Description
Description: Lanyard – Australian Army – Royal Australian Corps of Transport.
Condition: Very Good
Comments: Lanyard – Australian Army – Royal Australian Corps of Transport. Worn on polyester uniform and battledress by RACT soldiers.
The Royal Australian Corps of Transport is a corps within the Australian Army. It was formed in 1973 and is responsible for the operation of army surface transport assets.
The RACT was formed on 1 June 1973 from and amalgamation of a number of functions of two existing corps: Royal Australian Army Service Corps (RAASC) and Royal Australian Engineers Transportation Service (RAE-TN). From RAASC the new corps gained the responsibilities of road and amphibian transport, air dispatch and postal functions, whilst from RAE-TN it gained water transport, terminal and movements roles. The remaining RAASC functions such as the provision of foodstuffs and petrol, oils and lubricants were subsequently allocated to the Royal Australian Army Ordnance Corps (RAAOC), with RAASC ceasing to exist on 31 May 1973.
The RACT Lanyard is a braided blue and red lanyard to represent its RAASC and RAE heritage. Notably, RACT was the first corps in the Australian Army to receive approval to wear a braided lanyard.
The corps colours of the RACT are blue, white and scarlet. Each of the colours represents various aspects of the history of the corps:
Blue: representing the early uniforms worn by the corps predecessors
White: represents the white facings of the Military Train and also denotes the corps mounted background
Scarlet: represents the amalgamation of the RAE Transportation Service.
