Shaping Our Identity: Defence

The first army to be formed in the newly created Colony of Queensland was in Ipswich on May, 19, 1860. At a meeting on that date 50 men were enrolled in the two corps being formed. They were "The Ipswich Troop of the Queensland Mounted Rifles" and "The First, or Ipswich, Company of the Queensland Rifle Brigade." They were popularly known as the Cavalary and the Infantry respectively.

Officers nominated were, Cavalry- Alfred Delves Broughton to be captain; Richard Joseph Smith to be first Lieutenant and Louis Heitz to be second lieutenant. Infantry- Colonel Charles George Gray to be captain (he was a veteran of the battle of Waterloo); John Kent to be first lieutenant and Donald Bethune to be second lieutenant.

In March 1864, an artillery group was also formed in Ipswich. This was called the "Ipswich Battery of the Queensland Volunteer Artillery". At the same time, James Leith Hay was appointed Captain of an Ipswich Troop of Mounted Rifles with John Blaine as second lieutenant.

There were a number of organisational changes over the ensuing years, but the idea of a volunteer defence force remained essentially the same.

The volunteer units were subject to military training and discipline and were obviously proud of their involvement. Many pioneers of Ipswich recorded reminiscences about their service and some rather pretentiously used their volunteer military titles in everyday life.

The Ipswich volunteers trained in the Milford St Drill Hall and attended encampments, parades and official functions. In 1878, a camp was held at Sandgate for 670 men and 60 cadets. Ipswich volunteers took part and on the return trip, "defended" Breakfast Creek bridge against a mock attack by the paddle steamer Kate.