Early years 31 RQR can trace its lineage back to units that were formed in Queensland in the mid to late 19th century. Around this time Queensland was separated from
New South Wales and when British forces were withdrawn from Australia in the 1870s there was a need for the state to take responsibility for its own defence. In 1881, a number of Volunteer Independent Rifle Companies were raised at
Charters Towers, Townsville and
Ravenswood. In 1886, these companies were brought together to form the 3rd Queensland (Kennedy) Regiment, consisting of a number of volunteer companies and partially paid militia based in the North Military Region with its headquarters and two rifle companies based in Townsville, and three more rifle companies in Charters Towers, Ravenswood and then later at Mackay. In 1899, the battalion was reorganised and the company at Mackay was converted to a mounted infantry unit. The
Queensland Defence Force was disbanded in 1903 and the colonial units were transferred to the Commonwealth Military Force under the control of the Federal government. This force then joined the
Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force for the invasion of German New Guinea, however, when the task force reached
Port Moresby, their commander, Colonel
William Holmes decided to leave them there as garrison troops as it was felt that they were not ready for combat. The detachment was subsequently sent back to Townsville and subsequently played no further part in the war as it was decided not to deploy the militia units overseas, but rather to raise a separate force for overseas service known as the
Australian Imperial Force. Despite this, many members of the Kennedy Regiment enlisted in the AIF, most of them, including the battalion's commanding officer Lieutenant Colonel Frederick Toll, joining the 31st Battalion which was raised at
Enoggera in Brisbane as part of the
8th Brigade in August 1915. Upon the battalion's arrival in Egypt, the 8th Brigade had been unattached at divisional level, but in early 1916, it was assigned to the
5th Division, after a reorganisation that saw the AIF expanded from two infantry divisions to five. In July 1916 the battalion arrived in
France where its first involvement of war on the Western Front was the
Battle of Fromelles, during which it suffered over 500 casualties and was so badly mauled that it undertook no more offensive action for the rest of the year. Later, in August 1918, the 31st Battalion was involved in the last
Allied offensive of the war when it took part in the fighting that resulted in the capture of
Villers Bretonneux and then
Bullecourt. Consequently, the Kennedy Regiment was redesignated as the 31st Battalion (Kennedy Regiment). In 1927, territorial designations were introduced and the 31st Battalion adopted the title of the "Kennedy Regiment". The battalion's motto –
Semper Paratus Defendere – was also authorised at this time. Due to the impact of the
Great Depression and a general complacency towards matters relating to defence little was spent on the military during the 1930s and there were only a limited number of volunteers. As a result, by 1939, many of the battalion's subunits had been disbanded, although the unit managed to maintain its status as a battalion even though many other units were merged or disbanded in this time. In July 1944 the battalion was gazetted as an AIF unit. Later, in August 1944, after being deployed for over a year, they were withdrawn back to Australia and after a period of leave and re-organisation, the 11th Brigade was deployed to
Bougainville in the
Solomon Islands, arriving there in December 1944. this time as the 31st Battalion, North Queensland Regiment. As a result of this the battalion became the 2nd Battalion, Royal Queensland Regiment. This saw the battalion finally become the 31st Battalion, Royal Queensland Regiment. As a result of this, it was decided to amalgamate the two existing battalions of the 11th Brigade, so that the brigade could maintain the traditional three battalion structure. As such, on 1 January 2008, 31 RQR was amalgamated with 42 RQR to form the 31st/42nd Battalion, Royal Queensland Regiment. ==Lineage==