Portal:Military history of Australia/Units/April

Units and Awards

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Please follow the unit sequence of Navy, Army, Airforce when creating Daily Unit pages

The 20th Battalion was raised in March 1915 in Liverpool, New South Wales, as part of the 5th Brigade, 2nd Division. The battalion left Australia in June and trained in Egypt from June until August. The 20th landed at Anzac Cove on 22 August 1916, as reinforcements for the initial landing force. The battalion played a minor part in the August Offensive. For the majority of time the battalion was stationed at Gallipoli it was deployed to the defence of Russell's Top. The battalion remained at Gallipoli until the evacuation on 20 December 1915. The battalion then proceeded to France and arrived there on 22 March 1916 and proceeded to Pozieres. The battalion served on the Western Front for the reminder of the war. On 20 April 1919, the 20th Battalion was disbanded.

No. 101 Flight was a Royal Australian Air Force fleet co-operation flight. The Flight was formed in July 1925 and was equipped with Fairey III amphibian aircraft. These aircraft were replaced with Supermarine Seagull IIIs in 1926. Aircraft from No. 101 flight operated from the seaplane tender HMAS Albatross between 1929 and 1933. After Albatross paid off the Flight's aircraft operated from the RAN's heavy cruisers HMAS Australia and HMAS Canberra. No. 101 Flight was expanded to form No. 5 Squadron in April 1936.

HMAS Castlemaine is a Bathurst-class corvette which was operated by the Royal Australian Navy. She was laid down by the Melbourne Harbour Trust at Williamstown in Victoria in February 1941, launched in August 1941 and commissioned at Melbourne in June 1942. After seeing active service during World War II Castlemaine paid off to reserve in December 1945 and was used as a training hulk. Castlemaine was gifted to the Maritime Trust of Australia in September 1973 and is presently berthed at Gem Pier, Williamstown, as a museum ship.

The Royal Australian Army Educational Corps (RAAEC) is a specialist corps within the Australian Army, made up entirely of commissioned officers. Established in 1949, all members of the corps are civil qualified teachers. RAAEC is responsible for many education focused areas of military training, including the development and implementation of technology-based training, developing training courses, training personnel in communication skills, managing and conducting long distance education, teaching English to foreign students, analysing education proposals and delivering literacy and numeracy programs.

No. 78 Squadron was a Royal Australian Air Force fighter squadron of World War II. The Squadron was formed in July 1943 and was equipped with P-40 Kittyhawk aircraft. No. 78 Squadron began flying combat missions in November 1943 and supported Allied ground forces operating in New Guinea and nearby islands until the end of 1944. The squadron moved to Morotai Island in December 1944 and conducted raids on Japanese positions in the Netherlands East Indies and Borneo. The Squadron returned to Australia in December 1945 and was reduced to cadre status until August 1946 when it was equipped with P-51D Mustang aircraft. No. 78 Squadron was disbanded on 1 April 1948.

HMAS Queenborough (G30/F02) was a Q-class destroyer built by Swan Hunter and Wigham Richardson Limited at Wallsend-on-Tyne in England. Queenborough was commissioned into the Royal Navy in December 1942 and was manned by Australians throughout the war. Following the war she was purchased by Australia and commissioned into the Royal Australian Navy in October 1945. Following her conversion to an anti-submarine frigate between 1949 and 1954 Queenborough undertook six deployments to the Far East between 1956 and 1963. Queenborough paid off in July 1963 but was recommissioned as a training ship in July 1966. HMAS Queenborough was decommissioned in April 1972 and was later sold for scrap.

The 2/10th Armoured Regiment was an Australian Army armoured regiment of World War II. The Regiment was formed in Western Australia in July 1941 and formed part of the 1st Armoured Division. The Regiment conducted its initial training at Puckapunyal, Victoria prior to being equipped with M3 Stuart and M3 Grant tanks and relocated to Narrabri, New South Wales. As part of the 1st Armoured Brigade the 2/10th Armoured Regiment was moved to Western Australia in January 1943. When the 1st Armoured Division was disbanded in September 1943 the Regiment survived as part of the independent 1st Armoured Brigade Group until it and the Brigade Group headquarters were disbanded in September 1944.

