182-478: The Newcastle Covering Force was an Australian militia force responsible for protecting the strategically important Newcastle region in New South Wales and its approaches during World War II . Established on 8 April 1941, the formation's composition changed over the course of its existence, starting from a single infantry battalion support by a machine-gun unit and swelling to roughly brigade-size, with
364-559: A German commerce raider in Australian waters caused a mobilisation from February to April 1916, while another mobilisation occurred in April 1918 for the same reason. Just before the end of World War I, Australia's home forces were reorganised to perpetuate the numerical identities of the AIF units. This was done renumbering the infantry regiments that had been formed in 1912, and giving them
546-403: A brigade headquarters and three battalions – two infantry and one garrison – supported initially by a machine gun battalion that was later converted to a motor regiment. The unit was responsible for defending the important port and air bases in and around the town, part of Fortress Newcastle, against a feared Japanese invasion . Newcastle Covering Force was converted on 15 April 1942 to
728-461: A colony at Port Phillip . After establishing a short lived settlement near the current site of Sorrento , he wrote to King, expressing his dissatisfaction with the location, and seeking permission to relocate the settlement to the Derwent River . Realising that the fledgling settlement at Risdon Cove would be well reinforced by Collins' arrival, King agreed to the proposal. Collins arrived at
910-522: A decline in genuine voluntary enlistment. To a large extent also, the government's decision to not use the CMF during this time highlighted the organisation's increasing structural irrelevance, and questions about the role that the CMF had to play in the defence of Australia would remain until following the end of the Vietnam War . Meanwhile, the last CMF armoured regiment gave up its tanks in 1971. When
1092-962: A doctor in the New South Wales Medical Corps, received the Victoria Cross for his actions during the war, rescuing a wounded soldier under fire at Vredefort in July 1900. A small detachment of New South Wales permanent infantry were deployed to China in September 1900 as part of the New South Wales Naval Brigade during the Boxer Rebellion . They returned to Australia in March 1901 without taking part in any significant actions. A survey of New South Wales' military forces on 31 December 1900,
1274-467: A fixed period of service to meet an obligation. Although this force ultimately proved unsuccessful, it sowed the seeds for further development later. In the 1850s, the provision of responsible government to the colonies led to increased responsibility and self-reliance. Additionally, around this time there were growing security concerns following the French annexation of New Caledonia and the outbreak of
1456-511: A form of national service . It was also decided that the CMF would be re-organised along the lines of the AIF, adopting the divisional structure of the AIF units and maintaining their battle honours . The AIF officially ceased to exist on 1 April 1921 and the new organisation of the Citizen Forces was adopted a month later; this saw the reorganisation of the 88 infantry battalions and five pioneer regiments that had been established under
1638-720: A further re-organisation of the CMF was undertaken as existing battalions were reduced and additional battalions were raised in the more populous areas, namely in Queensland, Victoria and New South Wales. Concerns about the regional identity of these units were addressed by reintroducing the old numerical designations. In 1966, the Army authorised the raising of six remote area battalions, one in each state. These units offered special conditions of service for men who could not meet their training requirements through normal attendance due to their occupation or place of residence. Ultimately though
1820-445: A further three years in the CMF. Despite this, however, potential conscripts were given the option to voluntarily enlist in the CMF prior to their date of birth being announced, thus exempting them from being drafted for overseas service. Due to the desire of many to avoid being sent overseas, as a result of this option, it was estimated that by 1968 almost half of the 35,000 men in the CMF had joined to avoid being drafted. This led to
2002-674: A lack of command and control. Not only did this affect the efficiency of the colonial forces, it also resulted in considerable fluctuations in troop numbers. The dispatch of about several thousand volunteers to fight in New Zealand in the early 1860s also reduced the manpower available. Further strategic concerns such as the American Civil War , Russian involvement in Afghanistan and the Franco-German War in
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#17327752676412184-473: A large extent they continued to be trained and equipped with 1914–18 equipment right up to and during World War II . The result of this change in recruitment policy was a huge drop in the size of the Army, as numbers fell by almost 20,000 in one year as there was little prospect for training and as the financial difficulties of the Great Depression began to be felt. As a result, in 1930 the decision
2366-609: A military career were obliged to join the British Army , until the formation of locally raised volunteer militia units after responsible self-government was granted in each of the Australian colonies after 1855. Although the British Army did not actively recruit in Australia, "hundreds" of Australians are believed to have joined British regiments. One Australian, Andrew Douglass White, served as an engineer officer at
2548-468: A number of colonies, decreased training opportunities, reductions in pay for militia and decreased turn out in volunteer units, although this last effect was largely turned around by the mid-1890s when members of the militia and permanent forces who had been turned out due to economic circumstances joined the ranks of the volunteers. At the same time, industrial disputes in Victoria and Queensland, led to
2730-435: A part-time militia was set out in legislation. The lack of importance placed on military matters in Australian political circles continued for some time, and the size of the Australian military in this time continued to fall, in part due to the emphasis placed upon mounted units in the new command structure. However, following a number of strategic and political "scares", defence matters slowly began to take on more primacy in
2912-430: A platform upon which the Army could mobilise in the event of a war. Initially, the plan had been for the CMF to be made up of 50,000 men organised into two divisions and other units, however, recruitment was unable to meet these targets as initially it was attempted to achieve this through voluntary enlistment. Indeed, in its first year of existence, the actual strength of the CMF was only 8,698 personnel, although this rose
3094-582: A policy of two armies. For the first two years Australia's involvement in the war was focused in overseas theatres in Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, and during this time it was the AIF that was involved in the fighting overseas, while units of the Militia were used in garrison duties in Australia and New Guinea , then occupied by Australia. During this time, the Militia units came to be derided by
3276-424: A reconnaissance regiment. The two CMF armoured brigade headquarters were also disbanded. At the same time, it was decided to amalgamate old local and regional regiments that had existed into six new multi-battalion state-based regiments. While the pentropic system eventually fell by the wayside, these regiments have endured, maintaining the battle honours of the previously existing Militia units that had perpetuated
3458-484: A reflection of overall higher standard of training. This initiative shows that in recent decades, there are now many positions for which there is little training gap at all between Reservists and Permanent Force members. In 2008–09 total strength included 17,064 active personnel. In addition there were another 12,496 members of the Standby Reserve. In late 2008 a company from the 1st Commando Regiment became
3640-614: A result of this, Militia units saw action against Japanese forces in the Dutch East Indies , at Merauke , later in the war. Despite these changes, the AIF remained the Australian Army's main combat force during the war and indeed more than 200,000 members of the Militia transferred to the AIF throughout the course of the conflict. Nevertheless, 32 Militia infantry battalions, later organised into three Militia divisions ( 3rd , 5th and 11th ), saw service over much of
3822-483: A result, until the 1870s when the last imperial troops were withdrawn, British regular troops constantly garrisoned the colonies. During their postings to Australia, most of the regiments rotated duties in the various colonies, and often had detachments located in geographically diverse locations at the same time. Accompanying the First Fleet to Port Jackson were three companies of marines totalling 212 men under
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#17327752676414004-530: A rotational basis, along with elements of the marines, Royal Engineers and Royal Artillery . Many of these units were veterans of famous battles of the Napoleonic Wars, and ultimately 13 "Peninsula regiments" served in the colonies. While deployed, British Army regiments undertook a variety of duties. This included guarding convict settlements, hunting down bushrangers , suppressing armed resistance by Indigenous Australians , providing security on
4186-546: A series of military style operations in an effort to push the Tasmanian Aboriginals into a small pocket of land on the Tasman Peninsula in an unsuccessful attempt to isolate them, and prevent further conflicts between the two groups. In 1838 plans were drawn up for a more elaborate network of coastal fortifications. Money did not permit all of the batteries to be established, but work was begun on
