Cape Town Rifles The Cape Town Rifles Regiment ( also referred to as the Dukes ) is an infantry regiment of the South African Army . As a reserve unit , it has a status roughly equivalent to that of a British Territorial Army or United States Army National Guard unit . History . The Regiment was founded on 28 November 1855 , as the Cape Rifle Corps . It was the first volunteer unit in the Cape Colony . It was also known as the " Cape Royal Rifles " , and later as the " Cape Town Volunteer Rifles " . On 30 September 1867 , Prince Alfred , Duke of Edinburgh granted the CTVR the title " Duke of Edinburgh ' s Own " , after it had formed a guard of honour for him during a visit to Cape Town . The nickname " the Dukes " appears to have come into use in the 1880s . The Regiment ' s original purpose was home defence , to supplement the British Army garrison which was stationed in Cape Town . It initially consisted of two companies , but later grew to five , the fifth ( formed in 1859 ) being a Scottish company . The Scottish company left the Regiment , and became a unit in its own right , in 1861 , and disbanded in 1866 . During the depression of the 1860s and early 1870s , the Regiment shrank to only one company , and was one of the few volunteer units to remain in existence Early Campaigns . On the outbreak of the 9th Frontier War in 1877 , the Regiment volunteered for active service , and fielded a small contingent which served in the Transkei from October 1877 to January 1878 . Hundreds of volunteers joined the Regiment , and it was reorganised in April 1878 , into six companies . Another contingent served in the Transkei from February to May 1879 , to take the place of a British garrison unit which had been re - deployed to Zululand because of the Anglo - Zulu War . Half the Regiment served in the Basutoland Gun War in Basutoland ( now Lesotho ) from September 1880 to March 1881 , and it was there that the Regiment suffered its first casualties . The Regiment continued to grow after this period of campaigning , and a new Scottish company was formed in 1882 . It transferred to the newly formed Cape Town Highlanders in July 1885 . In 1891 , the Dukes took over the Cape Town Irish Volunteer Rifles , and in 1894 the Regiment formed a mounted company . From February to August 1897 , the Dukes were on active service in Bechuanaland , as part of a government military operation to capture dissident Tswana leaders who had taken refuge in the Langberg mountains . Anglo - Boer War . The Regiment played an active role in the Anglo - Boer War ( 1899 – 1902 ) . Initially , it was deployed to protect a long stretch of the railway line through the Western Cape . In May 1900 , it was assigned to Lt Gen Sir Charles Warren ' s column , to recapture areas of Griqualand West from Boer and Cape Rebel forces . The Dukes ' commanding officer , Lt Col William Spence , was killed in action during a Boer attack on the column ' s base on the farm Fabers Puts on 30 May 1900 . From June 1900 until the end of the war in May 1902 , the Regiment was split up into small detachments , which manned outposts and blockhouses in the northern Cape . A second battalion was formed in Cape Town in January 1901 , and in October 1901 it became a separate unit and was renamed the Colonial Light Horse . It disbanded after the end of the war . Citizen Force . Together with most colonial volunteer units , the Dukes were embodied in the Active Citizen Force of the new Union Defence Forces on 1 July 1913 . The word " volunteer " was removed from the title , which then became " 2nd Infantry ( Duke of Edinburgh ' s Own Rifles ) " . The numerical designation was dropped in 1932 . World War I . Like other CF units , the Dukes played a limited role in World War I , because the South African forces were restricted to operations in southern Africa . The Regiment was on garrison duty in Cape Town from October 1914 to January 1915 , and was deployed in German South West Africa ( now Namibia ) from February to July 1915 . It was used in a supporting role , and saw no action . After the Dukes returned from GSWA , more than a hundred members volunteered for service in the new 1st SA Infantry Regiment , which served in Egypt and then on the Western Front in France . Some others volunteered for service in the British forces , and one " Duke " , Andrew Beauchamp - Proctor , became a Royal Air Force pilot and finished the war as South Africa ' s most highly decorated serviceman ever . World War II . The Dukes served again in World War II . As a unit of the 1st SA Infantry Brigade , the Regiment served in East Africa ( Kenya , Somaliland and Ethiopia ) from July 1940 to May 1941 , and in North Africa ( Egypt and Libya ) from June 1941 to December 1942 as part of the 1st SA Infantry Division . The Dukes earned eleven battle honours in these two campaigns . From February 1943 to March 1945 , the Regiment was based in the Transvaal , in South Africa , as a tank training battalion . Being under - strength , it was temporarily amalgamated with the Rand Light Infantry . In March 1945 , the DEOR / RLI amalgamated with the Transvaal Scottish , to form the " DSR " battalion for service in Italy . However , operations in Italy ended before the battalion was ready for deployment . It was used for peacekeeping and security duties in Italy until the end of 1945 . Post - war . When South Africa became a republic on 31 May 1961 , the Duke of Edinburgh ' s Own Rifles were renamed the " Cape Town Rifles " . The official title was changed again , in October 1966 , to " Cape Town Rifles ( Dukes ) " . The Regiment was granted the Freedom of the City of Cape Town on 10 October 1967 . National service , i . e . conscription of all medically fit White men , was introduced in 1968 . Border War . The Dukes were converted into a counter - insurgency ( COIN ) unit in 1974 , and served several tours of duty in the Border War , i . e . South African operations against the People ' s Liberation Army of Namibia . The whole battalion served in Owambo in 1977 , and a small contingent served there again in December 1978 . Companies served in the Eastern Caprivi in 1979 , in Kavango in 1980 , and in Owambo in 1981 and 1983 . State of Emergency . The Dukes were deployed on internal security duties in various part of South Africa in 1985 , 1986 , 1988 , and 1990 , during the 1985 - 1990 State of Emergency , which was the government ' s response to the armed liberation struggle by the African National Congress and others . Present . Since 1994 , the Regiment has been a volunteer unit again , and membership is now open to men and women of all races . It celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2005 . RSM Colin Drummond Wright Neville Smith , the oldest surviving member , with 73 years of service to the Dukes , died at age 93 on 2 August 2010 .