Colonial forces of Australia
Until Australia became a
Despite an undeserved reputation of colonial inferiority, many of the locally raised units were highly organised, disciplined, professional, and well trained. For most of the time from settlement until Federation, military defences in Australia revolved around static defence by combined infantry and
By 1901, the Australian colonies were federated and formally joined together to become the Commonwealth of Australia, and the federal government assumed all defensive responsibilities. The Federation of Australia came into existence on 1 January 1901 and as of that time the
Background
Australia was first formally claimed by Great Britain on 22 August 1770 by
Initially the colony was run as an open prison under the governance of Royal Navy Captain Arthur Phillip.[4] Later, as more free settlers were attracted to Australia and transportation was ceased in the mid-1800s, the nature of the colonies changed as Australia began to emerge as a modern, self-sustaining society and after the 1850s the colonies were progressively granted responsible government, allowing them to manage most of their own affairs while remaining part of the British Empire.[5] Nevertheless, the Colonial Office in London retained control of some matters, including foreign affairs and defence.[6][7] As a result, until the 1870s when the last imperial troops were withdrawn, British regular troops constantly garrisoned the colonies. During their postings to Australia, most of the regiments rotated duties in the various colonies, and often had detachments located in geographically diverse locations at the same time.[8][9]
British garrison
Accompanying the First Fleet to Port Jackson were three companies of marines totalling 212 men under the command of Major Robert Ross,[1][4] to guard the fledgling colony of Sydney and that of Norfolk Island, which had been established on 6 March 1788 to provide a food base and investigate supply of masts and flax for canvas for the Royal Navy. In 1790 the Second Fleet arrived, and the marines were relieved by a new force which was created specifically for service in the colony of New South Wales.[10] With an average strength of 550 men,[11] it was known as the New South Wales Corps. The first contingent of 183 men, under Major Francis Grose, arrived in New South Wales in June 1790.[10] They were subsequently expanded with further contingents from Britain as well as free settlers, former convicts and marines who had discharged in the colony.[12] Throughout the mid-1790s the New South Wales Corps was involved in "open war" along the Hawkesbury River against the Daruk people.[12] Between 1786 and 1792 an ad hoc volunteer unit known as the New South Wales Marine Corps from the British Royal Navy was created to guard the convicts aboard the First Fleet to Australia and to preserve "subordination and regularity" in the penal colony in New South Wales.[13]
On 4 March 1804, the New South Wales Corps was called into action to put down the
Following the events of the Rum Rebellion, the New South Wales Corps was disbanded, reformed as the 102nd Regiment, and returned to England.[Note 2][20] At the same time, the various loyal associations were also disbanded.[21] To replace the New South Wales Corps, in 1810 the 73rd Regiment of Foot arrived in the colony, becoming the first line regiment to serve in New South Wales under the Governorship of Lachlan Macquarie.[11][22] The Highlanders were replaced by the 1st/46th (South Devonshire) Regiment of Foot, known as the "Red Feathers", who would serve in Australia until 1818.[23]
In March 1810, the New South Wales Invalid Company was formed for veteran British soldiers and marines who were too old "to serve to the best of their capacity",[24] and served mainly as post guards, for the supervision of convicts and other government duties. It was composed of veterans of the 102nd, and other units from veteran soldiers.[9][25] By 1817 Lachlan Macquarie felt they were unable to perform even these duties, and recommended their disbandment. This was eventually done on 24 September 1822.[24] However, three further veterans companies were raised in 1825 to "relieve the garrison of police work"[26] for service in New South Wales, and stayed on duties until 1833.[24][25]
From 1810 until the withdrawal of British forces from Australia in 1870, about 20,000 British soldiers,
Initially these forces were based solely in New South Wales and
The size of these forces varied over time. Initially the garrison was formed by only one regiment (battalion equivalent), however, in 1824 it rose to three. At its peak, in the 1840s, there were between four and six, although this fell to two in the early 1850s after the end of transportation and then to one by the end of the decade as troops were dispatched to India during the
In the mid-1860s the cost of maintaining forces in Australia became the focus of considerable debate in the
There was no guarantee that these troops would remain in Australia if war broke out elsewhere and as a result,[52] in 1869, in response to requests for assurances in this regard the British government announced that the capitation fee would be increased and that troop numbers would be further increased.[50] Finally, in 1870 the decision was made to withdraw the remaining regiment and as a result, by September with the departure of the 18th (Royal Irish), the withdrawal of British forces from Australia was completed,[50][53] except for a small number of Royal Marines who would remain in the country until 1913,[Note 7] and the local forces assumed total responsibility for the defence of the colonies.[55] The influence of the British Army would continue to be felt, however, through fortifications and defences that were built and in the customs, traditions, uniforms, heraldry and organisational structure that developed in the colonial forces and which, through these links, have been maintained in the modern incarnation of the Australian Army.[56][57]
Colonial armies
Overview
For the majority of the period from 1788 to 1870, the military forces of the Australian colonies consisted mainly of a garrison provided by the British Army.[58] Nevertheless, an early attempt at forming local units came in the early 1800s when loyal associations were raised to assist British forces due to concerns about unrest amongst Irish convicts. These units were short lived, however, and were disbanded around 1810 following the arrival of regular British regiments.[58] Although there was some debate in the colonies about forming locally raised units earlier, it was not until 1840 that the first unit was raised, when the Royal South Australian Volunteer Militia was formed.[59] As a "militia" unit, although they were paid or partially paid and equipped via government funds, they were nevertheless citizen soldiers. Provisionally, the militia's establishment could be maintained by a compulsory ballot among men of certain ages who could be compelled to fight, albeit within certain prescribed territorial limits,[60] and who were generally considered to be engaged for a fixed period of service to meet an obligation.[61] Although this force ultimately proved unsuccessful, it sowed the seeds for further development later.[59]
