History

Defence Reservists have played an important part in Australian history, since early colonial days.

 The Reserve pre-dates Federation, when each of the States (colonies at the time) maintained locally based naval and army militia. These forces served in the Sudan, in China during the Boxer Rebellion and in South Africa during the Boer War.

The modern Australian Army was drawn from this base at Federation on 1 January 1901, with the Royal Australian Navy and Royal Australian Air Force following some years later.

Volunteers participated in active service during World Wars I and II, with large numbers transferring into the permanent armed forces. At the end of hostilities, many seasoned veterans returned to the Reserve force, maintaining a pool of expertise and experience to be drawn on in a defence emergency.

In the years between the two World Wars, the Reserve maintained strong links with many community and State-based units. Since World War II, the role has changed gradually from separate Reserve units and formations with their own identities and roles, to a concept where permanent and Reserve personnel have combined to form a strong and viable force.

With Australia's regular Army not formed until 1948, the Reserve has been a fundamental part of the nation's defence policy. 

The Royal Australian Naval Reserve

The Naval Reserve and the Permanent Navy are the two components which make up today’s Royal Australian Navy (RAN).

The Royal Australian Naval Reserve has a long and proud history; beginning in the Australian Colonial Navies.

The RANR Motto of ‘Non Sibi Sed Patriae’ — ‘Not For Self But For Country’— reflects a  tradition of part-time citizen Naval service to Australia which stretches back to the formation of the NSW Naval Brigade in 1863, long before the founding of the RAN (and the RANR) in 1911.

The Boxer Rebellion

During 1900, three colonies (New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia) committed contingents from their naval brigades to the Boxer Rebellion in China. The colonial naval brigades were volunteer bodies manned by civilians with small cadres of full-time members.

Victoria Brigade members served at Tientsin and the NSW contingent at Beijing while South Australia dispatched the armoured cruiser HMCS Protector to assist. The Protector was engaged in operations in the Gulf of Pechiliv

The First World War

The first Australian killed in the Great War (WWI) was a Naval Reservist during the capture of German New Guinea in September 1914.

1920-1945

After World War I there was a decline in an assertive naval policy with an emphasis on Australian trade protection rather than preparing for invasion. The concentration on local needs was further emphasised during the Great Depression in the 1930s. During these years the RAN was reduced to five ships and 3,200 personnel.

Against this background the Reserve trained between the wars, in Sydney, at HMAS RUSHCUTTER, and were ready to be sent off in 1939 to help man British, as well as Australian, ships of all sizes in all maritime theatres.
During this time, many Reservists, RANR officers, and Royal Australian Navy Volunteer Reservists, commanded small ships, corvettes and even destroyers. (They were referred to as “Wavy Navy” because of the wave like appearance of their rank insignia.)

The Navy’s significance became apparent during World War II with the Battle of the Coral Sea, in which Japan threatened the security of Australian waters. The Japanese midget submarine attack on Sydney harbour on 31 May 1942 and the sinking of more than 30 ships off the Australian coast in less than one year brought home to the Australian public the need for a strong Australian Navy.

Australia recognised that it was a maritime nation heavily reliant on the unrestricted use of the seas and upon the arrival and exit of seaborne cargoes. The Federal Government built 60 Bathurst-class corvettes and 36 were commissioned into the Royal Australian Navy to defend and maintain the Australian sea lines of communication. By war’s end the RAN had become the fourth largest navy in the world with a wartime peak strength of 337 ships and 39,650 personnel.

Naval Reservists were amongst Australia’s greatest war heroes in World War II. Captain Stanley Darling, OBE, DSC**, VRD, RANR commanded a Royal Navy Frigate in the Atlantic where he sank three U-Boats and Lieutenant Commander Leon Goldsworthy, GC, DSC, GM, RANVR was the most highly decorated officer in the RAN in WWII as a result of his dangerous work in mine clearance. 

1950-1992

After demobilisation and a short period of peace the Naval Reserve was reactivated in January 1950 when National Service Training and part-time training resumed as the ‘Cold War’ hotted up in Korea.

For the next 40 years Reservists trained in Port Divisions in each of the capital cities, parading on Tuesday nights, going to sea on a variety of boats and ships on many weekends and completing a compulsory period of at least 13 days of annual, continuous training.

Each Port Division, of around 150 to 350 officers and sailors, was commanded by a Reservist of Commander rank and was organised into Departments — Seaman, Diving, Communications, Engineering, Electrical, Supply and Secretariat, Medical — much as in a major warship.

