Armoured units made a relatively small, but important, contribution to Australia’s war effort during World War II. While Australia formed three armoured divisions and two independent armoured brigades during the war, Australian armoured units only saw action as independent regiments and companies supporting larger infantry formations. Early actions were fought in the Middle East by the divisional carrier regiments that supported the 6th, 7th and 9th Divisions, fighting in Libya, Egypt and Syria in 1941–42, before the Australian divisions returned to Australia in 1942–43. During the early fighting in the Pacific, there was a limited role for armoured formations, although one armoured regiment – the 2/6th – took part in the fighting around Buna–Gona in late 1942. Later in the war, though, during the Huon Peninsula, Bougainville and Borneo campaigns of 1943–45, several armoured units were used by Australian forces in the infantry support role.
Pre-war
The Australian Army formed its first armoured units in the late 1920s when two independent Tank Sections equipped with Vickers Medium tanks were formed in New South Wales and Victoria. An armoured car regiment was formed in 1933 based on part of the 19th Light Horse Regiment (the remaining part of the 19th later became a machine-gun regiment), adopting the designation of the 1st Armoured Car Regiment. A second armoured car regiment, designated the 2nd Armoured Car Regiment, was formed in Sydney in 1939. Both of these units were later converted into different roles: the 1st becoming the 101st Motor Regiment, and the 2nd becoming the 2nd Armoured Regiment, and then later the 2nd Army Tank Battalion. As with the rest of the Australian Army, the outbreak of war in 1939 led to a dramatic expansion of Australia’s armoured force. Each of the four divisions in the Second Australian Imperial Force (AIF) was authorised a cavalry reconnaissance regiment equipped with light tanks and scout carriers.
Divisional cavalry regiments
Until the formation of the 1st Armoured division, the three AIF divisional cavalry regiments were Australia’s only armoured units. While all four AIF divisions were authorised a divisional cavalry regiment, only three regiments were eventually formed as it was wrongly believed that the 8th Division did not need armoured support in Malaya. The three AIF divisional cavalry regiments were: 6th Divisional Cavalry Regiment 7th Divisional Cavalry Regiment 9th Divisional Cavalry Regiment (initially formed as 8th Divisional Cavalry Regiment)
These units saw action in the Middle East – fighting against the Italians in Libya, the Vichy French in Syria, and the Germans in Egypt – with their parent formations between 1941 and 1942, before returning to Australia in 1942–43.
In December 1941, four militia light horse regiments were converted to form divisional reconnaissance battalions. These battalions were re-designated as cavalry regiments in late 1942. The four units were: 2nd Reconnaissance Battalion (ex 2nd Light Horse Regiment) 8th Reconnaissance Battalion (ex 8th Light Horse Regiment) 21st Reconnaissance Battalion (ex 21st Light Horse Regiment) 25th Reconnaissance Battalion (ex 25th Light Horse Regiment)
The organisation of a divisional cavalry regiment was: Regimental Headquarters (4 light tanks, 2 carriers) Administration Squadron Three Fighting Squadrons each with: One Squadron Headquarters (2 light tanks, 2 universal carriers) Two light tank troops (each with 3 light tanks) Three carrier troops (each with 3 carriers)
In early 1943, the three remaining AIF divisions – the 6th, 7th and 9th – and three of the militia divisions – the 3rd, 5th and 11th – were converted from motorised infantry to light infantry "Jungle Divisions". As part of this conversion, the AIF divisional cavalry regiments were re-formed as unarmoured commando regiments with the regimental headquarters commanding previously independent commando companies. The 3rd and 5th Divisions' cavalry regiments were both disbanded: the 21st Cavalry Regiment, which was assigned to the 3rd Division, was disbanded in May 1943, while the 2nd Cavalry Regiment, which was assigned to the 5th Division, was disbanded in July 1943. Many of the divisional cavalry regiments' officers and non-commissioned officers were transferred to other armoured units when their original unit converted to the commando role.
Carrier platoons and companies
During the early years of the war all Australian infantry battalions were authorised a platoon of Universal Carriers. The carrier platoons' main roles were to transport the battalion's crew served weapons and conduct reconnaissance. The carriers were also occasionally used to transport infantry.