RAAF Base Rathmines was a Royal Australian Air Force base located on Lake Macquarie in New South Wales. RAAF Rathmines was established in 1939 and was the RAAF's main flying boat base during World War II and the early 1950s. During World War II aircraft based at Rathmines conducted anti-submarine patrols along the Australian east coast and the base was home to the RAAF's main seaplane training units. Following the retirement of the RAAF's flying boats in 1952 the base was used as a training facility until it was closed in the late 1950s.

The first HMAS Arunta (D130/I30) was a Tribal class destroyer built by the Cockatoo Docks and Engineering Company Limited at Sydney and commissioned on 30 March 1942. Arunta first saw service escorting convoys along the Australian east coast and between Australia and New Guinea. From May 1943 she mainly operated as a unit of Task Force 74 and supported Allied landings in New Britain, New Guinea, the Philippines and Borneo. After the war she formed part of the Allied occupation forces in Japan and conducted a patrol off Korea shortly after the end of the Korean War. HMAS Arunta paid off to reserved in December 1956 and was sold for scrap in November 1968.

The 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (1RAR) is an Australian Army infantry battalion. 1RAR was formed for occupation duties in Japan in October 1945 as the 65th Battalion. The Battalion returned to Australia in 1948 and received its current name in 1949. 1RAR has seen combat during the Korean War, Malayan Emergency and Vietnam War. The Battalion has also participated in peacekeeping missions in Somalia, Timor Leste the Solomon Islands and Tonga and has committed companies to the Security Detachment protecting Australian diplomats in Baghdad.

No. 86 Wing is a Royal Australian Air Force Transport Wing which is currently based at RAAF Richmond, New South Wales. The Wing was formed in August 1946 and originally comprised 36, 37 and 38 Squadrons, flying C-47 Dakotas. Although No. 86 Wing was disbanded in 1964 it was reformed in February 1987 to command the RAAF's medium transport aircraft squadrons and currently comprises the same flying units with which it was formed in 1946.

HMAS Platypus was a submarine tender and depot ship operated by the Royal Australian Navy between 1919 and 1946. Platypus was built for the Royal Navy and commissioned in March 1917. She was transferred to the RAN in March 1919 and arrived in Australia with the RAN's six J class submarines in July 1919. After these submarines were decommissioned in mid 1922 she served as a destroyer tender until 1929 when she reverted to a submarine tender to support the RAN's two O class submarines. From 1930 to 1944 she was mainly used as a base ship, and was stationed in Darwin between 1941 and 1943 and Carins from 1943 to mid-1944. From June 1944 until December 1945 she served as a repair ship off New Guinea and Morotai Island. Platypus was placed into reserve in May 1946 and was sold for scrap in February 1958.

The 9th Battalion, Royal Queensland Regiment (9 RQR) is a Reserve light infantry battalion of the Australian Army, raised and based in the state of Queensland. It is part of the Royal Queensland Regiment and forms part of the 7th Brigade of the 1st Division. 9 RQR can trace its history as far back as 1867 with the establishment Queensland Volunteer Rifle Brigade while the name 9 Battalion was first used in 1911. The battalion has seen action in several conflicts including The Boer War, World War I and World War II.

No. 7 Operational Training Unit RAAF (7 OTU) was a Royal Australian Air Force heavy bomber training unit of World War II. 7 OTU was formed on 12 February 1944 1944 at RAAF Station Tocumwal in southern New South Wales to train RAAF B-24 Liberator crews. 7 OTU was initially equipped with ex-USAAF B-24Bs but later received new B-24Js. At full strength the Unit was equipped with 54 B-24s and was responsible for training 28 crews per month. 7 OTU was disbanded following the end of the war.

The second HMAS Townsville (P 205) was a Fremantle class patrol boat laid down by the North Queensland Engineers and Agents at Cairns in Queensland on 5 March 1979, launched on 16 May 1981 and commissioned on 18 July 1981. Townsville was used to depict the fictional HMAS Defiance in the second season of the ABC television series Patrol Boat. HMAS Townsville was decommissioned at Cairns on 11 May 2007.

