Royal Australian Army Medical Corps

Royal Australian Army Medical Corps
Cap badge of the RAAMC
Active	1902 – present day
Country	Australia
Branch	Australian Army
Nickname(s)	Linseed Lancers
Motto(s)	Paulatim (Latin, "little by little")
March	Here's a Health Unto Her Majesty
Anniversaries	10 November (corps day)
Commanders
Colonel-in-Chief	General Sir Peter Cosgrove
Notable commanders	Major General Sir Neville Reginald Howse
Insignia
Corps Flag

The Royal Australian Army Medical Corps (RAAMC) is the branch of the Australian Army responsible for providing medical care to Army personnel. The AAMC was formed in 1902 through the amalgamation of medical units of the various Australian colonies and was first deployed to South Africa as a small detachment of personnel supporting the Australian Commonwealth Horse during the Second Boer War. Since then the corps has participated in every Australian Army operation since then including wars and peacekeeping operations. The "Royal" prefix was granted in 1948.

The Australian Army Medical Corps was formed on 1 July 1902 by combining the medical services of the armed forces of the various Australian colonies that had been in existence prior Federation, which had their origins in the medical structures of the British forces that had deployed to Australia during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The corps' first deployment was to the Second Boer War, where it provided a field hospital and a stretcher bearer company attached in support of the Australian Commonwealth Horse, the first contingent of Australian troops deployed operationally following Federation. The force's role was limited as by the time it was deployed the large scale fighting was basically over. Prior to this, though, the various colonial forces had also contributed medical detachments to the war in support of their own and other British and colonial forces, and these units – consisting of various types of medical personnel including surgeons, dentists, cooks, drivers, and bearers – had been heavily involved. One officer, Lieutenant Neville Howse, of the New South Wales Army Medical Corps, received the Victoria Cross for his actions during the war; Howse eventually rose to become Director of Medical Services within the Australian Imperial Force. An earlier deployment had also occurred in 1885, when a New South Wales Contingent of infantry and artillery was deployed to assist British forces in the Sudan conflict, a small medical detachment had also been deployed.