In the 1850s, the provision of responsible government to the colonies led to increased responsibility and self-reliance. Additionally, around this time there were growing security concerns following the French annexation of New Caledonia and the outbreak of the Crimean War, and these factors led to the raising of several "volunteer" units in New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia.[59] These formations were unpaid and were required to provide their own uniforms, although the government furnished them with arms and ammunition. As a result of their status, these units had certain privileges that militia units did not possess such as the right to elect their own officers, the ability to choose the length of their service,[61] and being exempted from military discipline.[62] There was an important social distinction, too, with the volunteer forces being drawn mainly from the upper class due to being unpaid.[63] Over time, the distinctions between volunteer and militia units became less clear as some volunteer units became paid or partially paid, lost their right to elect their officers and increasingly became regulated; likewise, the militia, by consequence of the fact that although possible and sometimes "threatened", the compulsory ballot was never enacted, was essentially a volunteer force as its establishment was always maintained by voluntary enlistment.[64]
During the 1860s, as British troops were sent to New Zealand to fight in the New Zealand Wars the need for the colonies to provide for their own defence was highlighted further. In response volunteer units were raised in Tasmania in 1859, followed by Queensland a year later and Western Australia in 1861.[59] The majority of the volunteers were located in Victoria, which was the largest and economically the most prosperous colony,[50] and regardless of the efforts of these colonies, for the rest of the decade, the colonial forces were plagued by problems of discipline, a lack of purpose, obsolete equipment, heavy financial burdens upon members, poor training and a lack of command and control. Not only did this affect the efficiency of the colonial forces, it also resulted in considerable fluctuations in troop numbers. The dispatch of about several thousand volunteers to fight in New Zealand in the early 1860s also reduced the manpower available.[65]
Further strategic concerns such as the
In the late 1870s the colonies began to consider working together to provide for the defence of the Australian continent when two British engineer officers, Major General
The early 1880s saw a rapid increase in the size of the colonial military forces. Between 1883 and 1885, the force rose from 8,000 to 22,000 men, although only roughly 1,000 of these were permanent soldiers.
In 1889, Major General Bevan Edwards surveyed the military forces of the colonies and recommended that the colonies should combine their military forces and recommending the creation of a unified force of between 30,000 and 40,000 men, which would be organised into standard brigades consisting of foot and mounted infantry, engineers and artillery that could be rapidly mobilised through the establishment of defensive agreements between the colonies.[71][72] For the most part up until that time colonial defensive strategy had revolved around the principle of static defence by infantry forces supported by coastal artillery, however, Edwards argued that through co-operative measures such as the standardisation of equipment and training, unification of command and improvements in railway and telegraph communications, "efficient defence" would be possible.[73]
In the following decade, after a number of inter-colonial conferences, in the mid-1890s plans began to be developed regarding the establishment of a federal voluntary militia, although this fell through due when colonial rivalries prevented it from being established.[70] The 1890s were also a period of economic hardship in Australia, the result of which was a reduction in the size of the permanent forces in a number of colonies, decreased training opportunities, reductions in pay for militia and decreased turn out in volunteer units, although this last effect was largely turned around by the mid-1890s when members of the militia and permanent forces who had been turned out due to economic circumstances joined the ranks of the volunteers.[74]
At the same time, industrial disputes in Victoria and Queensland, led to the call out of military forces. Although these deployments successfully restored peace, it arguably led to the distrust of the military by working class Australians which later,[75] along with competing imperial and national priorities,[76] shaped the provisions of the Defence Act (1903) which was enacted to establish the structure of the Australian Army after Federation and which firmly established the Army at that time as a "home service army" made up primarily of citizen soldiers.[77]
In late 1899, the outbreak of fighting in South Africa against the Boers, resulted in the dispatch of contingents from all colonies and an increase in volunteers serving in local units in Australia.[64] Finally, on 1 March 1901, three months after the Federation of Australia became a reality, the Australian Army was formed and all colonial forces came under its control.[78] Upon establishment, the authorised strength of the colonial forces that were transferred amounted to 1,665 officers and 28,385 other ranks, of which only 115 officers and 1,323 were permanent.[79] The actual strength was a little below this establishment, consisting of only 1,480 officers and 25,873 other ranks.[69] This included forces that were at that time deployed in South Africa which were also transferred to the Commonwealth.[80]
New South Wales
The first military forces raised in the colony of New South Wales were formed in June 1801, when "loyal associations" formed mainly from free settlers, were established in Sydney and Parramatta in response to concerns about a possible uprising by Irish convicts.