M Special Unit was an Australian intelligence gathering organisation of World War II. M Special Unit was formed in 1943 as part of the Services Reconnaissance Department, a joint Australian, New Zealand and British military intelligence reconnaissance unit, which saw action against the Empire of Japan during World War II. Unlike its counterpart, Z Special Unit, M Special Unit's role was to gather intelligence by sending small teams behind enemy lines via infiltration by sea, air or land. M Special Unit was disbanded following the end of the war.

No. 17 Air Observation Post Flight (17 AOP Flight) was a Royal Australian Air Force artillery spotting and liaison unit which saw action in the Second World War. The Flight was formed at Cairns on 2 October 1944 and was equipped with Auster Mk 3 light aircraft. The Flight first saw action as part of the Bougainville campaign with the Flight's first Auster arriving on Bougainville from October 1944. A detachment of the Flight equipped with Tiger Moth aircraft was established on New Britain in February 1945. No. 17 AOP Flight was disbanded on 7 December 1945.

HMQS Paluma was a gunboat operated by the Queensland Maritime Defence Force and the Royal Australian Navy. She was commissioned in the United Kingdom during October 1884 and arrived in Brisbane in May 1885. Over the next few years the ship conducted survey work on the Great Barrier Reef for the Admiralty before being placed in reserve during the depression of the 1890s. Paluma became part of the Commonwealth Naval Forces following Federation in 1901 and was employed mainly around Sydney Harbour during World War I before being sold in 1916 to the Victorian Ports and Harbours Department. Paluma was retired in 1948 and was scrapped in 1950-1951.

Holsworthy Barracks is located in the outer south-western Sydney suburb of Holsworthy. It is part of the Holsworthy military reserve, which has been a training area and artillery range for the Australian Army since World War I. Following World War II it became a major base for the permanent component of the Australian Army in New South Wales. Following the movement of many units of the Regular Army to Darwin in the late 1990s many Army Reserve units were moved from other depots to Holsworthy Barracks, including the Headquarters of the 5th Brigade. Holsworthy Barracks is the current home to 142 Signal Squadron, the 2nd Commando Regiment (2 Cdo Regt), and the 6th Aviation Regiment.

No. 25 Squadron is a Royal Australian Air Force non-flying reserve squadron based at RAAF Base Pearce. 25 Squadron was formed in Victoria in May 1937 and moved to Pearce in 1938 to support the Army and Navy and provide cadet pilot training for the RAAF. During the early years of World War II the squadron was equipped with obsolete fighters and was tasked with providing the air defence of Perth. In August 1943 the Squadron was re-equipped with Vengeance dive-bombers and flew combat missions with these aircraft until being re-equipped with B-24 Liberators in January 1945. While the Squadron was disbanded in July 1946 it was reformed in April 1948 as a Citizen Air Force unit and was responsible for training reservist pilots and ground crew until July 1998 when its pilot-training role was transferred to No. 79 Squadron.

The first HMAS Bendigo (J187/B237/A111) was a Bathurst-class corvette which was commissioned into the Royal Australian Navy in May 1941. Bendigo first saw action off Malaya in the Dutch East Indies during the early months of the Pacific War. She returned to Australia in March 1942 and escorted convoys in Australian and New Guinean waters until 1945. In March 1945 Bendigo joined the British Pacific Fleet and took part in the Battle of Okinawa. Following the end of the war she operated as a minesweeper in the Hong Kong area before returning to Australia in December 1945. HMAS Bendigo paid off in September 1946.

The 2/7th Australian Infantry Battalion was a battalion of the 6th Australian Division raised as part of the Second Australian Imperial Force for World War II. The battalion was raised at Puckapunyal, Victoria on 15 April 1940 and departed for Egypt later that year. The battalion saw action at Bardia and Tobruk in North Africa, and in Greece and on Crete in 1941. Defensive duties were undertaken on Ceylon in 1942, before the battalion returned to Australia to fight the Japanese. The battalion deployed to New Guinea twice. In 1942–1943, they took part in the Salamaua–Lae campaign, which was followed by the Aitape–Wewak campaign in 1944–1945. They embarked to return to Australia on 18 December 1945 and disbanded at Puckapunyal in February 1946. Its leader for most of its service life was Lieutenant Colonel Henry Guinn, who led the 2/7th from its escape from Greece to the Pacific theatre.

