Battle and theatre honours of the Australian Army information
Colours of the 17th Battalion in 1918, listing its battle honours from the First World War.
The Australian Army and its forerunners have been awarded 248 battle and theatre honours since its formation. The first honour given to an Australian unit came prior to Federation and was awarded to forces from the colony of New South Wales, which contributed a small contingent consisting of an infantry battalion, with artillery and support units to take part in the short-lived British campaign against the Dervish revolt in the eastern Sudan in 1885 following the death of General Charles Gordon at Khartoum.[1][2]
The next conflict that saw Australian units receive battle or theatre honours was the Second Boer War. Between 1899 and 1901, forces from the six Australian colonies fought alongside each other before being replaced in 1901 by forces of the newly established Australian Army following Federation.[3] A total of five theatre honours were awarded for service in South Africa, being bestowed upon successor units in the form of honorary banners and distinctions presented in 1904, 1908 and 1911.[4][5] Since then, the Australian Army has received honours for fighting during the First World War, the Second World War, the Korean War and the Vietnam War, with the Royal Australian Regiment last being awarded a battle honour in 1994 for the First Battle of Maryang San in Korea.[6] In 2013, units of Special Operations Command were awarded the battle honour Eastern Shah Wali Kot for their actions in Afghanistan in May and June 2010.[7] A theatre honour for peacekeeping in East Timor in 1999–2003 was awarded to the Army on its 119th birthday in March 2020.[8]
The most highly decorated unit in the Australian Army are The 1st/15th Royal New South Wales Lancers, with 21 battle honours. They are an active Australian Army Reserve Cavalry regiment. It celebrated its centenary in 1985. The regiment has its headquarters at Lancer Barracks in Parramatta, a suburb in Western Sydney, New South Wales. Lancer Barracks is the oldest Military Barracks on mainland Australia and dates from 1819.[9]
^Grey 2008, pp. 48–49.
^Wilcox 2009, p. 72.
^Dennis et al 1995, p. 107.
^Festberg 1972, p. 14.
^Jobson 2009, pp. 58–59.
^"Kowang-San". The Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 24 December 2009.
^"Special Operations Units Awarded Battle Honour". Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet. 26 March 2013. Archived from the original on 29 March 2013. Retrieved 26 March 2013.
^Cite error: The named reference EastTimor was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^https://lancers.org.au/
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