On 4 March 1869, when the New South Wales Corps went into action to put down the Castle Hill convict rebellion, the locally raised Governor's Body Guard conducted reconnaissance patrols in front of the New South Wales Corps as they advanced towards the rebels,[81] militia personnel from the Sydney and Parramatta Loyal Associations had taken over the role of guarding strategic locations to free up men from the New South Wales Corps.[83] This unit was later disbanded in 1810, however, following the departure of the New South Wales Corps and the arrival of regular British infantry regiments,[21] while the Governor's Body Guard was eventually amalgamated with the Mounted Police in the mid-1840s, before eventually being disbanded in 1860.[84]
Following the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815 reductions in the size of the British Army began concerning the then Governor of New South Wales, Lachlan Macquarie, and it was at this point that considerations were given to forming a militia force in the colony, consisting four troops of cavalry and eight companies of infantry.[85] These plans, however, were not acted upon, as the British garrison was expanded in the 1820s.[85] Further plans were made in the 1840s and early 1850s, but these also came to nothing.[86][87] The first steps towards developing a defence manufacturing industry in Australia came in 1845, however, when 5.5-inch mortar shells went into production in Sydney to meet the demand for high trajectory fire support for British infantry attacks on Maori forts in New Zealand.[88]
With the outbreak of the Crimean War in 1854, however, a local voluntary force consisting of one troop of cavalry, one battery of artillery, and a battalion of infantry was raised.[89][90] The infantry force, consisting of six companies, was known as the Volunteer Sydney Rifle Corps.[59] At its peak, the size of the New South Wales forces at this time was 389 men,[91] however, following the cessation of hostilities with Russia in Crimea, these forces struggled to maintain numbers and government funding.[89]
By 1855 New South Wales had been granted responsible self-government and increasingly took responsibility for its own affairs. The colony remained within, and was fiercely loyal to, the British Empire, and while the Colonial Office continued to determine foreign policy, the decision was taken in London that the Australian colonies would need to start taking responsibility for their own defence. In 1860, as British Army units were being sent to New Zealand, New South Wales attempted to raise a volunteer force of 1,700 men.[92] This number was almost achieved with 1,644 volunteers enlisting,[91] who were formed into one troop of mounted rifles, three batteries of artillery, and 20 companies of infantry. To encourage enlistments, land grants were offered in 1867. It was not considered a success.[92] In 1868, these were later organised into a battalion and regimental structure.[93] The Volunteer Sydney Rifle Corps ceased to exist, being subsumed into the 20 company-strong 1st Regiment, New South Wales Rifle Volunteers.[59] During the New Zealand Wars, although the colony had no official role, New South Wales contributed significantly to the 2,500 volunteers that were sent from Australia in 1863.[65]
The 1850s and 1860s saw further development of the system of defensive fortifications around Sydney. As a result of concerns about Russian attack, the construction of Fort Denison was completed and in 1856 gunners from the Royal Artillery arrived to man the defences. In 1863, a select committee had been formed. As a result of its recommendations, batteries were established along the principles of "outer" and "inner" lines making use of the newer, rifled weapons that had become available, which were established in barbettes along the living rock around the harbour.[88] In 1865 John Soame Richardson was appointed to the command of the military forces of New South Wales, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel.[94]
In 1869 the decision to withdraw all British units in 1870 had been confirmed. By 1871 the withdrawal of British forces from New South Wales was completed,[50] and the local forces assumed total responsibility for the defence of New South Wales.[55] In order to meet this requirement, in 1870 the New South Wales government decided to raise a "regular" or permanent military force, consisting of two infantry companies and one artillery battery, which were raised the following year.[92] The infantry companies were short lived, being disbanded in 1873,[65] however, the artillery battery, known as 'A' Field Battery, was successfully established in August 1871 to replace the units of the Royal Artillery that returned to Britain.[95] Nevertheless, the majority of the New South Wales military were part-time, volunteer forces,[Note 8] which around this time consisted of about 28 companies of infantry and nine batteries of artillery.[65] The entire force was reorganised by the Volunteer Regulation Act of 1867, which also gave provision for land grants in recognition of five years service.[50]
The 1870s saw major improvements to the structure and organisation of New South Wales' colonial forces. Land grants for service were abolished after the government became aware that some members were selling the land for profit rather that living on it themselves, and partial payments introduced.[64] 1876 saw a second permanent artillery battery established, and a year later a third was added.[92][97] In 1877, the Engineers Corps and Signals Corps were established while in 1882 and in 1891 the Commissariat and Transport Corps, later to be known as the Army Service Corps, were raised.[98] The physical infrastructure of defence in the colony was also improved, largely due to the recommendations of Jervois and Scratchley, with new forts such as Fort Scratchley and Bare Island being built, while existing locations were upgraded with new rifled muzzle loading guns.[99]
When the government of New South Wales received news in February 1885, of the death of General Charles Gordon at Khartoum during the short-lived British campaign against the Dervish revolt in the eastern Sudan,[100] they offered the British forces there the service of New South Wales forces.[101] The offer was accepted, and within two weeks a force of 30 officers and 740 men comprising an infantry battalion, with artillery and support units, was enrolled, re-equipped and dispatched for Africa. They were farewelled from Circular Quay in Sydney on 3 March 1885 by an enormous public gathering and marching bands.[102] The contingent was led by John Soame Richardson.[94] Charles Fyshe Roberts assumed command of the New South Wales forces in Richardson's absence.[103]
The New South Wales Sudan contingent arrived at Suakin on the Red Sea on 29 March 1885.[104] There they joined Lieutenant General Gerald Graham's two British brigade's efforts against Osman Digna. Within a month of arriving, the New South Wales detachment had seen action at Tamai,[105] becoming the first Australian raised military force to do so. By May 1885, the campaign had been reduced to a series of small skirmishes, the most significant of which for the New South Wales contingent came at Takdul on 6 May.[106] Shortly afterwards, the British government requested to deploy the contingent to India where there were concerns about Russian intentions in Afghanistan, however public opinion in the colony was against the deployment.[107] They subsequently returned to Sydney by 23 June 1885.[102] Despite their service, and their engagements at Tamai and Takdul, the New South Wales Sudan contingent was ridiculed by the media upon their return to New South Wales.[102] Nevertheless, the contingent's efforts were recognised with an official battle honour – "Suakin 1885" – which was the first battle honour awarded to an Australian unit.[104]
