2/5th Armoured Regiment (Australia)

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2/5th Armoured Regiment
Members of the 2/5th Armoured Regiment with an M3 Grant tank
Active	1941-1945
Country	Australia
Branch	Australian Army
Type	Armoured
Equipment	M3 Stuart and M3 Grant tanks

The 2/5th Armoured Regiment was an Australian Army armoured regiment of World War II. The Regiment was formed in 1941 and disbanded in 1945 without seeing action.

[edit] History

The 2/5th Armoured Regiment was formed on 26 July 1941 as part of the 1st Armoured Brigade of the 1st Armoured Division. The Regiment was initially located near Brisbane, Queensland but joined the rest of the 1st Armoured Brigade at Greta, New South Wales in October.

Following the outbreak of the Pacific War the 2/5th Armoured Regiment was equipped with Universal Carriers to train as a light armoured unit. The Regiment received its M3 Grant medium tanks in May 1942 and moved to Edgeroi, New South Wales in August to conduct large-scale exercises. While the Regiment was ordered to prepare for deployment to New Guinea in August or September 1942, it was replaced by the 2/6th Armoured Regiment which was equipped with lighter M3 Stuart tanks which were better suited to New Guinea's terrain.

In early 1943 the 2/5th Armoured Regiment moved to Western Australia with the rest of the 1st Armoured Division and was based near Geraldton. The Regiment moved south to Moora in July 1943 and remained part of the independent 1st Armoured Brigade Group upon the 1st Armoured Division's disbandment in September. The 2/5th Armoured Regiment was transferred to the 4th Armoured Brigade in March 1944 and moved to Southport, Queensland to train for possible deployment overseas. Although the Regiment was initially selected to support the 7th Division during the liberation of Balikpapan in July 1945 it was replaced by the Matilda II-equipped 1st Armoured Regiment shortly before it would have embarked for the operation. The 2/5th Armoured Regiment was disbanded in September 1945.

[edit] References

• Paul Handel (2003). Dust, Sand & Jungle: A History of Australian Armour During Training and Operations, 1927-1948. RAAC Memorial and Army Tank Museum.
• Major General R.N. Hopkins (Retired) (1978). Australian Armour. A History of the Royal Australian Armoured Corps 1927-1972. Australian Government Publishing Service.
• Australian-armour.com 2nd/5th Australian Armoured Regiment. Accessed 6 May 2007.