One of The Staffordshire Regiment’s allied units, an Australian Army Reserve Infantry Battalion based in the country area of the State of Victoria, celebrated its 150th birthday in August 2008. The 8th/7th Battalion The Royal Victoria Regiment takes the numbers 7 and 8 from the numbers of the two Infantry Battalions formed in country Victoria for the 2nd Brigade of the First Division of the Australian Imperial Force, a volunteer formation raised in Australia for The Great War. The unit’s predecessor Battalions both fought with distinction at Gallipoli and on the Western Front, with the 7th Battalion being awarded four Victoria Crosses in one action at Lone Pine in the Gallipoli Campaign while the 8th Battalion was awarded three Victoria Crosses on the Western Front. The volunteer movement in the then Colony of Victoria started in 1854 during the time of the Crimean War. Infantry units formed in Geelong, Warrnambool, Portland and Belfast (Port Fairy) and Melbourne that year but soon changed to artillery. Ballarat formed a Rifle Regiment which paraded for the first time on 9th August 1858 while Bendigo followed on 24th August although, due to a lack of government support, the Bendigo Regiment did not last long.
The volunteer movement had a change in 1863 when the “effective system” was introduced. Under this, a volunteer member’s unit was paid an allowance for effective service such as attendance and rifle shooting. The volunteer system lasted until 1884 when it was replaced with a paid militia and the Infantry in Victoria were put into four Battalions - the 1st and 2nd in Melbourne, the 3rd in Ballarat and the 4th in Castlemaine (and Bendigo). The next major change occurred in 1903 after the formation of the Australian Army in 1901 when the Victorian Battalions were formed into Battalions of the Australian Infantry
Regiments. Ballarat became 1st Battalion The 7th Australian Infantry Regiment, whilst Castlemaine became 1st Battalion and Bendigo became 2nd Battalion The 8th Australian Infantry Regiment. At this time, Mildura came under the Castlemaine Battalion. Country Victoria formed the 7th Battalion AIF from Castlemaine/Mildura and the 8th Battalion AIF from Ballarat and the western districts in The Great War. Later, the 21st Battalion (country Victoria), 23rd Battalion (Geelong), 38th Battalion (Bendigo) and 39th Battalion (Ballarat) were formed. The 59th Battalion was formed in Egypt in 1916 from the 7th Battalion while the 60th Battalion would be formed from the 8th Battalion.
Following the war, the Citizen Military Forces (CMF) formed 7th Battalion in Castlemaine, 8th Battalion in Ballarat, 23rd Battalion in Geelong and 38th Battalion in Bendigo. In 1936, 7th Battalion was reformed in Mildura and, in 1937, 59th Battalion moved form Melbourne to Shepparton. 7th, 8th and 59th (as the 58th/59th) Battalions fought in the South West Pacific Area (SWPA) while the 23rd/21st and 38th Battalions trained in Australia but were disbanded during the war to reinforce other militia battalions which also fought in the SWPA. The 2/7th Battalion was raised in north-western Victoria and the 2/8th Battalion raised in south-west Victoria as part of the 2nd AIF. These Battalions fought in the Middle East and SWPA.
The CMF was reformed in 1948 with 8th/7th Battalion (The North Western Victorian Regiment) being raised in Ballarat, Maryborough and Mildura; the 38th Battalion (The Northern Victoria Regiment) was raised in Bendigo. National Service was introduced in 1951 and the CMF expanded rapidly. In 1953, the 38th Battalion was split and formed the 59th Battalion in
Shepparton. The next major change was the introduction of the Royal Regiments during the Pentropic era 1960-1965. The country Battalions formed Companies of 2nd Battalion The Royal Victoria Regiment (2 RVR): A Company was at Geelong, B Company at Ballarat and Maryborough, C Company at Mildura, D Company at Bendigo and E Company at Shepparton. Post 1965, 2 RVR moved its Headquarters to Ballarat. Since 1965, the Battalion has had depots in up to twenty towns in country Victoria and the southern areas of the State of New South Wales. To return to the historical battalion numbers, the name was changed from 2nd Battalion to 8th/7th Battalion The Royal Victoria Regiment (8/7 RVR) in 1987. Currently, the Battalion is organised with its Headquarters and Administration Company in Ballarat, A Company in Geelong, Laverton and Warrnambool, B Company in Ballarat and Monegeetta and C Company in Bendigo, Shepparton, Mildura and Swan Hill.
The 150th Birthday celebrations, which took place in Ballarat over the weekend 8-10 August 2008, included a Freedom of Entry Parade, a Battalion Reception with 420 people in attendance, the launch of the Battalion’s history book Country Victoria’s Own and the opening of the new Ballarat Ranger Military Museum building. Smaller 150th Celebrations were held in Bendigo over the weekend 22-24 August. As with all Australian Army Reserve units, 8/7 RVR provides the Australian Army with a credible capability. On average, the Battalion provides 50 Reserve soldiers a year who transfer to the Full-time (or Regular) Army. It also provides Section and Platoon size sub-units for operational deployments such at Op RAMSI – the Regional Assistance Mission to the Solomon Islands – and individuals for deployment on other operations around the world.
8/7 RVR pass Ballarat Town Hall
98 October 2009 The Mercian Eagle
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