The New South Wales School of Gunnery was established at
The 1890s saw much restructuring, amidst economic hardships,
Many of the volunteer units that were raised around this time often had affiliations with expatriate groups, and names such as the Scottish Rifles, the Irish Rifles, the St. George's Rifles, and the Australian Rifles, reflected this.[53][109] By 1897, there was also the 1st Australian Volunteer Horse and the Railway Volunteer Corps, and a "National Guard" of volunteer veterans.[114] The colony also began recruiting a small number of doctors, nurses, supply troops and engineer and machine gun units were raised.[70][109] By 1900, the Civil Service Volunteer Infantry Corps, the University Volunteer Rifles Corps,[115] the Canterbury Mounted Rifles, the Drummoyne Volunteer Company, the Army Nursing Service Reserve and Army Medical Corps had also been added.[69][114]
Hostilities commenced in the Boer War in October 1899, and all the Australian colonies agreed to send troops in support of the British cause. The First New South Wales Contingent arrived in South Africa in November 1899. New South Wales' contribution was the largest amongst all of the colonies,[116] with a total of 4,761 men being sent prior to Federation either at the colony's or Imperial expense. A further 1,349 were sent later as part of Commonwealth forces. The total size of the New South Wales contingent over the entire war was 6,110 troops of all ranks,[116] which was broken down into 314 officers, and 5,796 other ranks.[117] These men served various units including the New South Wales Infantry Company, the New South Wales Lancers, the New South Wales Mounted Rifles, the New South Wales Citizens Bushmen, and the New South Wales Imperial Bushmen.[118] One member of the New South Wales forces, Lieutenant Neville Howse, a doctor in the New South Wales Medical Corps, received the Victoria Cross for his actions during the war, rescuing a wounded soldier under fire at Vredefort in July 1900.[119]
A small detachment of New South Wales permanent infantry were deployed to China in September 1900 as part of the New South Wales Naval Brigade during the Boxer Rebellion. They returned to Australia in March 1901 without taking part in any significant actions.[120] A survey of New South Wales' military forces on 31 December 1900, the day before Federation, found that the active forces consisted of 505 officers and 8,833 other ranks, 26 nurses, and 1906 civilian rifle club members. In addition to these forces, there was an inactive reserve of 130 officers and 1,908 other ranks.[69]
Tasmania
In 1802, amidst the backdrop of the
At the same time
In 1810, the colony's garrison, which had until that time been provided by the New South Wales Corps, was relieved. They were subsequently replaced by a British regular infantry unit, the 73rd Regiment of Foot, which rotated duties between Sydney and Hobart.[20] The following year, when Governor Lachlan Macquarie toured the Hobart Town settlement, he was alarmed at the poor state of defence, and the general disorganisation of the colony. Along with planning for a new grid of streets to be laid out, and new administrative and other buildings to be constructed, he commissioned the building of Anglesea Barracks,[123] which opened by 1814.[124] The same year, the 73rd was replaced by the 46th (South Devonshire) Regiment of Foot, who subsequently undertook a series of operations against bushrangers.[31] By 1818, the Mulgrave Battery, consisting of six guns, had been built on Castray Esplanade, on the southern side of Battery Point upon the orders of Lieutenant Governor William Sorell. In 1824 the battery was expanded to include two 13-pounders and four 9-pounders; two other guns, 6-pounder brass pieces, were positioned in Angelsea Barracks.[124]
The period of 1828 until 1832 was a violent one in the history of Van Diemen's Land. The rising friction and continuing conflicts between settlers and indigenous Tasmanians led to a declaration of martial law by
In 1838 plans were drawn up for a more elaborate network of coastal fortifications. Money did not permit all of the batteries to be established, but work was begun on the Queens Battery, located at the site of the regatta ground on the Queens Domain. The battery was set back by delays and funding problems, and was not completed until 1864 having taken more than 24 years.[128]
By 1840, the newly arrived commander of the Royal Engineers, Major Roger Kelsall, was alarmed to discover how inadequately defended the now growing colony was. He drew up plans for the expansion of the Mulgrave Battery, and an additional fortification further up the slopes of Battery Point. Work began the same year using convict labour, and soon the Prince of Wales Battery,[124] consisting of 10 guns, was completed.[129] Despite these improvements, the battery was badly sited. As a result, at the height of the Crimean War in 1854, a third battery, known as the Prince Albert Battery was completed even higher behind the Prince of Wales Battery. By 1862, the guns allocated to these batteries were: four 32-pounders in the Albert Battery, six 32-pounders and four 8-inch in the Prince of Wales Battery and seven 32-pounders and four 8-inch in the Queens Battery. Another two 32-pounders were located at Denison.[130]
In the late 1840s the question of raising local forces was considered; the size of the British garrison in the colony at the time was around 1,500, which was deemed more than sufficient to meet the colony's needs. As a result, it was estimated that only two artillery companies were required to augment the British garrison, which could be raised from among the local populace. This proposal was not acted upon, however.[131] Following the decline of British military presence in Tasmania, the Governor of Tasmania felt the need to establish military forces capable of defending the colony. In 1859, the first local forces were raised in Tasmania.[132] These consisted of two batteries of "volunteer" artillery, the Hobart Town Artillery Company and the Launceston Volunteer Artillery Company, which had initially begun its service as an infantry unit under the designation of the Launceston Volunteer Artillery Corps.[133] Twelve companies of "volunteer" infantry were also raised. This force totalled 1,200 men.[59] The infantry units that were raised at the time bore titles such as the Freemasons Corps, the Oddfellows, the Manchester Unity, the Buckingham Rifles, The City Guards, the Kingborough Rifles, the Derwent Rifles and the Huon Rifles.[134] By 1865, the size of the colony's volunteer force began to decline.[135] Although the infantry companies were disbanded in 1867, the artillery was increased by one battery.[69]
1870 saw the complete withdrawal of British forces from Tasmania,[50] which left the colony virtually defenceless. The existing fortresses had fallen into a state of decay and it was decided that the Prince of Wales and Prince Albert Batteries were inadequate for the defence of the town. As a result, in 1871 work was begun on another battery but it was stopped when funding ran out.[136] Even if work had been completed, though, the battery would have been ineffective as there were no artillerymen to service the guns, as the Hobart Artillery had "practically ceased to exist",[137] a situation which had also affected the Queens Battery, consisting of 10 guns, by the time also.[136] In 1871, the Russian corvette Boyarin entered the Derwent unexpectedly.[136] Nevertheless, between 1870 and 1878, the government was unwilling to provide funds for local forces.[109]
