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Royal Tasmania Regiment

infantry regiment of the Australian Army

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionJul 11, 2026
Entity authorityQ7374903 ↗
Source-derived summary

The Royal Tasmania Regiment (RTR) is a Reserve infantry regiment within the Australian Army consisting of a single battalion. Formed in 1960 following a review of military formations in Australia, the Regiment can trace its lineage back to the late 19th Century and has served Australia in a number of conflicts including the Boer War, World War I and World War II. Today it serves as a part of the Australian Army's 4th Brigade, 2nd Division.

History

The Royal Tasmania Regiment was formed in 1960 as part of the reforms that saw the old Citizens Military Force reorganised along pentropic lines into what is now known as the Army Reserve. As part of this reform, Tasmania's two single-battalion infantry regiments were amalgamated, to form the Royal Tasmania Regiment. These two parent regiments were:

12th Infantry Battalion (The Launceston Regiment)

40th Infantry Battalion (The Derwent Regiment)

The two battalions were reduced to companies within a single battalion named as the Tasmania Regiment. The regiment was given its royal title the same year.

In 1972, the RTR expanded to two battalions, when both the 12th and 40th were reformed. However, this lasted only until 1975, when it was again reduced, this time to a pair of independent rifle companies, 12th IRC and 40th IRC. Then, in November 1987, the regiment was expanded to a full battalion again through the regimentation of the two independent rifle companies, 12 Field Squadron Royal Australian Engineers, 146 Signal Squadron and 6 Intelligence Unit, forming as 12th/40th Battalion.

Lineage

The Regiment's lineage can be traced back to 1878 when the Tasmanian Volunteer Rifle Regiment was formed in Tasmania with four companies in Hobart and two in Launceston. The current Regiment has evolved since that time, albeit under a variety of titles and organisations.

Editorial summary

This brief starts where responsible research should: with the source description of “Royal Tasmania Regiment” as infantry regiment of the Australian Army. Everything that follows is an evidence route, not borrowed authority.

Editorial reviewA concise reference frame for defining the subject, testing terminology and identifying the institution closest to the evidence. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1960, 1972, 1975, 1987—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1960-01-01. The account is most persuasive where Royal, Tasmania and Regiment can be independently traced.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The subject matters to the general reference register because the source frames it as infantry regiment of the Australian Army. Its deeper value depends on whether names, dates, institutions and citations support that framing.

Evidence profile

Vocabulary and entity names are the principal evidence signals here, because they determine the precision of every later search. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 11, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7374903. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1960, 1972, 1975 and 1987.

Critical limits

Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Royal Tasmania Regiment”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Royal Tasmania Regiment primary sources, Royal Tasmania Regiment archive and Royal research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Royal Tasmania Regiment”?
  2. What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
  3. Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “Royal Tasmania Regiment” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.