7 December 1941. Tamworth, Australia.
1st Australian Armoured Brigade (1st AAB) arrived at its new training area. Having had less than a month together at Greta Army Camp in New South Wales, the Brigade HQ and the three armoured regiments (2/5th, 2/6th, 2/7th) along with 15th Motor Regiment (Northern River Lancers) had, for the first time, come together as a whole. The vast majority of training that had been accomplished so far in Armoured Fighting Vehicles courses only included officers and NCOs. The maintenance of tanks, and the training of soldiers as drivers, gunners, loaders, wireless operators, mechanics, and all the other roles needed in an armoured formation, was still at an early stage.
The good news was that they had 166 American built M3 Light Tanks (named for General Stuart). The Continental R-670 radial engine in the tank, was found to require very high levels of maintenance, and while the Americans had sent a large number of technicians to help the Australian Army, the lack of basic mechanical training was an issue. Two Divisional Cavalry Regiments (8th and 9th) had had priority in receiving the M3s, so 1st Armoured Brigade were just catching up.
The theory and practice of armoured warfare had been studied intensively, the Divisional GOC (Major-General John Northcott) had spent two months with 7th Armoured Division, and had managed to bring with him some officers, NCOs and other ranks from 7th Armoured who were recovering from wounds to help train the new Australian tankies. 1st AAB was commanded by Brigadier Fred Hinton. He’d previously commanded 4th Australian Cavalry Brigade, and had very particular ideas about how his Brigade was to be run. He had gone to England in 1939 to undertake various attachments, including to 17th/21st Lancers, which were still awaiting their tanks at that point. Having commanded the Recruitment Reception Depot at Sydney Showground, he had been chosen by Northcott to command the 1st Armoured Brigade.
Now that he had the men and the machines, the next phase was to work together as a Brigade. He had set up a number of exercises that would push his men to their limits. Whether in the Army at Gallipoli or Passchendaele, or as a sheep farmer, Hinton wanted to excel, and that was what he expected of his command. Major-General Northcott had shared with Hinton that when the Division was set up, it was expected to be shipped with the rest of the Australian Imperial Force to the Middle East. Now that campaign had come to an end, it seemed that the threat the Division would have to face would be the Japanese, either in Malaya, or even in defence of Australia itself.
Northcott, Hinton and William Locke (CO 2nd AAB) had talked over how best to prepare themselves and their men for the tasks ahead. Locke’s Brigade had taken delivery of the first 12 M3 Medium tanks (named for General Grant) from America. Until then his men had been training on universal carriers. Because the Stuart tanks were arriving first, Northcott had decided to have 1st AAB totally equipped with the Light tanks, and 2nd AAB to have the Medium tanks as they arrived. Eventually the home grown Jumbuck tanks would equip the Division, but in the meantime they would be using the American designs. There had been some dubiety about the effectiveness of the Stuart and Grant, but everything they could find about Japanese tanks suggested that they would be more than adequate to go up against them.
Northcott had also had a warning sent that he may have to put together two Independent Squadrons for immediate deployment. Hinton recognised that 2/6th Armoured Regiment (AAR) was the furthest along in its training. Lt-Col Charles Hodgson (CO 2/6th AAR) had been asked which of his squadrons he felt would be capable of action. His response was that A and B Squadrons would likely be the best choice, Northcott thanked him and asked that those two squadrons be advised of the potential to be shipped overseas. Hinton expressed his worry that his force would be sent off piecemeal. Northcott agreed that wouldn’t be something he’d want either.
Going back to the issue of training, one of Northcott’s aides had been looking around for a place where the whole Division could train together. He had identified Narrabri in New South Wales as a potential training area, which Northcott had requested Canberra to organise. Locke’s 2nd AAB were located at Puckapunyal, Victoria, with some elements attending training at Greta Army Camp. Having somewhere to have the whole Division co-located with plenty of space for exercises was a priority for Northcott. Once both Brigades were fully equipped they would need to use the exercises to see whether they would need to mix two types of tanks to make for a more balanced force structure.
The last issue was the formation of the Support Group, or a Motor Brigade as was now the preference. The Light Horse regiments were likely to be the foundation of Motor Regiments, just as 15th Motor Regiment (Northern River Lancers) had done. Brigadier Hinton was keen on his old 4th Cavalry Brigade (6th, 7th and 14th Light Horse) becoming 4th Motor Brigade. Northcott wasn’t particularly fussy about whichever Cavalry Brigade he got, as long as he got one in a reasonable amount of time and with a reasonable amount of training and equipment. The whole Australian army was trying to do the same, get the equipment and train for war.