When funding became available again in 1878, the Tasmanian Volunteer Force was established under the provisions of the Volunteer Act; Windle St Hill was commandant of the local forces from June 1878 to May 1880.[138] This force consisted of two artillery batteries and four companies of infantry in Hobart and another battery and two infantry companies in Launceston.[137] The following year the Tasmanian Light Horse was raised in Launceston.[139] 1880 saw a reorganisation as the force was re-designated the "Local Forces of Tasmania", which were formed into two divisions spread across the north and south of the colony.[140] By 1882, when Russian ships – the Afrika, Plastun, and Vyestnik – again paid the colony a visit,[141] the strength of the colony's military was 634 men.[69] Further reorganisations under commandant Colonel William Vincent Legge in 1882–83 resulted in the establishment of an engineer corps establishment, the disbandment of the light horse and the withdrawal of the right of the volunteer forces to elect their officers.[142]
In 1885 annual Easter training camps were established;[143] that year the size of Tasmania's military force had grown to 974 men.[109] Work on the Kangaroo Bluff Battery was also completed at this time with the arrival of two 12.5 ton cannons from England. The first shots were fired on 12 February 1885.[144] The Alexandra battery was also finished in 1885,[145] and a force of permanent artillery was raised the following year.[146][147] However, by 1893, an additional "auxiliary" force of 1,500 had also been raised and three years later the regiment consisted of three battalions, numbered consecutively, which were based in Hobart, Launceston and in the north west.[69]
The economic depression of the early 1890s resulted in a reduction in the size of the colony's permanent artillery. In addition drastic cuts in payments for stores, grants and training also occurred.[146] By the middle of the decade Tasmania's permanent artillery was basically ineffective, having been reduced to just eight men.[148] The colony's artillery holdings the following year were four 12-pounder breech loaded (BL) guns and two 2.5-inch rifled muzzle loaders (RMLs).[149] Despite the lack of government funding, however, between 1895 and 1897 volunteer units held a number of unpaid training camps.[150] In 1897, a reorganisation of Tasmania's infantry saw the creation of the Tasmanian Regiment of Infantry, which was established with three battalions.[151] Government funded training recommenced in 1898 and the following year a mounted infantry force and a medical corps was formed.[152]
During the Boer War, the first Tasmanian colonial force that was dispatched was an infantry company that had been raised solely from members of the Tasmanian colonial forces, which departed in October 1899.[153] Together with companies from four other colonies, they initially formed the 1st Australian Regiment.[154] They were later converted into a mounted force and assigned to the 4th Mounted Infantry Corps seeing action at Hout Nek, Zand River, Bloemfontein, Diamond Hill, Balmoral, Belfast, Karee Kloof, Brandfort, Vet River, Zand River, Elandsfontein, Johannesburg, and Diamond River before returning to Australia in December 1900.[153] The colony's second contingent left in February 1900. Drawing its personnel both from serving soldiers and civilians who volunteered for service, who were grouped together in the Tasmanian Citizens Bushmen, it was a mounted infantry unit.[155] These mounted infantry units were primarily made up of volunteers who had good bushcraft, riding and shooting skills.[156] They subsequently served in Rhodesia and western Transvaal.[155]
The first two Victoria Crosses awarded to Australians in that conflict were earned by Private
On 31 December 1900 the day before Federation, a survey of the strength of colonial forces found that the Tasmanian colonial forces consisted of 113 officers and 1,911 other ranks.
Western Australia
In the early 19th century, rumours of plans for a
Following the establishment of the Swan River Colony (later known as Western Australia), a detachment from
The Swan River Volunteers were reformed in 1860, although this proved short lived.
Although the situation improved, the force was still amateurish. A reorganisation followed, and on 17 June 1872 the Metropolitan Rifle Volunteers were formed, with companies in Fremantle, Guildford,
In 1883, the colony's military became subject to British military law in the event of war, although under the provisions of the Volunteer Force Regulation Act 1883 a number of limitations were placed on its application.[69] Around 1884, the colony's volunteer infantry were grouped into five battalion-level organisations: the Western Australian Volunteers,[Note 11] the Metropolitan Rifle Volunteers, the Albany Rifle Volunteers, the Geraldton Rifle Volunteers and the Fremantle Rifle Volunteers.[115] That same year, the first annual continuous training camp took place. Held over the Easter weekend, camps took place at Albion and Geraldton.[178] By 1885, the size of the colony's military force was just 578 men,[109] although this increased to just over 700 in 1890.[69] During the Russian war scare of 1885, however, Western Australia's mobilisation was small compared to other the colonies and limited only to an Easter muster of under 400 men. At King George's Sound, strategically important as a coaling station, the local force, the Albany Rifles, had disbanded due to "disorganisation and inefficiency" and although another unit, the Albany Defence Rifles, was raised at this time to fill the void, it was disbanded shortly after the crisis abated.[179]
Further annual camps took place in 1888 at Greenmount and at Guildford the following year.[178] Nevertheless, when Edwards delivered his report into the state of military forces in Western Australia in 1889, his assessment was that "they were of little value as [a] defence force".[180] In 1890, in an effort to encourage participation an efficiency bonus was introduced which saw payments being made to volunteers who paraded 12 times a year and completed basic musketry training.[69]
An economic downturn occurred shortly after this however, and this, coupled with the increased costs of maintaining the volunteer force,[170] affected the government's ability to provide funding for training. In early 1893, a force from the Plantagenet Rifles, a volunteer infantry unit, were trained as gunners to assist the permanent force of South Australian artillery that had were manning the fort at Albany.[181] Due to improvements in the economic circumstances of the colonies after the depression in the early 1890s, eight new artillery pieces, 9-pounder RMLs, were purchased in 1894; although these were technically obsolescent, they were nevertheless an improvement on the two 12-pounder Armstrong guns that they replaced.[182] In 1896, the colony's artillery consisted of eight 9-pounders of the RML type and two 12-pounder RBL guns.[149]
From 1893 to 1898 an annual camp was held in the vicinity of Perth, bringing together most of the force, although units from remote regions continued to undertake their training in isolation. In 1897, a system of "partial pay" was instituted.[69] In 1899, an artillery force was raised by the colony to take over duties at Albany; this force was known as the Albany Volunteer Garrison Artillery.[181] In July 1899, the 1st Infantry Regiment was formed from the 1st Battalion, Western Australian Volunteers, with three companies in Perth and Fremantle and one in Guildford.[173]
The outbreak of the Boer War saw troops from the colony being sent to South Africa to fight. During the conflict, 349 men were dispatched from Western Australia at state expense, while a further 574 were deployed and paid for through Imperial funds. Another 306 were dispatched as Commonwealth troops later after 1901.
