Royal Tasmania Regiment

The Royal Tasmania Regiment
Cap badge of the Royal Tasmania Regiment
Active	1 July 1960 – present
Country	Australia
Branch	Army
Type	Line Role
Role	Light Infantry
Size	One battalion
Part of	9th Brigade
Garrison/HQ	12th/40th Battalion – Hobart
Motto(s)	Pro Aris Et Focis (For Altars and Hearths)
March	Captain Oldfield/Invercargill
Commanders
Colonel in Chief	HM The Queen (Royal Australian Infantry Corps)
Colonel of the Regiment	Kate Warner, AM (Governor of Tasmania)
Insignia
Unit Colour Patch
Abbreviation	RTR

The Royal Tasmania Regiment is a Reserve infantry regiment within the Australian Army consisting of a single battalion. Formed in 1960 following a review of military formations in Australia, the Regiment can trace its lineage back the late 19th Century and has served Australia in a number of conflicts including the Boer War, World War I and World War II. Today it serves as a part of the Australian Army's 9th Brigade, 2nd Division.

The Royal Tasmania Regiment was formed in 1960 as part of the reforms that saw the old Citizens Military Force reorganised along pentropic lines into what is now known as the Army Reserve. As part of this reform, Tasmania's two single-battalion infantry regiments were amalgamated, to form the Royal Tasmania Regiment. These two parent regiments were:

The two battalions were reduced to companies within a single battalion named as the Tasmania Regiment. The regiment was given its royal title the same year.

In 1972, the RTR expanded to two battalions, when both the 12th and 40th were reformed. However, this lasted only until 1975, when it was again reduced, this time to a pair of independent rifle companies, 12th IRC and 40th IRC. Then, in November 1987, the regiment was expanded to a full battalion again through the regimentation of the two independent rifle companies, 12 Field Squadron Royal Australian Engineers, 146 Signal Squadron and 6 Intelligence Unit, forming as 12th/40th Battalion.

The Regiment's lineage can be traced back to 1878 when the Tasmanian Volunteer Rifle Regiment was formed in Tasmania with four companies in Hobart and two in Launceston. The current Regiment has evolved since that time, albeit under a variety of titles and organisations. The Tasmanian Rifle Regiment of Southern Tasmania, the Launceston Rifle Regiment of Northern Tasmania and an Auxiliary Force (Enrolled Pensioner Force) were combined as the three battalions of the Tasmania Volunteer Rifle Regiment In 1897. These were: 1st Battalion, Tasmania Infantry Regiment which was formed in the south, the 2nd Battalion TIR which was formed in the north and the 3rd Battalion TIR which was formed in the north-west.

In 1899 the first contingent of Tasmanians departed for the Second Boer War. During this conflict, two men of the 1st Tasmanian Imperial Bushmen had the distinction of earning the first Victoria Crosses (VC) to be awarded to Australian infantrymen. For this campaign and the contingents that followed afterwards, the Regiment holds the Battle Honours of 'South Africa 1899–1902' and '1900–1902'.