-
-
Wikipedia link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/9th_Battalion,_Royal_Queensland_Regiment
[The following is taken directly from the Wikipedia entry referenced above]
9th Battalion, Royal Queensland Regiment (9 RQR) is a Reserve light infantry battalion of the Australian Army, raised and based in the state of Queensland. It is part of the Royal Queensland Regiment and is currently attached to the 11th Brigade of the 2nd Division. 9 RQR can trace its history as far back as 1867 with the establishment Queensland Volunteer Rifle Corps, although it was not until 1911 that it was designated as the "9th Battalion". Over the course of its history, the battalion has served Australia in a number of conflicts including The Boer War, World War I and World War II, while more recently, members of the battalion have been involved in various peacekeeping operations and exercises around the Pacific region.
[If we trace the genealogy of 9RQR we find that involvement in the First and Second World Wars was in fact by units raised quite separately from what was then identified as The Moreton Regiment. Part of this confusion has probably arisen from the fact that Battle Honours for all Units of the Regiment may be displayed on the Colours of each Battalion]
[The Australian War Memorial does not, currently, host any separate 9RQR information.
Additional references are contained in the sub-pages available from the Menu on the right.]
-
-
Since its inception the militia 9th Battalion has sported a number of Hat and collar badges. While we have an example of most in the Museum a short dissertation of the origin of the badge is interesting.
The Helmet Plate of the First Queenslanders (Moreton Regiment) in 1885 was based generally on the Queen's Royal West Surrey Regiment of the Imperial Service by removing the Regimental devices and adding the words Queensland and Pro Aris Et Focis.
The inscription Pro Aris Et Focis is translated For Alters and Firesides but is freely translated by many into For Faith and Home.
In a slightly more learned vein Wikipedia records…
Pro Aris et Focis is a Latin phrase used as the motto of many families, military regiments, and some educational institutions.
Meaning "For God and country" or literally "for our altars and our hearths", but is used by ancient authors to express attachment to all that was most dear and venerable. It could be more idiomatically translated "for hearth and home;" as the Latin term "aris", generally refers to either the altars of the spirits of the house and is often used as asynecdoche for the family home. Thus the famous Latin orator and philosopher Cicero uses the phrase to emphasize the importance of his argument in his philosophical workDe Natura Deorum (3.40).[1]