4368-561: A series of operations against bushrangers. By 1818, the Mulgrave Battery , consisting of six guns, had been built on Castray Esplanade, on the southern side of Battery Point upon the orders of Lieutenant Governor William Sorell . In 1824 the battery was expanded to include two 13-pounders and four 9-pounders; two other guns, 6-pounder brass pieces, were positioned in Angelsea Barracks. The period of 1828 until 1832
4550-536: A six-day annual camp out of fear of losing their civilian employment. Also, it has been estimated that up to 50 per cent of the Militia's other ranks were medically unfit. The numbers situation had become so tenuous that it was rare for a battalion to be able to field even 100 men during an exercise, so units accepted men that would not normally meet the medical requirements, indeed it has been stated that men who were "lame and practically blind" were allowed to join in an effort to improve numbers. To illustrate this, in 1936,
4732-938: A small number of doctors, nurses, supply troops and engineer and machine gun units were raised. By 1900, the Civil Service Volunteer Infantry Corps, the University Volunteer Rifles Corps, the Canterbury Mounted Rifles, the Drummoyne Volunteer Company, the Army Nursing Service Reserve and Army Medical Corps had also been added. Hostilities commenced in the Boer War in October 1899, and all
4914-416: A survey of colonial military forces, to state his belief that the colonies could be defended by the rapid mobilisation of standard brigades. He called for a restructure of colonial defences, and defensive agreements to be made between the colonies. He also called for professional units to replace all of the volunteer forces. By 1901, the Australian colonies were federated and formally joined together to become
5096-662: A time of war would be built, instead it would be used to augment the Regular Army. This was the first step in creating the concept of a total force, in which the differing virtues of the citizen soldier and the regular soldier would be used to complement each other, and in this vein the Millar Report recommended that the name be changed from the CMF to the Australian Army Reserve. Nevertheless, due to further cuts in defence spending and an eagerness of
5278-453: A time to provide sixteen days continuous service manning guard posts at selected points around the country. This was later expanded on 15 September to include all of the Militia, in two drafts of 40,000 men, for one month's continuous training, however, the suspension on compulsory training introduced in 1929 was not amended until January 1940. On 5 September 1939 it was also announced that a division would be raised for overseas service, but there
5460-610: A total of approximately 2,400 Army Reserve personnel have deployed on operations. In 2011, the Army Reserve's role and structure began being reformed under the Plan Beersheba reorganisation of the Army. The Army has stated that the reserves' role will become "to deliver specified capability and support and sustain Australian Defence Force (ADF) preparedness and operations". As part of this reform,
5642-498: A unified force controlled by the Commonwealth was an inevitable, albeit slowly realised, consequence, given that the new Constitution of Australia assigned primary responsibility for defence to the Commonwealth. Indeed, this process took some time as, to a large extent, matters of defence were not necessarily a priority of the new Australian legislature at the time, and there was also a considerable diversity in opinion regarding
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5824-403: A vehicle of the Regular Army to denigrate the CMF as some opponents predicted, the report did much to highlight many of the conceptual and structural problems that the CMF was afflicted by at the time, however, the way in which the government chose to implement the recommendations, and indeed the way in which some of them were allowed to lapse, ultimately served to at least partially justify some of
6006-475: A widespread public perception that the CMF was a refuge for " draft dodgers ", and to the creation of an organisation in which the majority of its members had little or no motivation to fulfil their training obligations. Although this was not a universal experience, overall it affected the morale of the CMF and, coupled with the decision by the government not to activate CMF units for service in Vietnam, this led to
6188-401: A year later and Western Australia in 1861. The majority of the volunteers were located in Victoria, which was the largest and economically the most prosperous colony, and regardless of the efforts of these colonies, for the rest of the decade, the colonial forces were plagued by problems of discipline, a lack of purpose, obsolete equipment, heavy financial burdens upon members, poor training and
6370-683: The 10th Division , a regular Australian Army unit, following a complete re-organisation of the higher command structures of the Australian Army. The following units were force assigned to the Newcastle Covering Force: Australian Army Reserve The Australian Army Reserve is a collective name given to the reserve units of the Australian Army . Since the Federation of Australia in 1901,
6552-633: The Battle of Waterloo in 1815, while another, Spicer Cookworthy, served as a subaltern in the 1st Regiment of Foot during the Crimean War . In the mid-1860s the cost of maintaining forces in Australia became the focus of considerable debate in the House of Commons in Britain and as result in March 1862, it was "resolved that those colonies which had achieved responsible government would have to bear
6734-692: The Boer War and in the First World War as the " light horse ", and it was around this time that an Australian character arguably began to develop amongst the colonial forces. In 1889, Major General Bevan Edwards surveyed the military forces of the colonies and recommended that the colonies should combine their military forces and recommending the creation of a unified force of between 30,000 and 40,000 men, which would be organised into standard brigades consisting of foot and mounted infantry, engineers and artillery that could be rapidly mobilised through
6916-836: The Chitral Expedition in early 1895. Many of the volunteer units that were raised around this time often had affiliations with expatriate groups, and names such as the Scottish Rifles, the Irish Rifles, the St. George's Rifles, and the Australian Rifles, reflected this. By 1897, there was also the 1st Australian Volunteer Horse and the Railway Volunteer Corps, and a "National Guard" of volunteer veterans. The colony also began recruiting
7098-877: The Commonwealth Forces following the creation of the Commonwealth of Australia . Colonial forces, including home raised units, saw action in many of the conflicts of the British Empire during the 19th century. Members from British regiments stationed in Australia saw action in India, Afghanistan , the New Zealand Wars , the Sudan conflict , and the Boer War in South Africa. Despite an undeserved reputation of colonial inferiority, many of
7280-623: The Dervish revolt in the eastern Sudan , they offered the British forces there the service of New South Wales forces. The offer was accepted, and within two weeks a force of 30 officers and 740 men comprising an infantry battalion, with artillery and support units, was enrolled, re-equipped and dispatched for Africa. They were farewelled from Circular Quay in Sydney on 3 March 1885 by an enormous public gathering and marching bands. The contingent
7462-601: The Queens Battery , located at the site of the regatta ground on the Queens Domain . The battery was set back by delays and funding problems, and was not completed until 1864 having taken more than 24 years. By 1840, the newly arrived commander of the Royal Engineers, Major Roger Kelsall, was alarmed to discover how inadequately defended the now growing colony was. He drew up plans for the expansion of
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7644-485: The Whitlam government came to power in late 1972, the CMF was in a very poor state. The new government moved quickly to end conscription, and this caused the CMF's strength to fall by roughly 5,000 to 23,119 by June 1973. In 1973 a committee of inquiry into the CMF was announced, under the chairmanship of Dr. T.B Millar and the subsequent report developed from this inquiry became known as the Millar Report. Far from being
7826-492: The transportation of convicts . The fleet, consisting of 11 ships, had arrived in Australia with just over 1100, of which around 750 convicts under the guard of marines , to establish a colony with convict labour at Port Jackson . Initially the colony was run as an open prison under the governance of Royal Navy Captain Arthur Phillip . Later, as more free settlers were attracted to Australia and transportation
8008-557: The whaler Albion . Accompanying him were three female and 21 male convicts, guarded by a company of the New South Wales Corps, as well as a small number of free settlers. A second ship, the Lady Nelson , joined them and in early September 1803 a settlement was established at Risdon Cove . At the same time David Collins departed from England in April 1803, aboard HMS Calcutta with orders to establish
8190-531: The "Irish Rebellion" and sometimes the second "Battle of Vinegar Hill" in reference to the uprising which took place in Ireland during the Irish Rebellion of 1798 , it was a rebellion against British colonial authority that occurred when Irish convicts, led by Phillip Cunningham and William Johnson, along with many hundreds took up arms at Castle Hill and marched towards Parramatta, expecting support from
8372-489: The 1100 convicts from the river flat settlement at Green Hills, today's Hawkesbury . In response, martial law was declared and a detachment of 56 men from the New South Wales Corps under the command of Major George Johnston , marched all night to Parramatta and then pursued the rebels to near the modern Sydney suburb of Rouse Hill , where they engaged with the main rebel force consisting of about 230 to 260 men. A firefight followed between well trained and armed soldiers and
