1st Armoured Regiment (Australia)
1st Armoured Regiment | |
---|---|
King Charles III[4] (Colonel-in-Chief, RAAC) | |
Colonel of the Regiment | Major General Roger Powell AM[5] |
Insignia | |
Unit colour patch | |
Abbreviation | 1AR |
1st Armoured Regiment is an armoured
History
Formation
The 1st Armoured Regiment was raised as a
Initially the new regiment was equipped with
Meanwhile, in September 1952 another tank squadron was raised. This was known as Nucleus Squadron and, based in Holsworthy, New South Wales, with the purpose of forming the basis of a second tank unit which was to be named the 2nd Armoured Regiment. In 1954 the regiment received it first Ferret MK 1 Scout Car, enabling the raising of Reconnaissance Troop. The following year 1st Armoured Regiment received the Saracen Armoured Personnel Carrier, and it was at this time that the intention to form another tank unit was abandoned, and Nucleus Squadron subsequently returned to the regiment as its third squadron, designated C Squadron.[3]
On 6 February 1956, the then
Vietnam War
During 1964–65 the regiment provided most of the men for 1 Troop, A Squadron, 4th/19th Prince of Wales Light Horse, which was subsequently equipped with the new
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
Following several regimental-sized assaults on Coral which were successfully repelled by the Australians with heavy casualties on both sides, 1ATF moved to establish Fire Support Base Balmoral on 24–25 May, 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) north of Coral.[15] The infantry were this time supported by Centurion tanks which had been called forward by road from Nui Dat and had arrived just hours before Balmoral was subjected to a two battalion attack. Following a very accurate rocket and mortar barrage at 03:45 hours on 26 May, the base was assaulted by North Vietnamese infantry. The attack was repelled with heavy casualties by the combined firepower of the tanks and infantry.[15] The next day the Australians at Coral assaulted a number of bunkers located just outside the base, with a troop of Centurions supported by infantry destroying the bunkers and their occupants without loss.[15] A second attack, again of regimental strength, was made against Balmoral at 02:30 hours on 28 May but was called off after only 30 minutes. The North Vietnamese were soundly defeated—again by the supporting fires of tanks, artillery and mortars—leaving 55 dead and resulted in six prisoners. Australian losses were one killed and six wounded.[15] This performance demonstrated the advantage of using armour in Vietnam, and whereas before the battle some infantry had doubted the usefulness or necessity of the Centurions, after the battle the infantry did not like working without them.[6] For its involvement in the fighting at Coral–Balmoral, 'C' Squadron was awarded a Unit Citation for Gallantry in 2018.[16]
In February 1969, C Squadron was relieved by B Squadron.[6] 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. The attack began on the morning of 6 June when Australian tanks and APCs advanced with infantry from D Company, 5th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (5 RAR) towards the village which was being occupied by the Viet Cong and North Vietnamese.[17] As the battle continued, B Company, 5 RAR took up a blocking position to prevent them from escaping. During fierce urban fighting the infantry were forced to clear each house, while the Communist troops occupying the houses fired on them from the windows and doorways before retreating into tunnels as the Australians passed. Each time the infantry were fired on, the tanks would blast a hole in the wall of the building, through which small teams could then enter and clear the structure of any opposition.[17] The fighting continued throughout the afternoon, and resumed the next day before the Australians successfully cleared the village, the bulk of which was destroyed. One Australian was killed and 10 wounded, while communist losses included at least 107 killed, six wounded and eight captured.[17]
In December 1969, B Squadron was re-designated A Squadron, while in December 1970 A Squadron was in turn re-designated C Squadron.
Post-Vietnam to the present
The following years were traumatic for the regiment, and for the Australian Army, with the abolition of
On 13 July 2002, the regiment was presented with its current Standard by the then Governor General, Dr.
As part of the
In September 2023 it was announced that the 1st Armoured Regiment would be converted to an experimental unit, with the role of trialling new technologies.[31]
Organisation
From December 2017 the regiment was organised as follows:[32]
- Headquarters Squadron
- A Squadron – Cavalry (equipped with ASLAV)[Note 3]
- B Squadron – Tank (equipped with M1A1 Abrams)
- C Squadron – Cavalry (equipped with ASLAV)
- A Squadron – 3rd/9th Light Horse (South Australian Mounted Rifles) (Reserve, equipped with Hawkei)
- Support Squadron
Battle honours
- Vietnam War: Coral–Balmoral, Hat Dich, Binh Ba, Vietnam 1965–72.[6]
Alliances
- United Kingdom – Royal Tank Regiment[34]
Notes
Footnotes
- 15th Northern River Lancers to form the 1st/15th Royal New South Wales Lancers.[8]
- ^ The last CMF armoured regiment gave up its tanks in 1971, leaving the regular 1st Armoured Regiment as the only tank unit in the Australian Army.[24]
- ^ Between 2015 and 2017, A Squadron was equipped with M113AS4 Armoured Personnel Carriers under the initial Plan Beersheba force structure.[2][32][33]
Citations
- ^ a b "1st Brigade". Department of Defence. Archived from the original on 27 February 2012. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
- ^ a b c Murdoch 2015, p. 21.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i "History—1st Armoured Regiment". Department of Defence. 19 December 2006. Archived from the original on 28 July 2008. Retrieved 13 June 2010.
- ^ a b c "1st Armoured Regiment". australian-armour.com. Archived from the original on 21 July 2011. Retrieved 22 July 2010.
