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#1
10-01-12, 02:00 PM
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David
Hi, I'm David from Johannesburg, South Africa. I'm especially interested in things Navy. As an aside, I was the Finance Officer at SAS RAND when we purchased the kit for the Pipe Band. As far as I can remember there were only 1 or 2 other Naval establishments in the world to have a Pipe Band.
Last edited by SASRAND; 12-01-12 at 06:13 AM. 
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#2
11-01-12, 07:29 PM
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Hi David, welcome to the forum. We have an image of the SAS RAND glengarry badge in our pipers' collection
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My insignia database contributions
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#4
12-01-12, 06:03 PM
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Hi David
Welcome to the Forum, please post some info on SAS Rand under the relevent Naval Section in the SA Badge Zone, I am sure there are a number of us who would like to know more on SAS Rand and maybe view some pics of the guys in uniform. Regards Brian
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#6
16-01-12, 12:04 PM
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SAS RAND
Hi Brain and Iain, SAS RAND was one of the 7 Naval Reserve Units which operated thorughout South Africa. It was situated in Johannesburg and toghether with SAS MAGALIESBERG in Pretoria (which was originally an offshoot of SAS RAND) were the only two 'inland' units, the other 5 being at the coast viz Cape Town x 2, Port Elizabeth, East London and Durban.
SAS RAND came into being when the navy personnel who were demobbed after the war and came to work on the mines etc in the Johannesburg area, felt that they wanted to have a common naval presence here. Once formed, the unit eventuall became housed in the premises of the cadet base at Wemmerpan. Each of the reserve units was allocated a port to 'look after' and SAS RAND was allocated the port of Walvis Bay. A lot of training was given to the members who attended the unit and a number of officers obtained their 'wings' by spending every third week end on board a vessel made available to the reserves, mainly in Durban. At one stage of the 'war on terrorism' SAS RAND was the largest naval reserve force unit in the country in respect of the number of men it could call up for duty. In later years we actively pursued the training of black members and moved a number of them through the ranks. We also had a black midhsipman on board. Members of the unit were regularly used in conjunction with the regular force esp in going to sea. E.g. two members spent their December on an antarctic expidtion. Seamanship was taught from our base at the Vaaldam where we had a Namacurra and a yacht and we often would go down to Heidelberg on a Saturday morning to attend rifle practice and then on to the dam for the rest of the week end for seamanship training. A number of members also attended various courses in Simon's Town. With the change in government, there was a change in the utilisation of the reserves and the it was decided that the 7 units were "elistist and filled with old white men with grey beards" even if most of our complement was young and a fair number of females as well. In the end it was decided to change the struture of the reserves and with it, the decommissioning of the units. This was done during late 2004 with the last one - SAS UNITIE in Cape Town in 2005 which coincided with the celebration of its centenary. The pipe band was a matter of great pride to SAS RAND and the guys did very well. At the end of each year in early December we would have a stand down parade before most of us proceded on leave and the pipe band would give us a show in the main hall of the unit. I still get goose bumps remembering their rendition of Amazing Grace - how the floor shook from the drumming and pipes in full skirl. For my sins, I was the last Officer Commanding of the unit and the poor shnook who had to cry out at the end of the final parade - "Decommission the ship!" If anybody is interested in a more detailed account, I would be happy to provide this. Yours aye
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Pipe Band
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