8554-730: The 1840s, there were between four and six, although this fell to two in the early 1850s after the end of transportation and then to one by the end of the decade as troops were dispatched to India during the Indian Mutiny and to New Zealand to fight during the New Zealand Wars or were needed elsewhere in the British Empire. In the 1860s, Melbourne was used as the headquarters of the Australia and New Zealand Military Command, although by this time British forces in Australia consisted mainly of garrison artillery. The British regiments that garrisoned Australia were primarily raised in Britain; however, any Australian born subjects who wished to pursue
8736-540: The 1860s and 1870s, made defence reform an important item in many colonial parliaments and a number of committees and commissions were formed. The situation regarding the question of colonial defence measures had come to a head in 1870 when British forces stopped garrisoning the colonies. In response, the colonies took the first steps towards the creation of a regular or "permanent" force when small forces of infantry and artillery were raised in Victoria and New South Wales. Other reforms that took place around this time included
8918-409: The 1918 scheme, the abolition of infantry regiments and the re-establishment of the 60 infantry battalions that had existed within the AIF, as well as various other units, such as light horse regiments, as well. There was little support for compulsory military service amongst the public, however, and combined with the financial pressure that the government felt at that time to reduce defence spending,
9100-426: The 1920 recommendations were not fully implemented. Although the compulsory training scheme was retained, it was decided that it would only be focused on the more populated areas, essentially ending the scheme in rural areas. The result of this was that the course of only a year the strength of the Citizen Forces fell from 127,000 to only 37,000 in 1922. Throughout the 1920s, numbers decreased even further and although
9282-401: The AIF were disbanded, and the focus of Australian defence planning returned once more to the maintenance of the Citizen Forces. To this end, a review of defence requirements in 1920 established the need for Australia to be able to field a force of approximately 270,000 men in the event of a war, of which half of this would be maintained in peacetime through compulsory enlistment, i.e. in essence
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#17327752676419464-571: The Army after East Timor further emphasised the need to develop the capability of the Army Reserve. Since then increasing numbers of Reservists have been deployed overseas in varying capacities as well as undertaking periods of full-time service in Australia to maintain capabilities within Regular units heavily committed to deployments to Iraq , Afghanistan , East Timor and the Solomon Islands . In lower intensity areas, such as East Timor and
9646-510: The Army at that time as a "home service army" made up primarily of citizen soldiers. In late 1899, the outbreak of fighting in South Africa against the Boers, resulted in the dispatch of contingents from all colonies and an increase in volunteers serving in local units in Australia. Finally, on 1 March 1901, three months after the Federation of Australia became a reality, the Australian Army
9828-423: The Australian Army Reserve have been deployed to East Timor and the Solomon Islands on peacekeeping duties and many more individual Reservists have been used to provide specialist capabilities and to fill in Regular Army formations being sent overseas. Following the Federation of Australia in 1901, the amalgamation of the military forces controlled by the six separate, self-governing British colonies to form
10010-589: The Australian Army. Australia was first formally claimed by Great Britain on 22 August 1770 by James Cook RN, however it was not settled until 26 January 1788 with the arrival of the First Fleet . Frustrated in 1783 by the loss of their American colonies on the signing of the Treaty of Paris which formally ended the American Revolutionary War , the British sought a new destination for
10192-472: The Australian colonies agreed to send troops in support of the British cause. The First New South Wales Contingent arrived in South Africa in November 1899. New South Wales' contribution was the largest amongst all of the colonies, with a total of 4,761 men being sent prior to Federation either at the colony's or Imperial expense. A further 1,349 were sent later as part of Commonwealth forces. The total size of
10374-532: The Australian mainland . In April 1942, following the loss of Malaya and Singapore and the subsequent Japanese landings in New Guinea, the possibility of invasion appeared much more real. Seeing the threat that the Japanese posed to British and Australian interests in the region, the government had begun to bring AIF units back from the Middle East. Nonetheless, the bulk of the forces immediately available for
10556-474: The Australian psyche before a review of defence needs was made in 1909 by Field Marshal Lord Kitchener . The result of this review was the realisation of the need to build a credible defence force that could not only defend the nation, but also possibly contribute to the Imperial defence system (although this later realisation remained little more than a consideration on paper only). The review also validated
10738-421: The British garrison was expanded in the 1820s. Further plans were made in the 1840s and early 1850s, but these also came to nothing. The first steps towards developing a defence manufacturing industry in Australia came in 1845, however, when 5.5-inch mortar shells went into production in Sydney to meet the demand for high trajectory fire support for British infantry attacks on Maori forts in New Zealand. With
10920-425: The Citizen Forces units remained in Australia. With the outbreak of World War II a similar situation evolved, with the establishment of an all-volunteer expeditionary force, however, with the entry of Japan into the war the threat to Australia became more direct and a number of Militia units were called upon to fight in New Guinea and other areas of the South West Pacific. Following the end of World War II, however,
11102-408: The Commonwealth of Australia, and the federal government assumed all defensive responsibilities. The Federation of Australia came into existence on 1 January 1901 and as of that time the constitution of Australia stated that all defence responsibility was vested in the Commonwealth government. Co-ordination of Australia-wide defensive efforts in the face of imperial German interest in the Pacific Ocean
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#173277526764111284-492: The Commonwealth. The first military forces raised in the colony of New South Wales were formed in June 1801, when "loyal associations" formed mainly from free settlers, were established in Sydney and Parramatta in response to concerns about a possible uprising by Irish convicts. Consisting of about 50 men each, and receiving training from non-commissioned officers of the New South Wales Corps, these associations are reputed to have been "reasonably efficient". In 1803, in light of
11466-422: The Crimean War, and these factors led to the raising of several "volunteer" units in New South Wales, Victoria and South Australia. These formations were unpaid and were required to provide their own uniforms, although the government furnished them with arms and ammunition. As a result of their status, these units had certain privileges that militia units did not possess such as the right to elect their own officers,
11648-436: The Daruk people. Between 1786 and 1792 an ad hoc volunteer unit known as the New South Wales Marine Corps from the British Royal Navy was created to guard the convicts aboard the First Fleet to Australia and to preserve "subordination and regularity" in the penal colony in New South Wales . On 4 March 1804, the New South Wales Corps was called into action to put down the Castle Hill convict rebellion . Also known as
11830-402: The Derwent River on 16 February 1804, aboard Ocean . The settlement that Bowen had established at Risdon Cove did not impress Collins, and he decided to relocate the settlement 5 miles (8.0 km) down river, on the opposite shore. They landed at Sullivans Cove on 21 February 1804, and created the settlement that was to become Hobart . Soon after this, Collins decided that coastal defence
12012-433: The Hobart Town settlement, he was alarmed at the poor state of defence, and the general disorganisation of the colony. Along with planning for a new grid of streets to be laid out, and new administrative and other buildings to be constructed, he commissioned the building of Anglesea Barracks , which opened by 1814. The same year, the 73rd was replaced by the 46th (South Devonshire) Regiment of Foot, who subsequently undertook
12194-400: The Japanese drove towards Port Moresby , members of the Militia found themselves on the front lines. As reinforcements were brought up from Australia, the Militia units that had been sent to New Guinea as garrison troops earlier in the war were called upon to fight a stubborn rearguard action on the Kokoda Track to delay the Japanese advance long enough for these reinforcements to arrive. At
12376-415: The Mulgrave Battery, and an additional fortification further up the slopes of Battery Point. Work began the same year using convict labour, and soon the Prince of Wales Battery, consisting of 10 guns, was completed. Despite these improvements, the battery was badly sited. As a result, at the height of the Crimean War in 1854, a third battery, known as the Prince Albert Battery was completed even higher behind
12558-424: The New South Wales Corps as they advanced towards the rebels, militia personnel from the Sydney and Parramatta Loyal Associations had taken over the role of guarding strategic locations to free up men from the New South Wales Corps. This unit was later disbanded in 1810, however, following the departure of the New South Wales Corps and the arrival of regular British infantry regiments, while the Governor's Body Guard