South Australia
South Australia was the only British colony in Australia which was not a convict colony. It was established as a planned free colony, and began on 28 December 1836.[131] As such, garrisons were not required as prison guards, unlike the other colonies. However, Governor John Hindmarsh was escorted on HMS Buffalo by a contingent of nineteen Royal Marines. They were assigned to protect him and left South Australia when he departed the colony on HMS Alligator on 14 July 1838.[184] A lack of any form of defence however, led to the creation of the Royal South Australian Volunteer Militia, consisting of an infantry company and two cavalry troops,[131] in 1840, although it was disbanded in 1851; for the final six years of its existence it had been a force that had existed on paper only.[59][185] The first artillery pieces arrived in South Australia aboard Buffalo, which landed two 18-pounder cannons, but initially there were no moves to form an artillery unit, so the guns were operated by Royal Engineers.[186] In 1844 a request for further pieces was sent to the British government and two years later two light 6-pounders, two 12-pounder howitzers and two Cohorn mortars arrived with an ammunition store of about 500 rounds for each weapon type.[187]
Despite the setback of the first attempt to form a militia, the idea of self-support was entirely ingrained in the foundation of the South Australian colony,
However, the colonial government still felt uneasy about being undefended and a "war scare" with the French prompted further legislative revision.[190] The Volunteer Force was reformed in 1859, and soon numbered 14 companies.[188] The Adelaide Volunteer Artillery and the Port Adelaide Volunteer Artillery were also raised at this time. Worldwide artillery shortages due to the demands of the belligerents involved in the American Civil War meant that plans to expand the colony's artillery holdings were thwarted; as a result South Australia's armament consisted of only two 9-pounders, four 6-pounders, two 24-pound howitzers, four 12-pound howitzers and two Cohorn mortars.[190] By the following year, the numbers of infantry had increased to 45 companies with a total of 70 officers and 2,000 men of other ranks. On 26 April 1860, the Adelaide Regiment of Volunteer Rifles was formed. In 1865 South Australia became the first state to introduce partially paid volunteers, which was a system all of the other colonies were soon to follow. This was brought about by the enacting of the Volunteer Act (1865) which divided all military forces into active and reserve forces. Due to organisational problems and lack of equipment, the Adelaide Regiment of Volunteer Rifles was again disbanded in early 1866,[188] only to be reformed again in May 1866. By 16 November 1867, the Adelaide Regiment of Volunteer Rifles had been re-designated as the "Prince Alfred's Rifle Volunteers" following the Duke of Edinburgh's visit to Australia,[188] but lack of funding saw them disbanded. A company of expatriate Scottish immigrants had formed The Scottish Company in 1865, and reformed as The Duke of Edinburgh's Own on 18 November 1867.[191] In 1868, the colony's Whitworth 12-pounder guns, which had been purchased the year before, were fired for the first time when they were exercised at Glenelg.[192] That year the two artillery companies were merged to form the South Australian Regiment of Volunteer Artillery.[193]
The outbreak of the
The issue continued to be debated until 1875 when interest in military expansion was renewed amongst the colonial politicians. The government had been quite unstable for the first five years of the 1870s, but settled in 1875, allowing for more stable planning. Once again affairs of empires played a part. Russia was once again being perceived as a threat by all of the colonial governments following the outbreak of the Russo-Turkish War of 1877–78. Politicians came under pressure from the press and campaign groups to expand the defensive capacity of the colony.[188]
Finally in May 1877, the South Australian Volunteer Military Forces was reformed consisting primarily of 10 companies of the Adelaide Rifles. The success of raising those units did not stop the political arguments over the issue with wrangling between Governor Sir William Jervois and Premier
The two artillery companies were reformed at this time under the guidance of Colonel
By 1885, the second infantry battalion was again reformed, consisting of the same companies as previously.[188] At this time, South Australia's military strength was 3,195 men.[109] By this time, a second fort, at Largs had been established,[200] while another, Fort Glenelg, had also been planned, although by 1888 it had not been built and its guns, two 9.2-inch pieces, had been left dumped in the sand near the site.[201]
In 1889 a third battalion of infantry was raised, although it was short lived as it was disbanded in 1895.[188] In 1893, as part of the combined efforts of the six colonies to secure strategic points around the continent, South Australia provided a small garrison of 30 permanent artillerymen to crew three 6-inch guns that were established at Albany in King George's Sound in Western Australia.[99][Note 12] Up until 1896, all South Australian units trained only once a year at Easter. The commitment of the men, and constant restructuring and reorganising, were in direct response to perceived threats to the colony.[203] By 1896, the colony's arsenal of field guns consisted of 11 pieces, of which eight were 16-pounder RML types and three were 13-pounder RMLs.[149] The following year, the two artillery batteries were "brigaded" together under the South Australian Artillery Brigade.[204]
Upon the outbreak of hostilities in the Boer War, many men from various South Australian units volunteered to participate with the Australian contingent.
On 31 December 1900, the day before Federation, a survey of the strength of colonial forces found that the South Australian colonial forces consisted of 135 officers and 2,797 other ranks.[69] Following South Australia's admission to the Commonwealth of Australia, all of the South Australian forces were drawn into the Australian Army. The 1st Battalion of the Regiment of Adelaide Rifles was redesignated as the 10th Australian Infantry Regiment (Adelaide Rifles), the 2nd Battalion became the South Australia Infantry Regiment, 'G' Company became the South Australia Scottish Infantry (Mount Gambier), and 'H' Company Scottish became 'G' Company (Scottish) South Australia Infantry Regiment.[203] The artillery was also reorganised, with 'A' Battery becoming No. 1 South Australian Battery, Australian Field Artillery.[206]
Victoria
The first attempt to establish a settlement in what is now Victoria was made by David Collins who departed from England in April 1803, aboard HMS Calcutta with orders to establish a colony at Port Phillip.