The Port Divisions recruited, trained and administered their own personnel with support from the RAN depots in which they were lodged. They were self contained, self sufficient and self reliant. More advanced specialist training was undertaken at RAN establishments such as HMAS CERBERUS in Victoria and HMAS WATSON and HMAS PENGUIN in Sydney. In the 1950s RANR officers and sailor — many of whom had served in WW II and those who stayed on after National Service with others who had joined ‘ab initio’ from the civilian community — were intended to man RAN ships laid up in reserve after 1945.

Accordingly they trained in Seamanship, Gunnery and Minesweeping in a variety of Assigned Training Vessels, small wooden Seawards Defence Boats, general purpose vessels such as HMAS PALUMA and in Sydney in the Bathurst-class corvette HMAS WAGGA, that took Reservists as far as Noumea.

Other reservists were, and still today are, serving in roles such as Bandsmen, Divers, Doctors, Dentists, Psychologists, Lawyers, Stewards, Cooks, Communicators and Stores personnel. Reservists also served in RAN ships deployed in the Arabian Gulf during the Gulf War of 1990-91. Five warships, HMAS SYDNEY, HMAS ADELAIDE, HMAS BRISBANE, HMAS DARWIN and HMAS SUCCESS served tours in Gulf waters.

Another role assigned to the RANR was the maintenance of the Naval Control of Shipping capability. This capability required the RAN to control the movements of merchant ships and to protect these ships through the collection and dissemination of relevant intelligence and, where necessary, through the organisation of convoys in time of war or tension. A vital task for a nation almost totally dependant on seaborne trade for economic survival.

The Naval Control of Shipping (NCS) Branch was manned exclusively by Reservists, the majority of whom were drawn from the civilian maritime industries. By the 1990s, the NCS Branch had expanded its role and acted as one of the major interfaces between the RAN and the civilian maritime industries. In 1994, in recognition of this expanded function, the Branch changed its name to the Maritime Trade Operations Branch. It is now fully integrated into the day-to-day operations of the ADF and is known simply as Maritime Trade Operations Australia.

A small number of Engineering and Gunnery sailors from the RANR served in HMAS Melbourne during the Malaya Emergency with the Far East Strategic Reserve Forces. All of these members qualified for or are in receipt of the Australia Active Service Medal with clasp Malaya and the Australian Service medal with clasp FESR.

Following the Confrontation with Indonesia in the early 1960s, seagoing Reservists gained a new role and new training vessels to provide additional crews for the Attack-class Patrol Boats.

From 1968, Reservists in Sydney, then Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth and later Adelaide and Hobart, successfully operated and maintained their own patrol boats. Hobart and Adelaide Reservists had previously gone to sea in the General Purpose Vessels HMAS BASS and HMAS BANKS. Sydney Port Division worked up three Reserve crews for HMAS ARCHER. Melbourne Port Division Reservists manned GPV GAYUNDAH and the HDML NEPEAN before crewing HMAS ARROW and later HMAS BAYONET.

Reservists in patrol boats visited ports all around the Australian coast, flying the white ensign in ports and harbours where the RAN never visited. They carried out Fishery Patrols and the Perth based HMAS ACUTE, manned by Reservists from Fremantle Port Division, arrested a Taiwanese fishing vessel during ‘routine training’. East Coast boats also took part in Bass Strait Oil Rig Surveillance patrols to ensure the safety of oil drilling platforms from straying merchant ships crossing the Bass Strait.

The Reserve Patrol Boats also participated in major Fleet exercises such as the ‘Kangaroo’ series as well as exercising together in the Anchorman series out of ports from Cairns to Melbourne. They joined RAN manned boats to cross the Coral Sea in a 12 ship formation to exercise in PNG waters. As well as Patrol Boats, RANR officers and sailors spent varying periods at sea in all major warships, even the occasional submarine.

Naval Reservists helped man the six Ton-class Minesweepers which were sailed out from Britain in the early 1960s, filled billets aboard the ‘Vung Tau Ferry’ - HMAS SYDNEY, converted to a troop ship during the Vietnam war, or gained their Bridge Watchkeeping, Ocean Navigation and Command Certificates under the critical eye of RAN Commanding Officers.

The Vietnam War forged an intimate relationship between the RAN and the United States Navy. For more than five years the RAN was an integral part of an operational US Fleet. There was co-operation and integration based on interoperability and common logistic support. The Australian naval contribution consisted of a destroyer on six month rotational deployments, the RAN Helicopter Flight Vietnam and a RAN Clearance Diving Team.