12740-443: The New South Wales Invalid Company was formed for veteran British soldiers and marines who were too old "to serve to the best of their capacity", and served mainly as post guards, for the supervision of convicts and other government duties. It was composed of veterans of the 102nd, and other units from veteran soldiers. By 1817 Lachlan Macquarie felt they were unable to perform even these duties, and recommended their disbandment. This
12922-442: The New South Wales contingent over the entire war was 6,110 troops of all ranks, which was broken down into 314 officers, and 5,796 other ranks. These men served various units including the New South Wales Infantry Company, the New South Wales Lancers, the New South Wales Mounted Rifles, the New South Wales Citizens Bushmen, and the New South Wales Imperial Bushmen. One member of the New South Wales forces, Lieutenant Neville Howse ,
13104-567: The New South Wales government decided to raise a "regular" or permanent military force, consisting of two infantry companies and one artillery battery, which were raised the following year. The infantry companies were short lived, being disbanded in 1873, however, the artillery battery, known as 'A' Field Battery , was successfully established in August 1871 to replace the units of the Royal Artillery that returned to Britain. Nevertheless,
13286-608: The Pacific and in order to secure any strategic locations within the southern station of the Pacific Ocean which might have been of use to France, King dispatched an expedition to settle Van Diemen's Land. John Bowen , a 23-year-old lieutenant , had arrived in Sydney aboard HMS Glatton , on 11 March 1803. King considered him the right man for the task, and towards the end of August 1803, Bowen left for Van Diemen's Land aboard
13468-585: The Prince of Wales Battery. By 1862, the guns allocated to these batteries were: four 32-pounders in the Albert Battery, six 32-pounders and four 8-inch in the Prince of Wales Battery and seven 32-pounders and four 8-inch in the Queens Battery. Another two 32-pounders were located at Denison. In the late 1840s the question of raising local forces was considered; the size of the British garrison in
13650-554: The Ready Reserve scheme was established. Under this scheme the 6th Brigade , an existing Regular brigade based in Brisbane at the time, was converted to a Ready Reserve formation. The majority of the personnel were Reservists who undertook a period of twelve months full-time service before returning to normal Reserve status for a further four years. The scheme showed considerable promise. Nevertheless, due to cost constraints it
13832-528: The Regular Army in times of heavy operational commitment. As such, in late 2000 the government did what many governments had toyed with since the formation of the citizen force almost a hundred years earlier: enacting legislation that enabled the call-up of Reservists to full-time service in circumstances that fell short of a full scale defence emergency, thereby allowing their deployment overseas, while also protecting their employment and providing remuneration to employers. The continuing high operational tempo of
14014-493: The Regular Army, and there has been considerable debate about the role of the Army Reserve within defence planning circles. As the strategic situation has evolved in the post Cold War era, the organisation, structure, training and role of the Army Reserve has undergone considerable changes, and members of the Army Reserve are increasingly being used on overseas deployments, not only within Regular Army units, but also in units drawn almost entirely from Reserve units. Despite being
14196-500: The Reserves and despite these major reviews, as late as the 1990s the Army still had not managed to develop a well-structured reserve force, as it had continued to grapple with the competing demands of maintaining large-scale general readiness over developing a 'hard core' of capability within the Reserves that would be able to provide the Army with a nucleus force in times of national emergency. In 1991, in an attempt to rectify this,
14378-548: The Royal South Australian Volunteer Militia was formed. As a "militia" unit, although they were paid or partially paid and equipped via government funds, they were nevertheless citizen soldiers. Provisionally, the militia's establishment could be maintained by a compulsory ballot among men of certain ages who could be compelled to fight, albeit within certain prescribed territorial limits, and who were generally considered to be engaged for
14560-743: The Solomon Islands, formed units of Reservists raised from personnel drawn from many units, have been deployed on peacekeeping duties to relieve the pressure being placed upon the Regular Army and allowing them to focus on the higher intensity combat zones in Iraq and Afghanistan. In addition to this Australian Army Reserve units have been deployed on border security duties with the Royal Australian Navy as part of Operation Relex , as well as participating regularly in multinational exercises such as Rifle Company Butterworth . As such,
14742-490: The South West Pacific and participated in the following campaigns: Salamaua-Lae , Huon Peninsula , Finisterre Range , New Britain and Bougainville . Due to an overcommitment of resources early in the war, the Australian economy suffered badly from manpower shortages as early as 1942. As a result, the government began the demobilisation process before the war was over and, when it had finally come to an end,
14924-472: The Tasmanian battalion was never formed. The subordinate relationship between the CMF and Regular Army was further underlined when the national service scheme was re-introduced in 1965, albeit in the guise of a selective ballot. Whereas previous incarnations of the system had not allowed for national servicemen to be sent overseas (within various definitions of that term), the new scheme was implemented with
15106-587: The University Regiments and the Papua New Guinea Volunteer Rifles which remained unchanged. The remaining battalions were later merged into just nine battalions. Meanwhile, the CMF armoured units had already been rationalised in 1957 and as a result the change to the pentropic structure mostly resulted in a change in role only, such as the 4th/19th Prince of Wales's Light Horse , which changed from an armoured unit to
15288-456: The ability to choose the length of their service, and being exempted from military discipline. There was an important social distinction, too, with the volunteer forces being drawn mainly from the upper class due to being unpaid. Over time, the distinctions between volunteer and militia units became less clear as some volunteer units became paid or partially paid, lost their right to elect their officers and increasingly became regulated; likewise,
15470-460: The call out of military forces. Although these deployments successfully restored peace, it arguably led to the distrust of the military by working class Australians which later, along with competing imperial and national priorities, shaped the provisions of the Defence Act (1903) which was enacted to establish the structure of the Australian Army after Federation and which firmly established
15652-486: The colonial Governors had the authority from the British crown to raise military and naval forces. Initially these were militias in support of British regulars, but British military support for the colonies ended in 1870, and the colonies assumed their own defence. The separate colonies maintained control over their respective militia forces and navies until 1 March 1901, when the colonial forces were all amalgamated into
15834-567: The colonies. Further co-operation came when, in July 1899, the permanent artillery forces of Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria were grouped together to form the Royal Australian Artillery Regiment . The early 1880s saw a rapid increase in the size of the colonial military forces. Between 1883 and 1885, the force rose from 8,000 to 22,000 men, although only roughly 1,000 of these were permanent soldiers. In 1885, unpaid volunteer soldiering returned following
16016-520: The colony at the time was around 1,500, which was deemed more than sufficient to meet the colony's needs. As a result, it was estimated that only two artillery companies were required to augment the British garrison, which could be raised from among the local populace. This proposal was not acted upon, however. Following the decline of British military presence in Tasmania, the Governor of Tasmania felt
16198-426: The colony virtually defenceless. The existing fortresses had fallen into a state of decay and it was decided that the Prince of Wales and Prince Albert Batteries were inadequate for the defence of the town. As a result, in 1871 work was begun on another battery but it was stopped when funding ran out. Even if work had been completed, though, the battery would have been ineffective as there were no artillerymen to service
16380-558: The colony was against the deployment. They subsequently returned to Sydney by 23 June 1885. Despite their service, and their engagements at Tamai and Takdul, the New South Wales Sudan contingent was ridiculed by the media upon their return to New South Wales. Nevertheless, the contingent's efforts were recognised with an official battle honour – "Suakin 1885" – which was the first battle honour awarded to an Australian unit. The New South Wales School of Gunnery
16562-472: The colony was also improved, largely due to the recommendations of Jervois and Scratchley, with new forts such as Fort Scratchley and Bare Island being built, while existing locations were upgraded with new rifled muzzle loading guns. When the government of New South Wales received news in February 1885, of the death of General Charles Gordon at Khartoum during the short-lived British campaign against
16744-564: The command of Major Robert Ross, to guard the fledgling colony of Sydney and that of Norfolk Island , which had been established on 6 March 1788 to provide a food base and investigate supply of masts and flax for canvas for the Royal Navy. In 1790 the Second Fleet arrived, and the marines were relieved by a new force which was created specifically for service in the colony of New South Wales . With an average strength of 550 men, it
