Sydney University Regiment

Sydney University Regiment is an officer training regiment of the Australian Army Reserve. It can trace its lineage back to 1900 when the University Volunteer Rifle Corps was raised as a unit of the colonial New South Wales Defence Force. Over time this unit has undergone a number of name and role changes. Although it was not deployed during World War I a large number of its members volunteered for overseas service with the Australian Imperial Force.

Early history

The University Volunteer Rifle Corps (UVRC) was raised on the 17 November 1900, as part of the colonial Military Forces of New South Wales. The University of Sydney was the colony's only university at the time, and two of its professors, T. W. Edgeworth-David and J. T. Wilson. VD, a former officer of the East Surrey Regiment, and employed as a teacher of physics at the University, encouraged the formation of a volunteer military unit.

Military training commenced in early 1901 with one hundred volunteers. The volunteers held their first parade in uniform later that year, when visited by the Duke of York, later to become His Majesty King George the Fifth. The UVRC appeared in public for the first time at a review ceremony in Centennial Park to mark the occasion of the coronation of His Majesty King Edward the Seventh.

In 1903, the UVRC changed its name to the Sydney University Scouts (SUS) and the establishment had by then doubled to two rifle companies. When universal conscription was introduced in 1911, the Scouts'...
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