Royal New South Wales RegimentPrint Page 
The monument recognizes the contribution of the volunteer citizen soldiers of this State to the defence of our Nation, and highlights the exploits of the New South Wales Contingent to the Sudan War which departed from the site of the monument in 1885.
That Contingent was the first Australian force to serve overseas, and was awarded Australia’s first Battle Honour, “Suakin 1885”, in the sole custody of The Royal New South Wales Regiment.
The theme of the memorial was to honour the embarkation overseas of citizen infantry soldiers from Circular Quay beginning in 1885. In 1885 New South Wales became the first self-governing colony in the British Empire to raise, equip and dispatch its own troops overseas to fight alongside England. The contingent was sent to Sudan to help quell an uprising led by Muhammed Ahmed, known to his followers as the Mahdi. The contingent comprised an infantry battalion of 522 men and 24 officers and an artillery battery of 212 men.
Location
| Address: | East Circular Quay , Near Opera House Steps , Sydney, 2000 |
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| State: | NSW |
| Area: | AUS |
| GPS Coordinates: | Lat: -33.858167 Long: 151.214036 Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate. |
Details
| Monument Type: | Monument |
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| Monument Theme: | Conflict |
| Sub-Theme: | Multiple |
Dedication
| Actual Monument Dedication Date: | Saturday 3rd March, 2007 |
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Depicted Below Are Volunteers
From The Colony Of New South Wales
Embarking From Here For The Sudan On
3 March 1885 To Fight Australia’s First War
They Earned For
The Royal New South Wales Regiment
The Australian Army’s First Battle Honour - Suakin
[Image of Troops Embarking]
Subsequently Citizen Soldiers Sailed From This Harbour For The War In South Africa, The Great War And The Second World War Laying Down Their Lives In Tens Of Thousands And Earning A Further 116 Battle Honours For
The Royal New South Wales Regiment Including:
Landing at ANZAC ∙ Gallipoli, 1915 ∙ Sair Bair ∙ Lone Pine
Gaza-Berrsheba ∙ Somme, 1916 18 ∙ Pozieres ∙ Bullecourt
Ypres, 1917 ∙ Passchendaele ∙ Villers Bretonneux
Amiens ∙ Mont St Quentin ∙ Hindenburg Line
North Africa, 1940-42 ∙ Bardia 1941
Defence of Tobruk ∙ El Alamein ∙ Syria, 1941
Greece, 1941 ∙ Crete ∙ Malaya, 1941-42
Kokoda Trail ∙ Buna-Gona
Shaggy Ridge