16926-431: The composition and size of the new national army and role it would play at home and indeed within the wider Imperial defence system. Nevertheless, the official transfer of forces from the states to the Commonwealth occurred on 1 March 1901, and this date is today celebrated as the birthday of the modern Australian Army. At the outset, the bulk of the Commonwealth military force was to be made up of part-time volunteers. This
17108-409: The compulsory military training scheme that was to be introduced in 1910, which was directly responsible for expanding the Citizen Forces by up to 50 percent in the three years prior to the outbreak of World War I . Separately then-Brigadier Kenneth Mackay CB VD was appointed to draw up plans for the Australian Army Reserve in 1915, and became its first director-general in 1916. Undoubtedly,
17290-501: The convicts after which the rebels dispersed. By the time that the fugitives had been chased down over the following days, at least 15 rebels had been killed and six were wounded, while another 26 had been captured, according to official records. Nine rebels were subsequently hanged. Following the events of the Rum Rebellion , the New South Wales Corps was disbanded, reformed as the 102nd Regiment , and returned to England. At
17472-425: The cost of their own internal defences". Although the British continued to provide military forces in the way of 15 companies of infantry, these were paid for by the colonial governments in the form of a capitation payment. Additionally, between 1856 and 1870, several different companies/batteries of the Royal Artillery served in New South Wales, as well as engineer units, marines and various support units. There
17654-440: The customs, traditions, uniforms, heraldry and organisational structure that developed in the colonial forces and which, through these links, have been maintained in the modern incarnation of the Australian Army. For the majority of the period from 1788 to 1870, the military forces of the Australian colonies consisted mainly of a garrison provided by the British Army . Nevertheless, an early attempt at forming local units came in
17836-427: The cynicism voiced in certain CMF circles about the report. The committee found that the CMF was a hollow shell of its former self, depleted in numbers and in equipment and unable to adequately fulfil its tasks. However, it still found that there was a role for the CMF to play in the strategic environment that existed at the time, although it would no longer be called upon to provide the base upon which mobilisation in
18018-501: The day before Federation, found that the active forces consisted of 505 officers and 8,833 other ranks, 26 nurses, and 1906 civilian rifle club members. In addition to these forces, there was an inactive reserve of 130 officers and 1,908 other ranks. In 1802, amidst the backdrop of the Napoleonic Wars , concerns about French interest in Australia drove an expansion of the British colony. French explorers had been encountered in
18200-431: The decision was made to establish a permanent standing defence force and the role of Reserve forces was reduced to the point where for a while their relevance was called into question. Recently, however, there has been a move to develop a more capable Reserve force, as Australia's overseas military commitments in the Pacific and Middle East have highlighted the importance of the Reserves once more. As such, since 2000 units of
18382-465: The defence of Australia came from the militia, which was at that stage an organisation of some 265,000 men organised into five infantry and two cavalry divisions. Despite earlier derision, a number of Militia units went on to perform with distinction during the Pacific War , especially in 1942, when they fought Japanese forces in New Guinea. As the situation in the Pacific worsened in July 1942 and
18564-409: The departure of the 18th (Royal Irish) , the withdrawal of British forces from Australia was completed, except for a small number of Royal Marines who would remain in the country until 1913, and the local forces assumed total responsibility for the defence of the colonies. The influence of the British Army would continue to be felt, however, through fortifications and defences that were built and in
18746-515: The disbandment of the light horse and the withdrawal of the right of the volunteer forces to elect their officers. In 1885 annual Easter training camps were established; that year the size of Tasmania's military force had grown to 974 men. Work on the Kangaroo Bluff Battery was also completed at this time with the arrival of two 12.5 ton cannons from England. The first shots were fired on 12 February 1885. The Alexandra battery
18928-536: The dispatch of a contingent of New South Wales soldiers to fight in the Sudan led to fears of a Russian attack on Australia. The resultant wave of patriotism forced the colonial governments to allow citizens to form new units of "second-line" troops who were not as well trained as the paid volunteers or voluntary militiamen. This wave of patriotism resulted in the development of the concept of mounted infantry soldiers within Australian forces, which would later be used in
19110-474: The divisional structure was maintained, it was little more than a skeleton force as units found their numbers dropping drastically. In 1929, following the election of the Scullin Labor government, the compulsory training scheme was abolished and in its place a new system was introduced whereby the CMF would be maintained on a part-time, voluntary basis only. At this time it was also decided to change
19292-402: The early 1800s when loyal associations were raised to assist British forces due to concerns about unrest amongst Irish convicts. These units were short lived, however, and were disbanded around 1810 following the arrival of regular British regiments. Although there was some debate in the colonies about forming locally raised units earlier, it was not until 1840 that the first unit was raised, when
19474-473: The establishment of defensive agreements between the colonies. For the most part up until that time colonial defensive strategy had revolved around the principle of static defence by infantry forces supported by coastal artillery, however, Edwards argued that through co-operative measures such as the standardisation of equipment and training, unification of command and improvements in railway and telegraph communications, "efficient defence" would be possible. In
19656-422: The express purpose of sending these recruits overseas as Australia's commitments in the region required a large-scale increase in the Army. Additionally, instead of being used to fill the ranks of the CMF, the scheme was essentially used to expand the Regular Army. Due to the terms of service, national servicemen were required to serve two years full-time in Regular Army units, after which they were required to serve
19838-409: The first Allied shots) of both World War I and World War II were fired by the garrison at Fort Nepean . By June 1918, 9,215 home service troops were on active duty in Australia, alongside 2,476 regular soldiers. From 1915, only skeleton garrisons were maintained at coastal forts, but the personnel manning them were forbidden to enlist in the AIF. This ban was lifted in April 1915 but the presence of
20020-461: The first Australian raised military force to do so. By May 1885, the campaign had been reduced to a series of small skirmishes, the most significant of which for the New South Wales contingent came at Takdul on 6 May. Shortly afterwards, the British government requested to deploy the contingent to India where there were concerns about Russian intentions in Afghanistan, however public opinion in
20202-626: The first formed Army Reserve unit to see combat since World War II when it was deployed to Afghanistan as part of the Australian Special Operations Task Group. The initial deployment proved problematic however, with a subsequent inquiry finding that the company had received less support for its pre-deployment preparations than was typical for regular units and that its training was inadequate. The 1st Commando Regiment contributed forces to several other Special Operations Task Group rotations. Between 2004 and 2017
20384-472: The first half of the 20th century, due to a widespread distrust of permanent military forces in Australia, the reserve military forces were the primary focus of Australian military planning. Following the end of World War II , however, this focus gradually shifted due to the changing strategic environment, and the requirement for a higher readiness force available to support collective security goals. Since then, Australian defence policy has been focused more upon
20566-414: The first regular infantry unit of the Australian Army. From that time on as tension within the region increased the strength of the Regular Army increased rapidly in contrast to the CMF, signifying if not an end to Australian military planners' reliance upon citizen soldiers, at least a shift in focus and a realisation of the mistakes that had been made prior to World War II. This would see the CMF providing
20748-408: The following components: These components are basically categories of service, which are determined by the level of training obligation and commitment that a member is required to meet. The majority of Australian Army Reserve units are under the command of the 2nd Division in six state-based brigades. There are also many Reservists serving on full-time service within Regular Army units, performing
20930-404: The following decade, after a number of inter-colonial conferences, in the mid-1890s plans began to be developed regarding the establishment of a federal voluntary militia, although this fell through due when colonial rivalries prevented it from being established. The 1890s were also a period of economic hardship in Australia, the result of which was a reduction in the size of the permanent forces in
