5th/6th Battalion, Royal Victoria Regiment

Australian Army unit

The 5th/6th Battalion ("5/6 RVR") is one of two battalions of the Royal Victoria Regiment, and is an infantry battalion of the Australian Army. The battalion traces its lineage back to many units that existed prior to Federation, as well as units that fought during World War I and World War II and the battalion carries the battle honours of these units as a mark of respect. Today 5/6 RVR is part of the 4th Brigade, 2nd Division and is based at various depots around Melbourne, Victoria. Recently, members from the battalion have been involved in deployments to the Middle East, East Timor, the Solomon Islands and Malaysia as part of Rifle Company Butterworth.

5th/6th Battalion, The Royal Victoria Regiment is derived from earlier Australian battalions which had drawn members from the Melbourne metropolitan area. The history of this Battalion and the events leading up to their linking and the formation of the subsequent 5th/6th Battalion, The Royal Victoria Regiment is detailed below.

In the late 1950s, it was determined to consolidate all Army state infantry regiments into one regiment per state. With this move, several regimental histories were ended and a new chapter in the history of Victorian volunteer military forces begun. The Royal Victoria Regiment was formed on 1 July 1960. It inherits and embodies the traditions of the infantry in Victoria from the earliest units formed since 1854. A number of previously existing Melbourne metropolitan units and Victorian regional units now make up the 5th/6th Battalion, The Royal Victoria Regiment. The regional units' traditions and histories are entrusted to 8th/7th Battalion, The Royal Victoria Regiment, which is the sister unit of 5/6 RVR. Many of the 1st AIF and the 2nd AIF units were raised directly from the skeleton of militia units on the declaration of war. For this reason, The Royal Victoria Regiment can claim more battle honours than any other regiment or unit in the Australian Defence Force. Three Victorian battalions (5th, 6th and 58th/32nd) have been merged, split and renamed several times from 1948 through to 2003. A fourth battalion was briefly formed in the early 1970s. This constant flux and turmoil has disrupted the clarity of the battalion's heritage. The various regimental families however, sustain the unit's past and a benefit of this consolidation is the breadth of its affiliations. With World War Two over the 2nd AIF was de mobilised more rapidly than the similar forces of any other participating nation. It was not long however, before the fear of communism prompted the expansion of Australian Forces. In 1960, the National Service scheme ceased, resulting in an immediate reduction in strength. A substantial structural change was also about to occur, for on 30 June 1960, all battalions and their members were absorbed into the new style pentropic 1st Battalion, The Royal Victoria Regiment (RVR). The Korean War, coupled with a perceived threat of communism to the security of the country and surrounding regions, led to the adoption of National Service. This scheme required participants to complete three months of full time training, followed by three years service as members of Citizens Military Force (CMF) units.

The 5th Battalion, The Victorian Scottish Regiment (VSR) had existed prior to World War Two and was re established on 1 April 1948, as part of the Citizen Military Forces (CMF). Just as many of the members of the pre war VSR had helped to raise the AIF, many ex members of the 2nd AIF returned to the colours to again raise the 5th Battalion. Battalion Headquarters was established at Hawthorn and the Companies were located at Kew, Surrey Hills, Armadale and Dandenong. The first Commanding Officer of the new battalion was Lieutenant Colonel G. R Warfe, DSO, MC, ED. The battalion quickly undertook a variety of training and duties, providing a guard of honour on the occasion of the presentation of the Field Marshal's Baton to Sir Thomas Blamey Australia's first and as at the time of writing only active Field Marshal (the Duke of Edinburgh is also listed as a Field Marshal in the Australian Army). The battalion colours were also recovered with great pomp and ceremony, from the Scots' Church in Melbourne. In addition, Scottish Dress was quickly approved and the VSR was soon dressed distinctively. In 1898, the VSR had originally worn a modified Gordon tartan, with the gold lines replaced by red. This was replaced by the Gordon tartan in 1930 with the approval of an alliance with the Gordon Highlanders. The battalion motto was the same as that prior to World War One: "Nemo Me Impune Lacessit". These same words are engraved at the entrance of Edinburgh Castle. Loosely translated this means "no one hurts me and gets away it with it". The battalion march was "Cock of the North", and the unit colour was gold. The introduction of National Service in 1951 led to 5th Battalion VSR growing to be over full strength, allowing the unit to conduct ambitious peacetime training successfully. The battalion was represented in the Coronation Contingent sent to London in 1953. In 1954 the battalion provided the Government House Ceremonial Guards during the visit of Queen Elizabeth II. In the same year, the battalion also provided troops to line the streets, with their colours, for the opening of Parliament in Canberra. The battalion was presented with new Queen's and Regimental Colours on the 12 May 1957, which are now laid up in The Scots' Church, Melbourne.