Although there had been some plans to form local forces as early as 1824,[209] these came to nothing and as a result, as with New South Wales, in Victoria the Crimean War served as a catalyst for the raising of volunteer forces. With only a small force of British troops in the colony, there were concerns about a possible Russian attack.[185] As a result, at this time two units were formed, these being the Melbourne Volunteer Rifle Regiment and the Geelong Volunteer Rifle Corps.[59][Note 13] Other branches of service, such as cavalry, artillery, engineers, signals and torpedo units[Note 14] were raised after this, with the funding for many of these units being derived from private sources.[211] These forces included the Victorian Yeomanry Corps.[212]
In late December 1854 the newly formed
When the Crimean War ended in 1856, many of the local units that had been raised declined as the enthusiasm of Victorians for military service dwindled. Around this time, the rifle regiments and corps that had been raised were converted to artillery.[185] When British troops began to be redirected from the Australian colonies to New Zealand in the early 1860s there was renewed interest in Victoria for raising local forces to take over more of the responsibility for garrison duties.[185] From 1861 Victorian forces undertook annual training at Easter with the first camp being undertaken at Werribee.[96][217] The Volunteer Act was passed in 1863, and this legislation allowed the government to raise a voluntary force consisting of various arms including infantry and artillery.[185] There were around 13 companies of infantry volunteers in Victoria at this time,[59] From 1863 all mounted troops in Victoria became part of the Prince of Wales' Light Horse.[209][218] By December 1863, along with the 13 companies of infantry, there was one company of engineers and seven of artillery.[219]
In 1870, the Victorian Permanent Artillery Corps, consisting of about 300 men, was raised. The colony's first permanent, or "regular" unit, it was created to take over responsibility for manning the fortifications that the British garrison had occupied prior to their departure. They were also used to instruct volunteer artillery units.[211] Throughout the rest of the decade, Victoria's military remained roughly the same size, although it obtained higher levels of efficiency as training opportunities were expanded and its organisation was improved. By the time that the British garrison was withdrawn in 1871, the Victorian military consisted of 206 permanent troops and 4,084 militia and volunteers.[92] The following year, the various volunteer rifle companies were re-organised, being placed into battalion-level structures which saw the establishment of two metropolitan battalions, as well as a battalion in Ballarat and another in Mount Alexander.[220] In January 1879, a survey of the colony's military forces determined that there were 228 permanent staff, all of which were serving in the artillery, and 3,202 volunteers serving in the cavalry, engineers, artillery and infantry.[221]
In 1880 the permanent artillery units were disbanded, but were later reformed in 1882 as the Victorian Garrison Artillery Corps.
On 20 September 1889, Alexander Bruce Tulloch was appointed Commandant of the Victorian Military Forces, with the local rank of Major-General.[225]
In the early 1890s, economic hardships reduced the ability of many volunteer units to maintain regular attendance. Nevertheless, at the start of the decade the Victorian Mounted Rifles were used by the Victorian government to provide assistance to police during a maritime strike.[75]
In December 1892, men of the
By 1896, Victoria boasted the largest artillery arsenal of all the Australian colonies, possessing nineteen 12-pounder BL guns, six 12-pounder rifled breech loaders (RBLs) and another six 6-pounders of the same type.[149] The Victorian Scottish Regiment was formed in 1898 as a volunteer unit,[228] and by 1901 other infantry units in the Victorian forces consisted of five battalions of militia, as well as the Victorian Rangers and the Victorian Railways Infantry, both of which were volunteer units.[115]
Upon the outbreak of the Boer War in South Africa on 12 October 1899, men volunteered for active service from every Australian colony. Victoria's contribution was second only to New South Wales in size,[116] and comprised 193 officers and 3,372 men of other ranks.[229] The Victorian contingent was involved in a remarkable victory when 50 men from the Victorian Bushmen were involved in the Battle of Elands River in July 1900.[230] One Victorian, Lieutenant Leslie Maygar, received the Victoria Cross during the conflict.[157]
On 31 December 1900, the day before Federation, a survey of the strength of colonial forces found that the Victorian colonial forces consisted of 301 officers and 6,034 other ranks.[69] Shortly after Federation, on 1 March 1901, the units of the Victorian forces were transferred to the Australian Army.[78]
Queensland
The colony of Queensland came into being on 6 June 1859, when it was established as a
The
In 1867, the Spring Hill and Fortitude Valley Volunteer Rifle Corps was raised.[233]
In order to encourage men to serve, land grants of 50 acres (200,000 m2) were provided for soldiers who completed five years.
British forces had been stationed at
Throughout the early 1880s it became apparent that the volunteer system was not effective in meeting the colony's defence needs.