21112-497: The following year to 16,202 and to 32,779 in 1950. In March 1951, a system of compulsory national service was re-established. The reintroduction of this conscription scheme saw the numbers of the CMF rise substantially but its management and administration required the allocation of a large number of resources and personnel from the Regular Army at a time when the army Regular Army already heavily committed in Korea and Malaya and so
21294-618: The footsteps of Captain Henry Airey, an artillery officer who had served with the British in 1887 in the Anglo-Burmese War and received the first Distinguished Service Order awarded to an Australian, at Hutton's behest four New South Wales officers, including Captain James Macarthur-Onslow , took up the offer. After completing his secondment, Macarthur-Onslow volunteered to delay his return and took part in
21476-504: The goldfields, assisting local police to maintain public order, undertaking ceremonial duties and developing the infrastructure of the nation's military defences. Initially these forces were based solely in New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land (later known as Tasmania ), however, later they were sent to Western Australia , South Australia , the Port Phillip District (later known as Victoria ), Queensland and
21658-670: The government became aware that some members were selling the land for profit rather that living on it themselves, and partial payments introduced. 1876 saw a second permanent artillery battery established, and a year later a third was added. In 1877, the Engineers Corps and Signals Corps were established while in 1882 and in 1891 the Commissariat and Transport Corps, later to be known as the Army Service Corps, were raised. The physical infrastructure of defence in
21840-411: The government decided to double the strength of the Militia as war clouds began to loom on the horizon, and late in the year a recruiting campaign was launched that saw the size of the Militia increase from 35,000 to 43,000 men over the space of three months. This trend continued into 1939 and by midway through the year there were over 80,000 men serving on a part-time voluntary basis. Nevertheless, there
22022-404: The government to implement those recommendations that could assist in achieving this goal, units that were unable to meet attendance requirements were disbanded or amalgamated with others, thus further diffusing the community links units had established in their local areas and thus further impacting upon recruitment and retention. Further, the decision was made to abolish the old CMF divisions, as
22204-563: The government was very keen for the demobilisation process to be completed as quickly as possible. Defence issues were not given a high priority as people tried to rebuild their lives after the war and as such it was not until 1948 that the CMF was reformed. Subsequent reviews of defence policy and the strategic situation in South East Asia after the war had resulted in the formation of the Australian Regiment in 1948,
22386-677: The guns, as the Hobart Artillery had "practically ceased to exist", a situation which had also affected the Queens Battery, consisting of 10 guns, by the time also. In 1871, the Russian corvette Boyarin entered the Derwent unexpectedly. Nevertheless, between 1870 and 1878, the government was unwilling to provide funds for local forces. When funding became available again in 1878, the Tasmanian Volunteer Force
22568-561: The influx of Irish political exiles a concerned Governor Phillip King , raised the Governor's Body Guard , a mounted unit, drawing its personnel from emancipists and former convicts who had been of excellent behaviour during their sentences. On 4 March 1804, when the New South Wales Corps went into action to put down the Castle Hill convict rebellion, the locally raised Governor's Body Guard conducted reconnaissance patrols in front of
22750-447: The largest battalion—the 30th/51st Battalion—had just 412 personnel of all ranks, while the 11th/16th Battalion, which was the smallest, had only 156 men. Financially the Militia was neglected also. Despite the upturn in the economic situation in the early 1930s there was little financial respite for the Militia in this time. As the situation continued to improve, however, the defence vote was increased steadily after 1935. Indeed, in 1938
22932-445: The late 1870s the colonies began to consider working together to provide for the defence of the Australian continent when two British engineer officers, Major General William Jervois and Lieutenant Colonel Peter Scratchley arrived to serve as defence advisors to the colonial governments. The following decade a number of inter-colonial conferences were undertaken and this set the scene for further co-operation later, when Queensland and
23114-467: The living rock around the harbour. In 1865 John Soame Richardson was appointed to the command of the military forces of New South Wales, with the rank of lieutenant-colonel. In 1869 the decision to withdraw all British units in 1870 had been confirmed. By 1871 the withdrawal of British forces from New South Wales was completed, and the local forces assumed total responsibility for the defence of New South Wales. In order to meet this requirement, in 1870
23296-513: The locally raised units were highly organised, disciplined, professional, and well trained. For most of the time from settlement until Federation, military defences in Australia revolved around static defence by combined infantry and artillery , based on garrisoned coastal forts; however, in the 1890s improved railway communications between all of the eastern mainland colonies ( Queensland , New South Wales , Victoria , and South Australia ), led Major General Bevan Edwards , who had recently completed
23478-420: The main focus upon which Australian defence planning was based, since Federation Reserve units have primarily been used in the role of home defence and to provide a mobilisation platform during times of war. During World War I Australia's contribution to the fighting came from forces raised outside the citizen forces that were in existence at the time, and although many citizen soldiers enlisted in these forces,
23660-564: The majority of the New South Wales military were part-time, volunteer forces, which around this time consisted of about 28 companies of infantry and nine batteries of artillery. The entire force was reorganised by the Volunteer Regulation Act of 1867 , which also gave provision for land grants in recognition of five years service. The 1870s saw major improvements to the structure and organisation of New South Wales' colonial forces. Land grants for service were abolished after
23842-458: The men of the AIF units, with militiamen sometimes being labelled as "chocolate soldiers" or "koalas". This changed dramatically, however, following the entry of Japan into the war on 8 December 1941, with the attack on Pearl Harbor and on the British forces in Malaya . Suddenly the war was brought much closer to Australia's borders, and there was a perception that Japan might attempt to invade
24024-567: The militia, by consequence of the fact that although possible and sometimes "threatened", the compulsory ballot was never enacted, was essentially a volunteer force as its establishment was always maintained by voluntary enlistment. During the 1860s, as British troops were sent to New Zealand to fight in the New Zealand Wars the need for the colonies to provide for their own defence was highlighted further. In response volunteer units were raised in Tasmania in 1859, followed by Queensland
24206-449: The modern-day Northern Territory . Upon departure, most British regiments proceeded on to India where they saw further service. Many British soldiers, however, chose to stay in Australia, taking their discharge or transferring to the units that arrived to replace them. The size of these forces varied over time. Initially the garrison was formed by only one regiment (battalion equivalent), however, in 1824 it rose to three. At its peak, in
24388-425: The name of the force to the Militia, as it was felt that the latter name implied voluntary service (rather than compulsory national service). The force would be based upon the five divisions of the old AIF, although it was decided to limit the overall number of units. This force would also be armed with modern weapons and equipment. That, at least, was the promise, however, in reality this never came to fruition and to
24570-798: The need to establish military forces capable of defending the colony. In 1859, the first local forces were raised in Tasmania. These consisted of two batteries of "volunteer" artillery, the Hobart Town Artillery Company and the Launceston Volunteer Artillery Company, which had initially begun its service as an infantry unit under the designation of the Launceston Volunteer Artillery Corps. Twelve companies of "volunteer" infantry were also raised. This force totalled 1,200 men. The infantry units that were raised at
24752-434: The numbers of the AIF units that had been formed in their regimental areas. A total of 60 AIF infantry battalions had seen active service during the war, but there were more than 60 infantry regiments; as a result, a number of the Citizen Forces regiments were reorganised with multiple battalions, while other units were converted to pioneer regiments. Following the end of World War I, the units that had been raised as part of
24934-558: The operation there were only 100 Reservists available to fill positions in INTERFET , mostly in specialist roles that the Regular Army had trouble providing. As the deployment progressed to a second rotation in April 2000, however, a further 630 Reservists volunteered for full-time service. The deployment to East Timor highlighted the limits of the Australian Defence Force and the need for an Army Reserve that could effectively provide deployable capabilities and individuals to round-out to
25116-450: The organisation of units into standard formations such as battalions, increased payments to volunteers, land grants for efficient service, the establishment of annual training camps – usually over Easter – the creation of cadres of professional soldiers, known as "permanent staff" to provide training, the requirement for officers and non-commissioned officers to pass exams and the establishment of minimum required attendance. In