In May, 1948, the 6th Battalion was re formed. 6th Battalion, The Royal Melbourne Regiment (RMR) had existed prior to the Second World War and again ex soldiers of the 2nd AIF returned to the colours, members now of the CMF. The battalion recovered its colours, adopting the motto of "Semper Paratus" or "Always Ready". The Battalion March was "Waltzing Matilda" 6th Battalion's Colours are laid up in St Paul's Cathedral Melbourne.

A third CMF Infantry Battalion was raised in the Melbourne area in 1948, being based predominantly in the Western and North Western suburbs. Initially encompassing Footscray, and known as The West Melbourne Regiment, then sometime later as The Melbourne Rifles, the battalion eventually expanded to be 58th Battalion, The City of Essendon Regiment in 1955. The battalion established its headquarters at Pascoe Vale Road Moonee Ponds and had companies at Footscray and Brunswick. It gained many new members through National Service, but lost many when the scheme ceased. This battalion was also absorbed into 1 RVR, when the pentropic organisation was adopted in 1960. The term Royal Victoria Regiment had been adopted at the outset of the formation of the new unit, to reflect the connection of the unit with the State from which it was raised. This was an effort to uphold the traditions and maintain the ties to the local communities. At the same time, a new badge was adopted, which is still retained by current units. The regiment celebrated its birthday on 1 July 1960 as a result of this union.

A change of Federal Government in 1995 led to a review of which impacted directly on the 4th Brigade in general and 5/6 RVR in particular. The brigade was to be "revitalized" and recruitment was stepped up to try (unsuccessfully) to increase the size of the battalion. At the same time more Regular Army Staff (including temporarily, a full time Battalion Commander Lieutenant Colonel Mick Godfrey) were posted to try to increase the readiness and training tempo of the unit. Training was well resourced and tested by independent observers in a readiness test at the Cultana training area in 1999, in which 5/6 RVR performed extremely well. The battalion also supplied a company group to rotate through the Butterworth Airbase, Malaysia, in Nov 1999 – Jan 2000. The company group was drawn primarily from 5/6 RVR with additional attachments coming from other units of 4th Brigade of the 2nd Division. In 1999/2000 the escalating crisis in East Timor saw Australian troops leading a multinational 'intervention' force (INTERFET). Many Reservists initially served to "backfill" Australian Regular Army (ARA) positions when they were deployed to Timor with the 6th Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment. As Australia's commitment to maintain a battalion was ongoing, a Rifle Company was raised from Reservists throughout Australia to serve with 5th/7th Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment (RAR). This first tour of duty was from November 2002 until May 2003. Soldiers from both RVR battalions along with their NSW counterparts provided the majority of Reservists on Full Time Service. Timor was the first time since the mobilisation of the Militia (AMF) in the Papua New Guinea campaign of World War II that 'Citizen Soldiers' saw active service. At the conclusion of this deployment, many were to elect to remain in the Australian Regular Army whilst most returned home to Reserve Service.