The 1980s saw further developments for the RANR. Additional Port Divisions were established in Cairns, Darwin and a Nowra Air Division at HMAS Albatross, where mostly ex RAN personnel could continue to utilise their aviation skills to support the Fleet Air Arm.

Sydney and Melbourne Port Divisions were assigned the larger, more capable, Fremantle-class Patrol Boats for sea training — HMAS Fremantle to Sydney and HMAS Warrnambool to Melbourne. The vessels crossed the Tasman to exercise with their RNZNVR counterparts in 1991.

The Reservists in Brisbane, and later Darwin, operated Landing Craft (Heavy) taking part in joint amphibious exercises. Brisbane Reservists manning HMAS LABUAN took part in the annual amphibious exercise ‘Diamond Dollar’.

By the late 1980s the Port Divisions had built up a substantial capability with seven Patrol Boat crews and two LCH crews, training staff and support organisations. However the capability was not fully ‘integrated’ although it was available for surge in the event of a national emergency or war. 

Closure of the Port Divisions

In March 1992, the Naval Reserve underwent its greatest restructuring since 1950.

The RANR Port Divisions were shut down. Training craft were withdrawn and Reservists were moved to a National Management Scheme with the development of a Total Force concept, the plan being to integrate Naval Reservists into the RAN. Instead of being reserve for wartime expansion, the RANR would now provide greater, continuing support in peacetime and a surge capacity in the event of short warning contingencies.

The Total Force philosophy centred on part-time officers and sailors serving in the Fleet Units and Establishments of the RAN on an equal basis to their full time counterparts.

Integration and national management was an evolving process and it was not until 2002 that Reserve positions within Navy were formalised into an ongoing structure known as the Funded Reserve Commitment which is the basis of Reserve employment today.

Naval Reserve Leadership

Since 1950 the RANR has been headed by an RANR Seaman Captain, the Captain Naval Reserves, but in mid 1980s the position of Director General Reserves (Navy) was created and filled by Commodore Anstey Lindsey, the first RANR officer to rise through the ranks of the RANR from Recruit Seaman to Commodore. The Naval Reserve today still has a Director General Reserves (Navy) holding the rank of Commodore.

The Naval Reserve Today

The early years of the second millennium have witnessed increasing difficulties in recruiting and retaining sufficient numbers of personnel within the Permanent Navy (PN). Accordingly, the call for Reservists to supplement the PN has grown and in FY08/09, the Navy Reserve supplied about 10.5 percent of the Navy’s trained workforce.

The ‘Total Force’ philosophy and integration now drives a part-time / full-time workforce within the RAN. Reserve officers and sailors serve at sea and in shore establishments providing a flexible workforce to meet Navy’s needs.

Some Reserve positions are embedded in the Navy workforce and provide regular employment and careers for Reservists. There is also the ongoing requirement for Reservists to relieve PN personnel while they are on leave and undertaking courses or special projects and to provide personnel when operational tempo increases.

The Naval Reserve Capability Enhancement Program, designed to prepare Reservists for operational service, is developing well and an indication of its potential saw over 2,500 personnel deficiencies in the Armidale Class Patrol Boats resolved by Reservists in FY08/09. The program was introduced in 2006.

Navy Reserve capability is delivered by two distinct elements. Firstly, Supplementary Capability is provided predominantly through ex-PN personnel who supplement the PN in its complete range of capabilities providing surge and roundout where applicable. Secondly, Complementary Capability is provided by the Navy Reserve through skills and competency in areas where there is no inherent Navy skill base, insufficient capacity, or where the skill sets are not required on a full-time basis. Branches providing this capability are Maritime Trade Operations, Legal, Health, Intelligence, Operations Logistics and Public Relations.

In 2009, a Navy Reserve Capability Review commenced which aims to state the approved level of capability to be delivered by the Navy Reserve and to ensure that this capability is delivered from within allocated funds. Also in 2009, the Defence White Paper and subsequently the Strategic Reform Program, requires Navy to assess which capabilities currently delivered on a full-time basis might be delivered on a part-time basis and at a lower cost. Both these initiatives will determine the structure and direction of the Navy Reserve over the short to medium term.

The Naval Reserve provides an opportunity for Australians to contribute to the Australian Defence Force over a long period while adjusting to the changing demands and lifestyle of modern life in Australia. Reservists today are a mix of former Permanent Navy and civilian personnel from all walks of life who bring an extra experience to the RAN.

The total force concept and integration have made Reservists equal members of the Navy family but they still uphold the traditional Reserve motto ‘not for self but for country’.