25298-509: The other colonies worked together to annex parts of New Guinea due to concerns about German imperial interests in the Pacific in 1883. This continued when the six colonies worked together to fund and establish coastal defences on Thursday Island and at King George's Sound , near Albany in Western Australia in the mid-1890s, due to the recognised strategic importance of these points which "commanded important trade routes" to all
25480-856: The outbreak of the Crimean War in 1854, however, a local voluntary force consisting of one troop of cavalry, one battery of artillery, and a battalion of infantry was raised. The infantry force, consisting of six companies, was known as the Volunteer Sydney Rifle Corps. At its peak, the size of the New South Wales forces at this time was 389 men, however, following the cessation of hostilities with Russia in Crimea , these forces struggled to maintain numbers and government funding. By 1855 New South Wales had been granted responsible self-government and increasingly took responsibility for its own affairs. The colony remained within, and
25662-598: The planned annual camps of 1892 and 1893, and militia pay levels, were reduced. Between 1893 and 1896, Major General Edward Hutton , a British Army officer, commanded the New South Wales Forces. He would later be instrumental in establishing the newly formed Australian Army. In 1894, a small group of New South Wales officers were offered the opportunity to serve with units of the British Indian Army to gain operational experience. Following in
25844-627: The provisions of the Defence Act that precluded sending conscripts overseas, upon the outbreak of the war it was necessary for the Australian government to raise a separate force, outside the Citizen Forces organisation for service overseas. Regardless, it has been estimated that up to 50,000 militiamen subsequently enlisted in the First AIF during the war. During the precautionary stage on 2 August 1914, Citizen Forces units were called up to guard essential points and man coastal forts and harbour defences. The first Australian shots (many sources report
26026-453: The questions regarding strategy following the wars of diplomacy of the previous three decades. The emergence of the Defence of Australia doctrine as the foundation upon which Australian defence policy would be based following Paul Dibb's 1986 review of Australia's defence capabilities seemed to provide the Reserves with a definite role. Nevertheless, there remained a reluctance to rebuild
26208-427: The reserve brigades is also being altered. The reserve artillery regiments will be re-equipped with mortars; the reserve Royal Australian Armoured Corps units will convert from light cavalry to producing crews for Bushmaster Protected Mobility Vehicles , and a brigade operational supply company will be established within each of the combat services support battalions. The Australian Army Reserve currently consists of
26390-695: The reserve military force has been known by many names, including the Citizens Forces , the Citizen Military Forces , the Militia and, unofficially, the Australian Military Forces . In 1980, however, the current name—Australian Army Reserve—was officially adopted, and it now consists of a number of components based around the level of commitment and training obligation that its members are required to meet. For
26572-460: The role of the Army Reserve now encompasses the '3 Rs'—that is reinforcement, round-out and rotation. With a total strength in 2005–06 of just 15,579 active personnel, recruitment and retention remain an ongoing issue for Defence planners, nevertheless Reservists continue to have a high training obligation. Since September 2006, in an incentive to rectify sliding retention rates, Reservist salaries have been streamlined with those of regular forces as
26754-679: The role of the Army Reserve would no longer be to act as a skeleton force that would be filled out upon mobilisation, but rather a force that could provide individual sub-units of capability should the need arise to augment the Regular Army. Centralisation of training was also a result of the Millar Report; beforehand, recruit training had been an ad hoc process managed mainly by the units themselves. Other issues such as pay and conditions of service, protection of civilian employment and recruitment and retention were touched upon but remained largely unaddressed until more recently. Further reviews came in this time as Defence planners attempted to grapple with
26936-412: The same roles and under the same pay and conditions as Regular soldiers. 2nd Division is currently made up of the following units: The following units are reserve units within integrated (mixed regular army and reserve) formations: Colonial forces of Australia Until Australia became a Federation in 1901, each of the six colonies was responsible for its own defence. From 1788 until 1870 this
27118-404: The same time, the Militia battalions of the 7th Brigade played a key role in the Battle of Milne Bay , when Australian and United States forces defeated the Japanese in a large-scale battle for the first time during the war. After 1940, use of the term "Militia" to describe the part-time military forces waned and by 1942 the term "Citizen Military Forces" (CMF) had become more common. Later in
27300-510: The same time, the various loyal associations were also disbanded. To replace the New South Wales Corps, in 1810 the 73rd Regiment of Foot arrived in the colony, becoming the first line regiment to serve in New South Wales under the Governorship of Lachlan Macquarie . The Highlanders were replaced by the 1st/46th (South Devonshire) Regiment of Foot , known as the "Red Feathers", who would serve in Australia until 1818. In March 1810,
27482-546: The scheme proved to have numerous benefits, as many of these youths went on to serve in the First AIF during World War I and the expanded organisation allowed citizen forces officers more experience in commanding formed bodies of men. However, it was the main factor contributing to the decision to recruit the AIF on the basis of voluntary enlistment. Because the army in 1914 was largely made up of young men aged between 19 and 21 who had been enlisted under this scheme, and due to
27664-513: The scheme was suspended in 1959. This was a significant blow to the CMF and its strength fell by more than half in that year to 20,000 men. Further changes came with the introduction of the pentropic (five battle group) division into the Australian Army in 1960. This proved a disaster for the CMF, as wholesale changes were made and units removed from the order of battle. Seven artillery regiments were disbanded from an original total of 17, while 31 infantry battalions were reduced to 17. This excluded
27846-444: The six Army Reserve brigades are being paired with the regular brigades. The 4th and 9th Brigades will partner with the 1st Brigade , the 5th and 8th Brigades with the 7th Brigade , and the 11th and 13th Brigades with the 3rd Brigade . The pairs of Army Reserve brigades will be expected to be able to provide a battalion -sized force upon mobilisation during the regular brigade's 12 month 'ready' phase. The structure of
28028-491: The system of defensive fortifications around Sydney. As a result of concerns about Russian attack, the construction of Fort Denison was completed and in 1856 gunners from the Royal Artillery arrived to man the defences. In 1863, a select committee had been formed. As a result of its recommendations, batteries were established along the principles of "outer" and "inner" lines making use of the newer, rifled weapons that had become available, which were established in barbettes along
28210-897: The time bore titles such as the Freemasons Corps, the Oddfellows, the Manchester Unity, the Buckingham Rifles, The City Guards, the Kingborough Rifles, the Derwent Rifles and the Huon Rifles. By 1865, the size of the colony's volunteer force began to decline. Although the infantry companies were disbanded in 1867, the artillery was increased by one battery. 1870 saw the complete withdrawal of British forces from Tasmania, which left
28392-616: The transfer of men from a number of superfluous infantry units, while the remaining infantry were organised into battalions of the Australian Infantry Regiment and engineers and artillery were organised into field companies and garrison artillery batteries. Due to the provisions of the Defence Act which did not provide for the establishment of a regular infantry force, the notion that the Commonwealth Military Forces would be largely based on
28574-406: The units of the AIF and serving as a valuable link to the traditions and service of earlier units. Nevertheless, many CMF soldiers felt that the introduction of these regiments reduced the Army's links to the community due to the move away from the traditional regionally based system and as a result many of these soldiers chose to leave the organisation. In 1965, as the pentropic system was abandoned,
28756-711: The war, the Defence (Citizen Military Forces) Act 1943 , officially referring to the organisation as the CMF, was passed to change the law to allow the transfer of Militia or CMF units to the AIF, if 65 percent or more of their personnel had volunteered for overseas service. Additionally, changes to the Act meant that Militia units were able to serve anywhere south of the Equator in the South West Pacific Area (SWPA), excluding western Java and northern Borneo, and as
28938-410: Was a serious shortage of equipment and as a result, when World War II broke out in September 1939 the Militia was by no means an effective fighting force and the nation as a whole was not as well prepared for war as it had been in 1914. Following the outbreak of the war in Europe, the government's immediate response was to announce on 5 September 1939 that it would begin calling up 10,000 militiamen at
29120-492: Was a violent one in the history of Van Diemen's Land. The rising friction and continuing conflicts between settlers and indigenous Tasmanians led to a declaration of martial law by Lieutenant Governor George Arthur . British regiments came into open conflict with the Aboriginals in what has since been dubbed the " Black War ". In 1830, during the " Black Line " incident, groups of armed settlers and even some convicts began