In the year 2000 up to 200 5/6 RVR soldiers served with the ADF contingent in support of the Sydney Organising Committee for the Olympic Games (SOCOG) under "Operation Gold". Known as the Operational Search Company their duties included conducting area searches, building searches and manning vehicle checkpoints. Whilst full time leadership and increased readiness had their benefits, increased time requirements for individual training for recruit and promotion courses contributed to a decline in Unit strength over the 2001/2002 period. The role of the Army Reserve was changing and so was 5/6 RVR in response to those changes. A dedicated staff of Reservists and full time members continued to work to provide the expertise and staffing required to train and develop young and upcoming 5/6 RVR soldiers. In early 2003, the Reserve Response Force (RRF) concept was being rolled out to 4th Brigade. 5/6 RVR was chosen to lead the first Reserve based 4th Brigade RRF. The RRF role was then devolved to unit level and 5/6 RVR continued to strengthen its role through Bravo Company, the largest Company, which was chosen to lead the battalion's RRF elements.

2005 built on the gains of the previous year and a new Commanding Officer LT COL Neil Grimes marched in. The importance of individual preparedness was re emphasised as Army Individual Readiness Notice (AIRN) criteria were applied to each member and it prepared for its annual field exercise (AFX) at Canungra in Queensland. A year for record Recruiting numbers, the benefits of one of the largest intakes of recruits in recent years also came to realisation, with all companies having new members join their ranks. 2005 also 5/6 RVR exercised its freedom of entry to the City of Boroondara on Sunday 17 October 2005.

In 2006, the battalion made a significant contribution to the conduct of the Commonwealth Games held in Melbourne during February and March on Operation Acolyte. Over 100 personnel drawn from throughout the battalion participated in the 10 week operation including searches of the Melbourne Cricket Ground, the Commonwealth Games Village in Parkville and the Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre. Members acted in both a military and civilian capacity with selected members being directly employed by the Melbourne 2006 organisation. Military members manned checkpoints and staffed a vehicle screening facility known as the Logistics Screening Zone where deliveries to locked down venues were electronically screened prior to entry.

The Hardened & Networked Army (HNA) proposal was Army's response to the need to fight on a more complex and lethal battlefield. It would provide increased combat weight and generate greater organisational depth in Army and a greater focus on combined arms battlegroups and combat teams rather than infantry battalion and company groups. The result of HNA would be increased options for Government in terms of both the combat weight of the force that can be deployed and the duration that forces can be sustained on operations. Implementation of HNA started in 2006 and the force structure changes were due to be complete by the end of 2015. Following HNA, a new structure emerged known as the High Readiness Reserve or HRR Combat Team. 4 BDE HRR was formed from a number of Units but predominantly manned and commanded by 5/6 RVR. The HRR Combat Team successfully participated in the Talisman Sabre series of major exercises with regular battalions and also contributed significantly to the East Timor deployment known as TLTG 4 in 2012. A new role for the Army Reserve emerged in late 2006 with Army raising 2 new ARA infantry battalions. The structure of infantry battalions also changed and 5/6 RVR merged Delta Company at Simpson Barracks with Bravo Company Surrey Hills. Delta Company became known as 6 Platoon B Company, proud company members celebrated their last function together as Delta Company in December 2006. In August 2007, the battalion lost the old Delta Company depot at Simpson Barracks, and now all Bravo Company members parade at Surrey Hills.

In recent years, the 5th/6th Battalion has continued its tradition of overseas service by providing troops for Operation Anode as part of the Regional Assistance Mission to Solomon Islands (RAMSI), contributing to the first and probably last Solomon Island deployments: Op Citadel, Op Anode Rotation 13 in 2007, Rotation 15 in 2008, Rotation 18 in 2009 and Rotation 30 in 2013.

Formed in 1899 as part of The Victorian Scottish Regiment, the 5/6 RVR Pipes and Drums is today the band for all battalions of the Royal Victoria Regiment. It is supported by the RVR Pipes and Drums Association, an incorporated body.