Australia's first guns were landed from HMS Sirius and a small earthen redoubt built, near the present-day Macquarie Place, to command the approaches to Sydney Cove.

To fire long range weapons to inflict casualties, to destroy equipment and fortifications, and to cooperate with infantry and armour to eliminate enemy resistance.

The present School of Artillery (completed in 1998) is located in Puckapunyal in central Victoria and maintains modern training facilities.

[14] The silver plaque reads "Presented by His Gracious Majesty the King Emperor to the Royal Australian Artillery in recognition of the services rendered to the Empire in South Africa 1904".

The artillery units or sub-units that served in this war were A Battery, NSW Regiment RAA, and the Machine Gun Section, Queensland Regiment RAA, although many Gunners, permanent and militia, enlisted in the various colonial contingents, and after Federation the battalions of Australian Commonwealth Horse, that served in South Africa.

[19] A Battery RAA were given permission to wear their lanyard on the left shoulder in 1963, confirming an unofficial practice continued from 1931, and perpetuating a local authority for other ranks of both 7th Light Horse Regiment and the then 1st Battery, Royal Australian Field artillery, to wear a white lanyard while they were functioning as the escort to the Duke of York, the future King George VI, when he opened the first Parliament in Canberra in 1927.

This practice was unofficial although in 1925 personnel who carried whistles on duty were allowed to wear lanyards in the colour of the uniform, i.e., khaki.

The white lanyard worn by the Royal Australian Artillery has nothing whatsoever to do with the Boer War, nor was it ever used for carrying pocket knives or fuze keys.