Трансваальские шотландцы: История южноафриканского полка.

The Solomon Mahlangu Regiment (formerly the Transvaal Scottish) is a reserve infantry regiment of the South African Army.

John Murray, Marquis of Tullibardine, who later became the 7th Duke of Atholl, established the regiment after the conclusion of the Second Anglo Boer War in 1902. Its initial membership consisted of volunteers from Scottish units that had fought in the war who chose to demobilise and remain in the colony. The new unit wore his family tartan and took the form of an oversized battalion with companies in a number of major Transvaal towns.

The unit first saw service during the Bambatha Rebellion. "C" company of the Natal Rangers was recruited from men of the Transvaal Scottish (then called the Transvaal Scottish Volunteers).

In 1914 during the Maritz Rebellion, when men who supported the recreation of a Boer South African Republic rose up against the newly created government of the Union of South Africa, the Regiment was called up once again and saw action suffering one casualty.

After the official outbreak of the First World War the Transvaal Scottish took part in the invasion of German South West Africa as part of the South West Africa Campaign in late 1914 with a second battalion (2nd Transvaal Scottish) being raised for the campaign. Their most serious encounter with German Forces took place near Trekkoppies when a superior German Force attacked 2nd Battalion. They suffered their first casualties of the war with 2 killed and 13 wounded. After the conquest of German South West Africa the 2nd Battalion was disbanded, while 1 Transvaal Scottish spent the remainder of the war in reserve.

The Transvaal Scottish were once again called up in 1922 to help maintain law and order and quell the armed uprising of miners during the Rand Rebellion. In one encounter near Boksburg 12 members of the regiment, including an officer, were killed. The regiment along with the Witwatersrand Rifles and the Royal Durban Light Infantry, cleared Fordsburg of the last rebels on 14 March 1922. By the end of the revolt another 5 had lost their lives and 60 had been
wounded.

In 1936, 2 Battalion was raised once again in anticipation of the Second World War and when war finally broke out in 1939 a third battalion was formed. The 1st Transvaal Scottish took part in the Allied offensive during the East African Campaign in order to take Italian East Africa (modern day Ethiopia and parts of Somalia). They engaged Italian forces in several engagement in Addis Ababa, Combolcia, Dessie and finally at their mountain fortress at Amba Alagi. The battalion was next sent to Egypt, to take part in the relief of Tobruk. In November 1941 the 1st Brigade, with which 1 Transvaal Scottish was serving, was attacked by a strong German force at Taib el Essemand, but successfully repulsed the attack. In 1942 in the Battle of Gazala the 1st battalion defended against several attacks on the Gazala Line before joining the Eighth Army's retreat to the Alamein Line in Egypt, although a portion of the battalion was trapped and taken prisoner at Tobruk in June 1942. 1 Transvaal Scottish now joined the British Eight Army in the Second Battle of El Alamein where they halted the German assault on Egypt. Early in 1943 the battalion returned home to South Africa. There the unit was converted to armour, joining 1st SA Armoured Brigade. In North Africa the 2nd Transvaal Scottish, together with two battalions consisting of members of the South African Police, served in the 6th South African Infantry Brigade. They assisted in the construction of the famous "Alamein Box". 6th South African Infantry Brigade attacked the fortified town of Sollum on 11 January 1942 as part of Operation Battleaxe and went on to fight in the battles of Bardia, Acroma Keep and Gazala. At Bardia, Sollum and Halfaya both German and Italian troops were forced to surrender to the Brigade. The majority of the battalion, along with the entire South African 2nd Division, was captured when the "fortress" of Tobruk fell at the end of the Battle of Gazala. 3rd Transvaal Scottish took part in the East African Campaign in Ethiopia, in particular the three day attack on Mega, Ethiopia. After this the battalion was sent to Egypt to take part in Operation Crusader, where it suffered heavy losses at the battle of Sidi Rezegh in November 1941. After Sidi Rezegh, 3rd Transvaal Scottish was temporarily disbanded. Over two hundred men from the Transvaal Scottish died in World War 2. Members of 3rd Transvaal Scottish who were captured in North Africa were shipped to occupied Europe. Some were on the merchant ship when the Royal Navy submarine sank her off the Greek coast in December 1941. Sebastiano Venieros crew beached the ship at Methoni in the Peloponnese, where many of the PoWs took their chances to swim ashore. A 3rd Transvaal Scottish lance corporal, Bernard Friedlander, swam ashore with a rope, which took him 90 minutes. The rope was then used to haul a cable ashore, which was made fast on land and used by nearly 1,600 survivors to reach safety. In July 1945 Friedlander was awarded the George Medal. In 1947 King George VI toured South Africa, and at a ceremony in Johannesburg on 31 March personally decorated Friedlander with the medal. The Regimental headquarters are now in The View, Parktown, originally the house of Sir Thomas Cullinan.

