The 1st/15th Royal New South Wales Lancers is an active

Australian Army Reserve The Australian Army Reserve is a collective name given to the reserve units of the Australian Army. Since the Federation of Australia in 1901, the reserve military force has been known by many names, including the Citizens Forces, the Citizen ...

Cavalry regiment. The regiment has its headquarters at Lancer Barracks in Parramatta, a suburb in Western

Sydney Sydney ( ) is the capital city of the state of New South Wales, and the most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Sydney Harbour and extends about towards the Blue Mountain ...

, New South Wales. Lancer Barracks is the oldest Military Barracks on mainland Australia and dates from 1819.

History

The regiment dates back to the formation of the Sydney Light Horse Volunteers in January 1885 and took its current name in 1956 when the

1st Royal New South Wales Lancers The 1st Royal New South Wales Lancers was an Australian Army light cavalry (reconnaissance) regiment. Its complicated lineage includes the New South Wales Lancers which was first formed as a colonial unit in 1885 as the New South Wales Cavalry, a ...

and the

15th Northern River Lancers The 15th Light Horse Regiment was a mounted infantry regiment of the Australian Army during the First World War. The regiment was raised in Palestine in 1918, from soldiers that had been serving with the Imperial Camel Corps Brigade, and assigned ...

amalgamated, initially being equipped with Matilda tanks. The 1st/15th RNSWL carries the former regiments' battle honours, and consequently has 31 collective battle honours, including those from the Boer War, First World War and Second World War. The regiment has recently been equipped with Bushmaster Protected Mobility Vehicles (PMV), having previously used 4x4 Land Rover patrol vehicles as part of the conversion to a Light Cavalry (Reconnaissance) role. The last of the previously equipped armoured vehicles, the M113A1 APC was handed over in 2006. The Regimental Band of the 1st/15th Royal New South Wales Lancers is one of the few Army regimental bands still in existence. The Band was formed in 1891 and has served with the regiment since, making it the oldest military band in Australia. The Lancer Band consists of Army Musicians who perform for Regimental functions, at public events, and for other Army Ceremonial tasks.

Battle honours

*Boer War: South Africa 1899–1902 *First World War: Anzac, Defence of Anzac, Suvla,

Sari Bair The Battle of Sari Bair ( tr, Sarı Bayır Harekâtı), also known as the August Offensive (), represented the final attempt made by the British in August 1915 to seize control of the Gallipoli peninsula from the Ottoman Empire during the Firs ...

, Gallipoli 1915, Rumani, Magdhaba-Rafah, Egypt 1915–17, Gaza-Beersheba,

El Mughar al-Maghar was a Palestinian Arab village in the Ramle Subdistrict of Mandatory Palestine. It was depopulated by the Givati Brigade during Operation Barak on 18 May 1948. It was located 12 km southwest of Ramla, situated north of Wadi al-Maghar. ...

Nebi Samwil An-Nabi Samwil, also called al-Nabi Samuil ( ar, النبي صموئيل ''an-Nabi Samu'il'', translit: "the prophet Samuel"), is a Palestinian village of nearly 220 inhabitants in the Quds Governorate of the State of Palestine, located in the ...

, Jerusalem, Jaffa, Jericho, Jordan (Es Salt), Jordan (Amman), Megiddo, Nablus, Palestine 1917–18 *Second World War: South West Pacific 1943–45, Finchaffen, Sattleberg, Wareo, Liberation of Australian New Guinea, Wareo-Lakona, Gusika-Fortification Point, Borneo, Balikpapan, Milford Highway

Current organisation

The regiment is currently located as follows: *Regimental Headquarters — Lancer Barracks, Parramatta *

The Lancer Band The Lancer Band is a band within the Australian Army, serving as the Regimental Band of the 1st/15th Royal New South Wales Lancers. The band is an organic formation of the regiment and is co-garrisoned at Lancer Barracks in Parramatta, Sydne ...