Around the same time the Queensland government felt alarmed by the threat of the expansion by the German colony of German New Guinea, and believed that by securing the southeastern quarter of the island of New Guinea, they could provide more safety for shipping through the Torres Strait.[238] As a result, in April 1883 the colony annexed the Territory of Papua for the British Empire. The British government, opposed to further colonial expansion, initially repudiated the action, but a firmer commitment by the Australian colonial governments eventually led to southern New Guinea (Papua) being declared an official British protectorate on 6 November 1884. In response, Germany annexed the northern portion the following month, expanding Kaiser-Wilhelmsland.[68][239]
That same year Queensland provided for its first permanent forces. These came in the form of a permanent artillery battery, designated 'A' Battery, which was authorised in December 1884 and raised the following March.[240] That year, 1885, in response to concerns about a possible war with Russia due to tensions between that nation and the British in India, Queensland forces were called up for continuous service over the Easter period, exercising at Fort Lytton.[241]
In 1889, as part of Edwards' review of colonial military forces, the Queensland artillery exercised at Fort Lytton and engineers demonstrated their capability by detonating a number of submarine mines.[242] Edwards was sufficiently impressed, concluding that the colony's forces were "fairly satisfactory", although he stopped short of stating that they were efficient.[180] By 1891–92, the colony's military force consisted of 91 permanent soldiers, 3,133 militia and 841 volunteers.[243]
This progress was lost, however, in the early part of the following decade as the Australian colonies were gripped by an economic depression which had the effect of reducing the amount of money spent on defence.[244] Although the defence force was mobilised in 1891 to quell a shearers' strike,[245] austerity measures resulted in the cancellation of the annual camp in 1893 and the disbandment of a number of units.[246] The following year, the permanent artillery, which had been sent to garrison Thursday Island, was reduced, however, by 1895 the situation had improved and defence spending was increased again and Queensland's permanent artillery was again expanded. Recruitment into the foot and mounted infantry increased at this time also.[247] A survey of field gun holdings in the colony in 1896 showed that there were four 12-pounder BL guns, twelve 9-pounder RMLs and five 12-pounder RBLs.[149]
In July 1899, as tensions between British and Boer settlers in South Africa grew, Queensland pledged a force of 250 men in the event of war.[156][248] The Boer War subsequently broke out on 11 October 1899 and over the course of the conflict Queensland contributed the third largest force of all the colonies,[116] consisting of 733 troops provided at State expense and 1,419 at Imperial expense,[116] who served in the Queensland Mounted Infantry and Queensland Imperial Bushmen.[249] Following Federation, a further 736 Queenslanders would serve in Commonwealth units.[116] Troops from the Queensland Mounted Infantry were involved in the first significant Australian action of the war when they took part in an attack on a Boer "laager" at Sunnyside on 1 January 1900,[250] during which they lost two men killed and two wounded.[251]
On 31 December 1900, the day before Federation, a survey of the strength of colonial forces found that Queensland's colonial forces consisted of 291 officers and 3,737 other ranks.[69] On 1 March 1901, Queensland's military personnel came under the control of the Australian Army.[78] These included three multi-battalion militia infantry regiments and two single-battalion militia infantry regiments, and two volunteer units, the Queensland Rifles and the Queensland Teachers Corps.[183]
Surviving structures of the Queensland colonial armies
A number of structures from the Queensland colonial armies still survive and are heritage listed, including:
- Drill Shed in Fortitude Valley, Brisbane[252]
- Drill Hall in Southport, Gold Coast[255]
- Kissing Point Fortification and North Ward Defence Complex in North Ward, Townsville[256][257]
See also
Notes
- Footnotes
- ^ Coulthard-Clark provides the figure of 56, but Silver clarifies that these men were sent to bolster the Parramatta garrison under Lieutenant William Davies and Quartermaster Thomas Laycock. She goes on to explain that Johnston led 29 military personnel, with up to 67 civilians and one mounted trooper, during the later battle.[17][18]
- ^ 265 men from the 102nd transferred to the 73rd and 111 went to the New South Wales Invalid Company. 80 members took discharge in Australia.[20]
- ^ Of these 24 regiments, two served second tours.[28] As a result of this, some sources sometimes provide the figure of 26 regiments.[11]
- ^ Upon its arrival in Sydney in 1817, the 48th had over 200 veterans of the Napoleonic wars in its ranks.[29]
- Eureka Stockade in Victoria 1854 and during the race riots at Lambing Flat in New South Wales in 1861–1862.[35]
- ^ In 1863 these were distributed around Australia as follows: four in New South Wales, one in Queensland, five in Victoria, three in Tasmania and two in South Australia. Together this totalled a force of 61 officers and 1,266 other ranks.[49]
- Australia Squadron, which was based in Sydney until the Royal Australian Navy was strong enough to take full responsibility for Australian waters.[54]
- ^ During the colonial period, the term "volunteer" was applied to military units that were unpaid. Regular units, while made up of men who were also volunteers in the sense that they were not conscripts, were paid, full-time soldiers. Such units were more frequently labelled as "permanent" rather than "regular" in the language of the time period.[96]
- ^ Not to be confused with the 12th Light Horse Regiment which was formed in 1915 in New South Wales for service during the First World War.[159] The Tasmanian unit, which had been formed in 1903, is not a predecessor of the 12th Light Horse Regiment, AIF, and during the war it contributed a squadron to the 3rd Light Horse Regiment before being later re-raised as the 22nd Light Horse Regiment.[158]
- ^ There is some discrepancy in the sources. Kuring states that the volunteers provided their own weapons,[59] while Austin states that they were given "a musquet and ammunition".[164]
- ^ There is some discrepancy in the sources about the name of this unit. Kuring uses the designation "West Australian Volunteers"[115] which may be a reflection of informal usage, while other sources use "Western Australian Volunteers".[176][177]
- ^ There is some discrepancy in the sources about the garrison at Albany. Whitelaw states that South Australia provided the manpower,[99] as does Nicholls,[202] while the Australian Bureau of Statistics states that it came from Western Australia.[69]
- ^ There is some discrepancy in the sources regarding these units. Odgers groups them together as the Victorian Volunteer Rifle Regiment.[185]
- ^ During the period before Federation the term "torpedo" was generally applied to weapons that would today be considered to be "sea mines" and were generally operated by engineer units.[210]
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- ^ Grey 2008, p. 59.
- ^ Coulthard-Clark 1998, pp. 63–64.
- ^ "Drill Shed, Caretaker's Cottage and Orderly Room (former), Water Street (entry 602797)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
- ^ "Fort Lytton (entry 600248)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 11 July 2015.
- ^ "Lytton Hill (entry 601366)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
- ^ "Southport Drill Hall (entry 601479)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
- ^ "Kissing Point Fortification & Jezzine Barracks (part) (entry 601129)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
- ^ "Former North Ward Defence Complex, Townsville (entry 602147)". Queensland Heritage Register. Queensland Heritage Council. Retrieved 1 August 2014.
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