No. 114 Mobile Control and Reporting Unit (114MCRU) is a Royal Australian Air Force radar unit. 114MCRU was formed in 1943 and saw action in the South West Pacific during World War II before being disbanded in 1948. The unit was reactivated in late 1955 and was based at RAAF Base Butterworth in Malaya from 1958 until it was again disbanded in October 1966. 114MCRU was reactivated in April 1968 and is currently the RAAF's only easily deployable radar unit and regularly deploys into the field from its home base at RAAF Base Darwin during military exercises.

The Australian submarine AE2 was an E-class submarine which served in the Royal Australian Navy during World War I.

AE2 was commissioned in Britain in February 1914 and arrived in Australia later that year. AE2 supported the Australian occupation of Rabaul in September 1914 and departed Australia for the Mediterranean in December 1914. On 25 April 1915 the AE2 became the first Allied submarine to pass through the Dardanelles Strait to attack Turkish shipping in the Sea of Marmora. After five days of being attacked and unable to find any large troop transports to attack she was damaged 29 April in an attack by the Turkish torpedo boat Sultan Hisar in Artaki Bay and was scuttled by her crew.

The Australian and New Zealand Army Corps was a First World War army corps of the Mediterranean Expeditionary Force that was formed in Egypt in 1915 and operated during the Battle of Gallipoli. The main elements of the Corps were the Australian 1st Division and the New Zealand and Australian Division. The corps was disbanded in 1916 following the evacuation of Gallipoli. The Corps is best remembered today as the source of the acronym ANZAC which has since become a term, "Anzac", for a person from Australia or New Zealand.

RAAF Squadron Berlin Air Lift was a Royal Australian Air Force transport squadron raised to participate in the Berlin Airlift. The Squadron was formed at RAAF Base Richmond in August 1948 from C-47 Dakota crews drawn from No. 36 and No. 38 squadrons. In late August the crews travelled to the United Kingdom as passengers in Qantas flying boats. After receiving training in the UK the aircrew moved to Lubeck, West Germany on 14 and 15 September, with the first Australian flight into Berlin being conducted on 15 September. The Australian aircrew continued flights to Berlin until 26 August 1950 when the 2062nd and last Australian flight was conducted. The Berlin Airlift Squadron returned to Australia on 24 October 1949.

The second HMAS Hobart (D39) was a Perth class guided missile armed destroyer of the Royal Australian Navy. She was built in the United States and was commissioned at Boston, Massachusetts in December 1965 and arrived in Australia for the first time in September 1966. Hobart saw active service during the Vietnam War and began her first tour of duty off Vietnam in early 1967. During her second tour in June 1968 she was mistakenly attacked by US aircraft resulting in the deaths of two of her crew. Hobart was only lightly damaged, however, and later completed a third tour off Vietnam. Hobart paid off in May 2000.

The 2nd Division is an Australian Army division. The 2nd Division was formed in July 1915 as part of the Australian Imperial Force and saw action in Gallipoli and on the Western Front before being disbanded after the war. The Division was re-raised after the war as an Australian Citizens Military Forces unit and was stationed in Australia during World War II until being disbanded in 1944. The Division was raised again in 1948 but was disbanded between 1960 and 1965. The 2nd Division currently commands most Army Reserve units.

No. 111 Air-Sea Rescue Flight was a Royal Australian Air Force unit of World War II. The Flight was formed at Madang in New Guinea on 13 December 1944 and was equipped with PBY Catalinas. The Flight's role was to carry out search and rescue operations and provide rescue support to other aircraft during attacks on Japanese targets. The flight's aircraft also conducted offensive operations and dropped supplies on behalf of the Australian New Guinea Administration Unit. Following the end of the war the Flight moved to Port Moresby on 18 March 1946 and was disbanded there on 24 January 1947.

The first HMAS Ipswich (J186/B244/A118) was a Bathurst-class corvette built by Evans Deakin and Company at Brisbane in Queensland and commissioned in June 1942. From November 1942 until January 1945, Ipswich was assigned to the British Eastern Fleet. Following this, she was assigned to the British Pacific Fleet. Ipswich was present in Tokyo Bay when the Japanese Instrument of Surrender was signed. HMAS Ipswich paid off on 5 July 1946 and was transferred to the Royal Netherlands Navy and renamed Morotai. Morotai was later transferred to the Indonesian Navy and renamed Hang Tuah.