— Lancer Barracks, Parramatta *A Squadron (Dismounted) — Holsworthy Barracks, Moorebank *B Squadron (PMV mounted & Dismounted) — HMAS Harman, Canberra *C Squadron (PMV mounted) — Holsworthy Barracks, Moorebank

Lancers' Museum

The

regimental museum In countries whose armies are organised on a regimental basis, such as the British Army, army of the United Kingdom, a regimental museum is a :Military and war museums, military museum dedicated to the history of a specific army regiment. List of ...

was started in 1957, and is currently hosted at its own building in Linden House, Parramatta. Its collection includes equipment, uniforms, weapons and vehicles used by the Lancers along its history. LancersMuseumCenturionAtParramattaParade2014

LancersMuseumCenturionAtParramattaParade2014

The vehicles on display include: * Covenanter bridgelayer tank *

Matilda Matilda or Mathilda may refer to: Animals * Matilda (chicken) (1990–2006), World's Oldest Living Chicken record holder * Matilda (horse) (1824–1846), British Thoroughbred racehorse * Matilda, a dog of the professional wrestling tag-team The ...

close support tank (with 3 inch howitzer) *

Bren Gun carrier The Universal Carrier, also known as the Bren Gun Carrier and sometimes simply the Bren Carrier from the light machine gun armament, is a common name describing a family of light armoured tracked vehicles built by Vickers-Armstrongs and other ...

Staghound The Staghound, sometimes referred to as the English Staghound, is an extinct breed of scent hound from England. A pack hound, the breed was used to hunt red deer and became extinct in the 19th century when the last pack was sold. History The S ...

armoured car * Ferret Mk1 and Mk2 scout cars *

Centurion A centurion (; la, centurio , . la, centuriones, label=none; grc-gre, κεντυρίων, kentyríōn, or ) was a position in the Roman army during classical antiquity, nominally the commander of a century (), a military unit of around 80 ...

main battle tank * Daimler Dingo scout car * Land Rover 4x4 truck with 106mm recoilless gun * Austin Champ 4x4 truckLancers Museum, Austin Champ
''(retrieved 4 April 2015)''

Alliances

* –

1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards 1st The Queen's Dragoon Guards (QDG) is a regiment in the Royal Armoured Corps of the British Army. Nicknamed The Welsh Cavalry, the regiment recruits from Wales and the bordering English counties of Cheshire, Herefordshire, and Shropshire, and ...

* – The Light Dragoons

Gallery

File:LancersParade2.jpg, 1/15th Royal NSW Lancers on parade at Lancer Barracks, Parramatta File:LindenHouseAndBand.jpg, The regimental band in front of Linden House (The regimental museum) File:Lancersmuseum.jpg, The regimental museum - Linden House File:InsideLancersMuseum.jpg, Inside the Lancers Museum File:OriginalBarracks.jpg, The original barracks building File:Openday2014.jpg, Barracks open for inspection after the August 2014 parade through Parramatta File:BobsHall.jpg, "Bobs hall" File:BushmasterOnParade.jpg, Bushmasters, the regiment's latest vehicles, parading through Parramatta 2014 File:BrenGunCarrier.jpg, "Brenda", the museums Bren Gun Carrier, parading through Parramatta 2014 File:StaghoundUnderRestoration.jpg, Staghound armoured car under restoration in the museums collection 2008 File:LancersMatildaAdonis.jpg, Matilda tank "Adonis" File:CovenanterBridgelayer Lancers.JPG, Covenanter Tank Bridgelayer in museum collection File:BridgelayerTank.jpg, Covenanter tank bridgelayer, one of only 2 known left in existence File:SaracensOnDisplay.jpg, Sararcen armoured cars on display File:LancersVehiclesOnDisplay.jpg, Vehicles on display at the museum File:LancersFerrets.jpg, Ferret armoured cars

Notes

References

Website of the Royal New South Wales Lancers Lancer Barracks and Museum

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:1st 15th Royal New South Wales Lancers Armoured and cavalry regiments of the Australian Army Military units and formations established in 1885 1885 establishments in Australia