Tanks in the Australian Army

The Australian Army, which had initially had bad experiences operating with British tanks during the early stages of their employment during the war,[1] had come to realise their utility after the battles of 1918, and in the post-war period sought to build its own armoured force.

[13][14] The unit was based at Randwick, New South Wales, and training was initially undertaken at Greenhills, which was part of the Liverpool Military Area, in Sydney.

At the start of the war, due to the limitations of the Defence Act (1903), which prevented the government from sending the Militia to fight outside Australian territory, it was decided to raise an all-volunteer force to serve overseas.

[33] The regiment subsequently fought a number of actions using a variety of armoured personnel carriers, light tanks, and 2-pounder anti-tank guns before returning to Australia in March 1942.

[37] Between mid-1942 and early 1944 the Divisional Cavalry Regiments were converted to commando units and subsequently fought in the Pacific against the Japanese as dismounted infantry.

In December two of its squadrons were subsequently shipped to Buna on the north coast of Papua to help break the deadlock in the Battle of Buna–Gona and although the lightly armoured M3 Stuart tanks proved to be unsuited to jungle warfare and suffered heavy casualties, the regiment played an important role in the eventual Australian victory at Buna during fighting between December 1942 and January 1943.

[18][47] On 1 June 1944, the unit was renamed the 1st Armoured Regiment,[18][46] and in May 1945, it took part in the amphibious landings at Balikpapan in support of the 7th Division, being involved in one of the final Australian campaigns of the war in Borneo.

[52] In a series of amphibious assaults between 1 May and 21 July, the Australian I Corps, under Lieutenant General Leslie Morshead, attacked Japanese forces occupying the island.

[54] This was followed by Oboe 6, in which the remainder of the 2/9th Armoured Regiment was attached to the 9th Division, on 10 June 1945 with simultaneous assaults on the island of Labuan and the coast of Brunei, in the north west of Borneo.

B Squadron took part in the landing at Labuan supporting the 24th Brigade's advance, assisting in the capture of the airfield, and various positions along the MacArthur Road.

At the same time, A Squadron landed on the Borneo peninsula, securing the town before being used in a defensive role due to the impenetrable terrain further inland, which was only passable on foot.

[57] Overall, while the armoured units that were involved in operations overseas acquitted themselves well, despite significant investment in the development of tank forces, they ultimately played a limited role in the Australian war effort.

[59] Despite initial delays in receiving adequate equipment a considerable force had subsequently been developed, although it was not until late 1942 that the first units saw action in support of the infantry in New Guinea.

[61] Meanwhile, as the threat of invasion passed the need for large armoured formations had lessened, and the divisions had been broken up between mid-1943 and 1944 with only one operational brigade remaining by the end of the war.

[65] Concern about the likely entry of Japan into the war and the threat it would pose to vital sea lanes, as well as the possibility of an invasion of the Australian mainland, also provided impetus for local manufacture.

[69] The New South Wales Government Railways' production line at Chullora had started assembling the first 25 AC3 tanks for trials when the programme was terminated in July 1943.

[82] Limited modifications were also undertaken on the M3 Grant medium tanks, including the fitting of a small number of dozer variants and trials to waterproof the vehicles for wading.

Built by mounting the 25 pounder gun howitzer on an American M3A5 Grant tank hull,[84] the Yeramba remains the only self-propelled artillery to have been used by the Australian Army.

[89] However, due to the perceived unsuitability of the Churchill and the late arrival of the new platform, the regiment was not deployed as part of Australia's commitment to the Korean War, although a number of officers served on exchange with British and US formations and the unit provided machine-gunners and signallers to Australian infantry battalions as reinforcements.

[91] By this time though British and Canadian armoured units were operating in sufficient strength in Korea and there was no scope for the deployment of Australian forces.

[61] A number of other CMF units operated M3 Grant medium tanks in the immediate post–war period, including the 8th/13th Victorian Mounted Rifles (8th/13th VMR) and the 4th/19th Prince of Wales's Light Horse (4th/19th PWLH), before converting to Centurions.

[97] However, in October 1967 it was announced that 1 ATF would be expanded to three infantry battalions, while additional supporting arms, including a tank squadron, would also be added to the force.

[99] Over the next four years all three of the regiment's operational squadrons eventually served in Vietnam, providing invaluable close support to the infantry, particularly during the clearance of Viet Cong bunker systems.

[98] The Centurions were able to move through the countryside more easily than expected and although they were vulnerable to anti-tank weapons and mines, their firepower and shock action had a decisive effect on the battlefield.

[98] On 6–7 June, B Squadron was involved in a fierce action during the Battle of Binh Ba, a village 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) north of Nui Dat.

[105][Note 6] During 1973, B Squadron, 1st Armoured Regiment—designated the Medium Tank Trials Unit (MTTU)—evaluated the German Leopard 1 against the American M60A1 as a replacement for the obsolete Centurions.

[110] As part of the Plan Beersheba reorganisation, the M1A1 Abrams tanks were split across each the three armoured cavalry regiments assigned to the Army's multirole combat brigades located in Brisbane, Darwin and Townsville.

[119] Recent Australian Army planning documents envision the M1A1 fleet undergoing a number of upgrades similar to those planned by the US Army to improve their "lethality, survivability and supportability" in order to keep them in service until 2035, with the acquisition of additional tanks to enhance "strategic fleet sustainability" and obstacle clearance and breaching provided by vehicles using the same chassis.

[120][121] According to one source the Australian Army believes that the optimum fleet size for the M1A1 is 90 tanks, with a range of upgrade and procurement programs currently being planned.

These tanks will be sourced from US Army stocks and be modernised before entering Australian service, with the current fleet of Abrams being returned to the United States.