meridional), while others describe south as the right-hand side of the rising sun, like Biblical Hebrew תֵּימָן teiman 'south' from יָמִין yamin 'right', Aramaic תַּימנַא taymna from יָמִין yamin 'right' and Syriac ܬܰܝܡܢܳܐ taymna from ܝܰܡܝܺܢܳܐ yamina (hence the name of Yemen, the land to the south/right of the Levant). Navigation By convention, the ''bottom or down-facing side'' of ...
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South African People Of German Descent
South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz'' ("south"), possibly related to the same Proto-Indo-European root that the word ''sun'' derived from. Some languages describe south in the same way, from the fact that it is the direction of the sun at noon (in the Northern Hemisphere), like Latin meridies 'noon, south' (from medius 'middle' + dies 'day', cf English meridional), while others describe south as the right-hand side of the rising sun, like Biblical Hebrew תֵּימָן teiman 'south' from יָמִין yamin 'right', Aramaic תַּימנַא taymna from יָמִין yamin 'right' and Syriac ܬܰܝܡܢܳܐ taymna from ܝܰܡܝܺܢܳܐ yamina (hence the name of Yemen, the land to the south/right of the Levant). Navigation By convention, the ''bottom or down-facing side'' of ...
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Afrikaner People
Afrikaners () are a South African ethnic group descended from Free Burghers, predominantly Dutch settlers first arriving at the Cape of Good Hope in the 17th and 18th centuries.Entry: Cape Colony. ''Encyclopædia Britannica Volume 4 Part 2: Brain to Casting''. Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc. 1933. James Louis Garvin, editor. They traditionally dominated South Africa's politics and commercial agricultural sector prior to 1994. Afrikaans, South Africa's third most widely spoken home language, evolved as the First language, mother tongue of Afrikaners and most Cape Coloureds. It originated from the Dutch language, Dutch vernacular of South Holland, incorporating words brought from the Dutch East Indies (now Indonesia) and Madagascar by slaves. Afrikaners make up approximately 5.2% of the total South African population, based upon the number of White South Africans who speak Afrikaans as a first language in the South African National Census of 2011. The arrival of Portugal, Portug ...
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Living People
Related categories * :Year of birth missing (living people) / :Year of birth unknown * :Date of birth missing (living people) / :Date of birth unknown * :Place of birth missing (living people) / :Place of birth unknown * :Year of death missing / :Year of death unknown * :Date of death missing / :Date of death unknown * :Place of death missing / :Place of death unknown * :Missing middle or first names See also * :Dead people * :Template:L, which generates this category or death years, and birth year and sort keys. : {{DEFAULTSORT:Living people 21st-century people People by status ...
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Frank Bestbier
Frank or Franks may refer to: People * Frank (given name) * Frank (surname) * Franks (surname) * Franks, a medieval Germanic people * Frank, a term in the Muslim world for all western Europeans, particularly during the Crusades - see Farang Currency * Liechtenstein franc or frank, the currency of Liechtenstein since 1920 * Swiss franc or frank, the currency of Switzerland since 1850 * Westphalian frank, currency of the Kingdom of Westphalia between 1808 and 1813 * The currencies of the German-speaking cantons of Switzerland (1803–1814): ** Appenzell frank ** Argovia frank ** Basel frank ** Berne frank ** Fribourg frank ** Glarus frank ** Graubünden frank ** Luzern frank ** Schaffhausen frank ** Schwyz frank ** Solothurn frank ** St. Gallen frank ** Thurgau frank ** Unterwalden frank ** Uri frank ** Zürich frank Places * Frank, Alberta, Canada, an urban community, formerly a village * Franks, Illinois, United States, an unincorporated community * Franks, Missouri, ...
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Mike Du Plessis
Mike may refer to: Animals * Mike (cat), cat and guardian of the British Museum * Mike the Headless Chicken, chicken that lived for 18 months after his head had been cut off * Mike (chimpanzee), a chimpanzee featured in several books and documentaries Arts * Mike (miniseries), a 2022 Hulu limited series based on the life of American boxer Mike Tyson * Mike (2022 film), a Malayalam film produced by John Abraham * ''Mike'' (album), an album by Mike Mohede * ''Mike'' (1926 film), an American film * MIKE (musician), American rapper, songwriter and record * ''Mike'' (novel), a 1909 novel by P. G. Wodehouse * "Mike" (song), by Elvana Gjata and Ledri Vula featuring John Shahu * Mike (''Twin Peaks''), a character from ''Twin Peaks'' * "Mike", a song by Xiu Xiu from their 2004 album '' Fabulous Muscles'' Businesses * Mike (cellular network), a defunct Canadian cellular network * Mike and Ike, a candies brand Military * MIKE Force, a unit in the Vietnam War * Ivy Mike, the fir ...
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32 Battalion (Book)
''32 Battalion: The Inside Story of South Africa's Elite Fighting Unit'' is a book written by Piet Nortje. For his entire adult life he had been a soldier. Half of his military career he spent with 32 Battalion. During early 1993 he volunteered to compile the story of 32 Battalion. He was inspired to do this during informal discussions with two former 32 Battalion officers, Commandant Werner Sott, outgoing OC 7 SA Infantry Battalion, and his successor, Commandant Daan van der Merwe. They informed Nortje that someone else already approached to do so, but even though Nortje was advised to drop the idea, he started to collect as much information as possible on 32 Battalion. At the end of 1993 a staff paper written by Major Walley Vrey, entitled ''The History of 32 Battalion'', was supplied to Nortje. Upon the retrieval of this document, he was again advised that there was another book in the pipeline, but he ignored this warning once again. By January 1998 no other book had been publ ...
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Naval General Service Medal (1915)
The Naval General Service Medal (1915 NGSM) was instituted in 1915 to recognise service by the Royal Navy and Royal Marines in minor campaigns that would not otherwise earn a specific campaign medal. The Army/Air Force equivalent was the General Service Medal (1918). Both these medals were replaced by the General Service Medal in 1962. Description * The medal is silver and is in diameter. The obverse bears the image of one of three successive Sovereigns, King George V, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth II. * The reverse, designed by Margaret Winser, shows a mounted figure of Britannia in a chariot pulled by two sea-horses, her left hand resting on a union shield. * The name and details of the recipient were impressed on the edge of the medal. * The wide ribbon is crimson-coloured with three white stripes. * From 1920 a bronze oak leaf emblem is worn on the ribbon of the medal to signify a mention in dispatches for a campaign for which the NGSM was awarded. Obverse variat ...
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Naval General Service Medal 1915 BAR
A navy, naval force, or maritime force is the branch of a nation's armed forces principally designated for naval warfare, naval and amphibious warfare; namely, lake-borne, riverine, littoral zone, littoral, or ocean-borne combat operations and related functions. It includes anything conducted by surface Naval ship, ships, amphibious warfare, amphibious ships, submarines, and seaborne naval aviation, aviation, as well as ancillary support, communications, training, and other fields. The strategic offensive role of a navy is Power projection, projection of force into areas beyond a country's shores (for example, to protect Sea lane, sea-lanes, deter or confront piracy, ferry troops, or attack other navies, ports, or shore installations). The strategic defensive purpose of a navy is to frustrate seaborne projection-of-force by enemies. The strategic task of the navy also may incorporate nuclear deterrence by use of submarine-launched ballistic missiles. Naval operations can be broa ...
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