Over one hundred and fifty years ago, on 1st August 1871, the Colony of New South Wales raised its first permanent Battery, known as the New South Wales Artillery. This battery complemented existing colonial volunteer batteries. The previous year, the last British forces had departed for England, leaving the young, dynamic colonies across Australia to uphold their own defences. This occasion marked the origins of the substantive, permanent presence of professional Australian artillery soldiers – a presence that endures to this day as the Royal Regiment of Australian Artillery.
In the years that have followed, Australian Gunners have served their country in war and in peace; abroad, and in the defence of their homeland, with honour and dedication, and will continue to do so into the future.
1st August 2021 marked a century and a half of unbroken dedication in the service of our community and the Nation by Australia’s Gunners – Volunteer, Militia, Reserve, Permanent and Regular; at home, and in far-off lands; defending assaults from the sea, in the sky, and on land; and advising, defending and supporting our comrades-in-arms through summoning and orchestrating devastating fires and effects that are accurate, responsive, dependable & joint. These are, and will remain, the tenets of the Royal Regiment of Australian Artillery in all its forms.
This is the story of Australia’s Gunners – so far.