In August 2019, 52 Reserve Force units had their names changed to reflect what the South African government says are “the military traditions and history of indigenous African military formations and the liberation armies involved in the freedom struggle”. The Transvaal Scottish became the Solomon Mahlangu Regiment, and have 3 years to design and implement new regimental insignia. There has been some controversy about this specific change of name, with critics citing the fact that the TRC found him to have been guilty of Gross Human Rights Abuses.

The regimental tartan is the "Murray of Atholl", except for the pipers who wear the "Murray of Tullibardine". Both tartans symbolise the regiment's connections to the Dukes of Atholl, and thus to the Atholl Highlanders. Since 1938, members have worn the red hackle on their khaki tam o'shanter as a symbol of the regiment's connection with the famous Black Watch Regiment. As part of their formal uniforms, officers and Warrant Officers Class I of the regiment carry Basket hilted claymores instead of the more typical swords. The regimental badge depicts a Scottish thistle on a scroll bearing the motto Alba nam Buadh (Gaelic for "Well done, Scotland" or "Scotland, home of the virtues"). It is surrounded by a heraldic strap and buckle bearing the regiment's name, all on the Star of the Order of the Thistle. The regimental March is the "Atholl Highlanders".

During WW1 the Union Defence Force established the 4th Infantry Regiment which was unique in that it was the South African Scottish, raised from the Transvaal Scottish and the Cape Town Highlanders, and wearing the Atholl Murray tartan. This regiment's collar badges were identical to those of the Cape Town Highlanders but bore the Latin motto "Mors Lucrum Mihi" (Death is my reward) in place of the usual Cape Town Highlander wording. (Death is my Reward), was the family motto of the first Officer Commanding SA Scottish, a Lieutenant Colonel F. A. Jones.

3 Battalion Transvaal Scottish was converted to 7 Medium Artillery Regiment and garrisoned in Benoni.

The regiment retains a pipes and drums, due to their Scottish heritage. Formed in 1902, the band is one of 3 South African Defence Force pipe bands, the other 2 being affiliated with the Andrew Mlangeni Regiment and the Gonnema Regiment (formerly the South African Irish and Cape Town Highlanders respectively). Besides attending military occasions on behalf of the regiment, the pipes & drums compete in grade 2, currently the highest competitive pipe band division in South Africa. Fondly known as the ‘Jocks’, the Pipes and Drums have won the premier division of the South African Pipe Band Championships on numerous occasions since the bands inception and, recently, have won the South African Championships and Champion of Champions every year since 2018 (excluding 2020 and 2021 where competitions were cancelled due to restrictions imposed as a result of the Covid 19 pandemic). Many band members also compete in solo competition. The drummers of the band proudly wear the Murray of Atholl tartan, the Regimental tartan, whilst the pipers wear the Murray of Tullibardine tartan. The stirring regimental march, the Atholl Highlanders, continues to be played as part of the band’s repertoire and has become synonymous with the camaraderie the band exude. Traditionally, when the tune is heard, all Jocks (past and present) will stand to attention. The Pipes and Drums are led by Pipe Major Craig Whitley and Leading Drummer Dylan Chadwick.

The unit exercised its freedom of entry into Johannesburg on 9 November 2013 as part of the centenary celebrations of the City of Johannesburg with bayonets fixed, colours flying and drums beating.