- ^ "1st Armoured Regiment Association Patron Major General R.A. Powell AM" (PDF). 1st Armoured Regiment Association. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2015. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "1st Armoured Regiment". Vietnam, 1962–1972 units. Australian War Memorial. Archived from the original on 26 October 2014. Retrieved 19 April 2009.
- ^ a b "1st Armoured Regiment". Second World War, 1939–1945 units. Australian War Memorial. Archived from the original on 7 January 2014. Retrieved 31 October 2009.
- ^ a b "1st RNSWL". New South Wales Lancers Memorial Museum. 2010. Archived from the original on 6 June 2010. Retrieved 15 June 2010.
- ^ Hopkins 1978, pp. 187 & 198.
- ^ Hopkins 1978, pp. 197–200.
- ^ Hopkins 1978, pp. 201 & 321.
- ^ Cameron 2012, pp. 164 & 247.
- ^ Hopkins 1978, p. 252.
- ^ Coulthard-Clark 1998, p. 287.
- ^ a b c d Coulthard-Clark 1998, p. 288.
- ^ Chester, Darren (13 May 2018). "Gallantry award for service during the Battles of Coral and Balmoral" (Press release). Canberra, Australian Capital Territory: Department of Defence. Retrieved 30 June 2019.
- ^ a b c McKay & Nicholas 2001, p. 212.
- ^ Dunstan 1982, p. 176.
- ^ a b c Toal 2008.
- ^ a b Boer 2007.
- ^ "M1A1 Abrams Tank Agreement Signed" (Press release). Department of Defence. 9 July 2004. Retrieved 21 June 2014.
- ^ Greenlees & Garran 2002, p. 276.
- ^ "A Chronological History of the 1st Armoured Regiment" (PDF). 1st Armoured Regiment Association. Archived from the original (PDF) on 3 March 2015. Retrieved 18 April 2015.
- ^ Hopkins 1978, p. 302.
- ^ Bickell 2013, p. 39.
- ^ "Multi-role Combat Brigades". Australian Army. Archived from the original on 8 April 2014. Retrieved 1 May 2014.
- ^ Kellner 2015.
- ^ Holloway 2017, p. 11.
- ^ Hamblin 2017, p. 13.
- ^ Hartigan, Brian (31 October 2017). "1st Armoured Regiment leaves Darwin". Contact. Retrieved 5 December 2017.
- ^ Dougherty, Robert (28 September 2023). "Major 'specialist combat brigades' restructure unveiled for Australian Army". Defence Connect. Retrieved 1 October 2023.
- ^ a b Gardiner 2017, p. 20.
- ^ Hetherington 2014, p. 5.
- ^ Hopkins 1978, p. 187.
References
- Australian National Audit Office (2007). Audit Report into the Acquisition of the Abrams Main Battle Tank (PDF). Canberra: Commonwealth of Australia. ISBN 978-0-642-80974-2. Archived from the original(PDF) on 26 September 2007. Retrieved 2 August 2007.
- Bickell, Craig (2013). "Plan Beersheba: The Combined Arms Imperative Behind the Reorganisation of the Army" (PDF). Australian Army Journal. X (4). Canberra, Australian Capital Territory: Land Warfare Studies Centre: 36–52. ISSN 1448-2843. Archived from the original(PDF) on 5 December 2017. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
- Boer, Corrine (26 July 2007). "Parade marks change of eras". Army: The Soldiers' Newspaper (1171 ed.). Canberra: Department of Defence. ISSN 0729-5685. Archived from the originalon 19 November 2013. Retrieved 19 April 2009.
- Cameron, Bruce (2012). Canister! On! Fire!: Australian Tank Operations in Vietnam. Vol. 1. Newport, New South Wales: Big Sky Publishing. ISBN 978-1-921941-99-3.
- Coulthard-Clark, Chris (1998). Where Australians Fought: The Encyclopaedia of Australia's Battles. St Leonards, New South Wales: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1-86448-611-2.
- Dunstan, Simon (1982). Vietnam Tracks: Armor in Battle 1945–75. Novato, California: Presidio Press. ISBN 0-89141-171-2.
- Gardiner, C.D. (2017). "1st Armoured Regiment". Ironsides: The Journal of the Royal Australian Armoured Corps. p. 20. OCLC 808384287.
- Greenlees, Don; Garran, Robert (2002). Deliverance: The Inside Story of East Timor's Fight for Freedom. Crows Nest, New South Wales: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1-86508-367-4.
- Hamblin, Maj Felicity (30 November 2017). "100 years of tank warfare" (PDF). Army: The Soldiers' Newspaper. No. 1410. Canberra: Department of Defence. ISSN 0729-5685. Retrieved 14 January 2020.
- Hetherington, WO2 Andrew (28 August 2014). "D Sqn move to APCs" (PDF). Army: The Soldiers' Newspaper. No. 1335. Canberra: Department of Defence. )
- Holloway, Lt Col John (15 June 2017). "Combat brigades embrace changes" (PDF). Army: The Soldiers' Newspaper. No. 1398. Canberra: Department of Defence. ISSN 0729-5685. Retrieved 14 January 2019.
- ISBN 0-642-99407-2.
- Kellner, Lydia (24 November 2015). "Tanks grow firepower". Townsville Bulletin. OCLC 321046904. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
- ISBN 1-86508-449-2.
- Murdoch, Michael (2015). "1st Armoured Regiment". Ironsides: The Journal of the Royal Australian Armoured Corps. p. 21. OCLC 808384287.
- Toal, Mick (10 January 2008). "Enter the Abrams". Australian Defence Magazine. Sydney, New South Wales: Yaffa Publishing Group. ISSN 1324-6550. Retrieved 13 June 2010.