Key Dates in History

Key Dates in 1RAR History

12 October 1945: Formed as the 65th Australian Infantry Battalion at Balikpapan (7th Division).
Mid-June 1946: Deployed to Japan at Fukuyama–Onomichi under the 34th Brigade for occupation duties.
1948: Re-designated as the 1st Battalion, Australian Regiment; departed Japan at the end of 1948.
31 March 1949: Granted the "Royal" prefix, officially becoming 1 RAR.
1949: Deployed domestically during the Australian coal miners' strike.

18 March 1952: Departed Sydney for Japan aboard the HMT Devonshire.
6 April 1952: Arrived in South Korea, entering the line on 19 June with the 28th Brigade.
July 1952: Operation Blaze (attack on Hill 227).
13–14 September 1952: First prisoner captured during patrolling operations.
November 1952: Relieved Canadian forces on Hill 355 (Operation Nescala); supported Operation Beat Up (25–26 November).
11–12 December 1952: Operation Fauna (last major combat action of the tour).
29 December 1952: Relieved by 3 RAR; departed Korea in March 1953.
April 1954 – March 1956: Post-armistice garrison and border patrol deployment to Korea.

20 September 1959: Embarked on MV Flaminia for Malaya.
16 November 1959: Commenced Operation Bamboo in the Perak border area.
April – June 1960: Participated in cross-border Operations Magnet and Jackforce.
29 October 1961: Concluded Malayan Emergency deployment and sailed for Sydney.
1969 – July 1971: Deployed to Malaysia and the Selarang garrison in Singapore before returning to Lavarack Barracks in Townsville.

March 1965 – June 1966 (First Tour):
- June 1965: Arrived at Bien Hoa Air Base under the US 173rd Airborne Brigade.
- September 1965: Commenced offensive search-and-destroy operations.
- January 1966:Operation Crimp (uncovered the Cu Chi tunnel network).
9 April 1968 – 15 February 1969 (Second Tour):
- April – May 1968: Participated in Operation Toan Thang north of Saigon.
- 15–16 May 1968: Defended Fire Support Base Coral during major enemy assaults (Battle of Coral–Balmoral).
- Late 1968 – February 1969: Operations Toan Thang II, Windsor, and Goodwood across the Hat Dich and Phuoc Tuy areas.

12 October 1974: Granted Freedom of the City of Normanton.
23 June 1977: Granted Freedom of the City of Charters Towers.
1979: 18 personnel deployed to Rhodesia on Operation Agila (Commonwealth Monitoring Force).
21 May – 3 June 1987: Deployed to Norfolk Island aboard HMAS Tobruk for Operation Morris Dance (Fiji coup contingency).
17 December 1992 – 22 May 1993: Deployed to Somalia on Operation Solace (UNITAF) in Baidoa.
25 August 1996: Granted Freedom of the City of Townsville.

25 October 2000 – April 2001: First battalion tour to East Timor under UNTAET.
May 2003: Second deployment to East Timor with UNMISET.
24 December 2004 – January 2005: Emergency deployment of the Ready Company Group to the Solomon Islands.
May & September 2006 / Early 2007: Successive deployments to Timor-Leste; SECDET rotations to Baghdad, Iraq.
18 November 2006: Platoon deployment to Nukuʻalofa, Tonga.
2007 & 2009: Task group deployments to Uruzgan Province, Afghanistan (RTF2 and MRTF2).
2014 – 2021: Force Protection Element (FPE) rotations to Afghanistan.
October 2017 – June 2018: Lead unit for Joint Task Force training teams in the Philippines (Operation Augury).
2019 – 2022: Domestic disaster and emergency relief (Townsville flood 2019, Operation COVID-19 Assist 2020–2021, Eastern Australia floods 2022).
August 2021: Deployed Tactical HQ and Ready Combat Team to Kabul for the non-combatant evacuation operation (NEO).
18 December 2024: Current command tenure began under LTCOL Ben Farrell.