29302-477: Was abolished in 1996 by the newly elected Howard government . By the time that the opening phases of the East Timor operation began in 1999, the issue regarding the purpose of the Army Reserve still had not been resolved. Instead of being able to provide formed units to augment the Regular Army, the Reserves was reduced to providing individuals for round-out purposes only. As a result, in the initial phase of
29484-403: Was arguably due to two factors. Firstly, there was a widespread desire amongst Australian policymakers to keep defence expenditure low, while secondly there was a widespread mistrust or suspicion surrounding the idea of a large standing army. After the initial transfer of forces in March 1901, further progress was slow as administrative and legislative instruments took time to develop. Indeed, it
29666-616: Was ceased in the mid-1800s, the nature of the colonies changed as Australia began to emerge as a modern, self-sustaining society and after the 1850s the colonies were progressively granted responsible government , allowing them to manage most of their own affairs while remaining part of the British Empire . Nevertheless, the Colonial Office in London retained control of some matters, including foreign affairs and defence. As
29848-504: Was done with British regular forces. In all, 24 British infantry regiments served in the Australian colonies. Each of the Australian colonies gained responsible government between 1855 and 1890, and while the Colonial Office in London retained control of some affairs, and the colonies were still firmly within the British Empire , the Governors of the Australian colonies were required to raise their own colonial militias . To do this,
30030-511: Was established at Middle Head in 1885, while full volunteers were instituted again that year. At this time it was decided to raise a volunteer corps of cavalry who although they were required to supply their own horses, were to also be partially paid, and had uniforms and weapons supplied. They were eventually formed as a light horse unit and were known as the New South Wales Lancers . Another unit to be raised at this time
30212-711: Was established under the provisions of the Volunteer Act ; Windle St Hill was commandant of the local forces from June 1878 to May 1880. This force consisted of two artillery batteries and four companies of infantry in Hobart and another battery and two infantry companies in Launceston . The following year the Tasmanian Light Horse was raised in Launceston. 1880 saw a reorganisation as the force
30394-556: Was eventually amalgamated with the Mounted Police in the mid-1840s, before eventually being disbanded in 1860. Following the end of the Napoleonic Wars in 1815 reductions in the size of the British Army began concerning the then Governor of New South Wales, Lachlan Macquarie, and it was at this point that considerations were given to forming a militia force in the colony, consisting four troops of cavalry and eight companies of infantry. These plans, however, were not acted upon, as
30576-405: Was eventually done on 24 September 1822. However, three further veterans companies were raised in 1825 to "relieve the garrison of police work" for service in New South Wales, and stayed on duties until 1833. From 1810 until the withdrawal of British forces from Australia in 1870, about 20,000 British soldiers, serving in 24 British infantry regiments undertook garrison duties in Australia on
30758-677: Was fiercely loyal to, the British Empire , and while the Colonial Office continued to determine foreign policy , the decision was taken in London that the Australian colonies would need to start taking responsibility for their own defence. In 1860, as British Army units were being sent to New Zealand, New South Wales attempted to raise a volunteer force of 1,700 men. This number was almost achieved with 1,644 volunteers enlisting, who were formed into one troop of mounted rifles, three batteries of artillery, and 20 companies of infantry. To encourage enlistments, land grants were offered in 1867. It
30940-473: Was formed and all colonial forces came under its control. Upon establishment, the authorised strength of the colonial forces that were transferred amounted to 1,665 officers and 28,385 other ranks , of which only 115 officers and 1,323 were permanent. The actual strength was a little below this establishment, consisting of only 1,480 officers and 25,873 other ranks. This included forces that were at that time deployed in South Africa which were also transferred to
31122-421: Was known as the New South Wales Corps . The first contingent of 183 men, under Major Francis Grose , arrived in New South Wales in June 1790. They were subsequently expanded with further contingents from Britain as well as free settlers, former convicts and marines who had discharged in the colony. Throughout the mid-1790s the New South Wales Corps was involved in "open war" along the Hawkesbury River against
31304-434: Was led by John Soame Richardson . Charles Fyshe Roberts assumed command of the New South Wales forces in Richardson's absence. The New South Wales Sudan contingent arrived at Suakin on the Red Sea on 29 March 1885. There they joined Lieutenant General Gerald Graham 's two British brigade 's efforts against Osman Digna . Within a month of arriving, the New South Wales detachment had seen action at Tamai , becoming
31486-416: Was made to disband or amalgamate a number of units and five infantry battalions and two light horse regiments were removed from the order of battle. The following year, nine more infantry battalions were disbanded. Between 1929 and 1937, the number of soldiers within the Militia who could provide effective service was well below the force's actual on paper strength as many soldiers were unable to attend even
31668-420: Was needed. A redoubt was dug not far from the settlement, and two ship's guns were placed within. In 1810, the colony's garrison, which had until that time been provided by the New South Wales Corps, was relieved. They were subsequently replaced by a British regular infantry unit, the 73rd Regiment of Foot, which rotated duties between Sydney and Hobart. The following year, when Governor Lachlan Macquarie toured
31850-405: Was no guarantee that these troops would remain in Australia if war broke out elsewhere and as a result, in 1869, in response to requests for assurances in this regard the British government announced that the capitation fee would be increased and that troop numbers would be further increased. Finally, in 1870 the decision was made to withdraw the remaining regiment and as a result, by September with
32032-477: Was not considered a success. In 1868, these were later organised into a battalion and regimental structure. The Volunteer Sydney Rifle Corps ceased to exist, being subsumed into the 20 company-strong 1st Regiment, New South Wales Rifle Volunteers. During the New Zealand Wars, although the colony had no official role, New South Wales contributed significantly to the 2,500 volunteers that were sent from Australia in 1863. The 1850s and 1860s saw further development of
32214-436: Was not until 1 March 1904 that the Defence Act 1903 was proclaimed, providing the Commonwealth Military Forces a statutory framework within which they could operate. Amidst a background of political manoeuvring and personal agendas, the military forces were eventually reorganised into a more or less unified command structure. As a part of this, state-based mounted units were reformed into light horse regiments, supplemented by
32396-421: Was one of the main reasons for federation, and so one of the first decisions made by the newly formed Commonwealth government was to create the Department of Defence which came into being on 1 March 1901. From that time the Australian Army came into being under the command of Major General Sir Edward Hutton , and all of the colonial forces, including those then on active service in South Africa, transferred into
32578-452: Was re-designated the "Local Forces of Tasmania", which were formed into two divisions spread across the north and south of the colony. By 1882, when Russian ships – the Afrika , Plastun , and Vyestnik – again paid the colony a visit, the strength of the colony's military was 634 men. Further reorganisations under commandant Colonel William Vincent Legge in 1882–83 resulted in the establishment of an engineer corps establishment,
32760-477: Was still large-scale opposition to the concept of conscription and the provisions of the Defence Act still precluded conscripts from serving outside Australian territory, so it was announced that this force would be raised from volunteers only and would not be raised directly from the Militia. Conscripts, however, were required to serve in the Militia, with the result being that the Militia's ranks were filled with both volunteers and conscripts during this time. As
32942-784: Was the Upper Clarence Light Horse, which had initially been raised by its colonel, Sir Charles Chauvel, father of Harry Chauvel , with the intention of being sent to India if the Russians became involved in Afghanistan; the offer was later rejected, however, when the men were attested they swore to volunteer for overseas service. Previous mounted rifles were merged with the Lancers. A further four batteries of reserve artillery were raised in 1885, but disbanded in 1892. The permanent forces also added units of submarine miners and mounted infantry, which were also soon disbanded. The 1890s saw much restructuring, amidst economic hardships, with many units being formed and disbanded soon after, or merged with other units. Training opportunities were also reduced as
33124-433: Was the case during World War I, many members of the Militia would go on to serve in the Second AIF . Nevertheless, for a period of time the government attempted to limit the number of militiamen transferring across to the AIF to build defences at home against concerns that Britain might not be able to fulfil its pledge to defend Singapore in the event of an attack there by the Japanese. As such, once again Australia maintained
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