Historical weaponry of the Australian Army

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Australian Army

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This article lists weapons and equipment historically used by the Australian Army that is no longer in service, for the current weapons and equipment employed by the Australian Army, see: Weaponry of the Australian Army.

Since the formation of the Australian Army on 1 March 1901, it has used a variety of weaponry and equipment, sourced mainly from British, American and less frequently, other European manufacturers, but also weapons and equipment produced by local Australian manufacturers.

The Australian Army came into being when the six British colonies of Australia all held referendums to join together, and voted in favour of forming a federation, creating the modern nation of the Commonwealth of Australia on 1 January 1901. Prior to doing so, each of the Australian colonies were responsible for their own defence, and all had separate colonial armies. As each colonial army was responsible for the defence of their own colony, each colony separately contracted the purchase of their own equipment, so at the time that each colonial army merged into the newly formed Australian Army, there was a variety of incompatible equipment used by the various interstate units.

One of the first tasks of the newly formed Army following restructure and the creation of unified hierarchy and command chains, was to uniformly equip the new national army. This was no easy task, as at the time of the foundation of the Australian Army, all six colonial armies were in the field involved in the Second Boer War. Whilst badge changing ceremonies were performed, and hats and uniforms supplied, it proved impractical to fully re-equip in the field. Consequently, the Martini-Henry which was favoured by the majority of colonial units, was persisted with for much of the first decade of the twentieth century.

Contents 1 Second Boer War to World War I 1.1 Infantry Weapons 1.1.1 Side-arms 1.1.2 Long-arms 1.2 Horses 2 World War I 2.1 Infantry Weapons 2.1.1 Side-arms 2.1.2 Long-arms 2.1.3 Grenade 2.1.4 Light machine-gun 2.1.5 Heavy machine-gun 2.1.6 Infantry-Support 2.2 Horses 2.3 Artillery 2.3.1 Trench Mortar 2.3.2 Heavy Mortar 2.3.3 Field Guns 2.3.4 Vehicles 2.4 Aircraft 3 World War II 3.1 Infantry Weapons 3.1.1 Side-arms 3.1.2 Long-arms 3.1.3 Grenade 3.1.4 Sub-machine-gun 3.1.5 Light machine-gun 3.1.6 Heavy machine-gun 3.1.7 Infantry-Support 3.2 Anti-Armour 3.3 Artillery 3.3.1 Trench Mortar 3.3.2 Heavy Mortar 3.3.3 Field Guns 3.3.4 Vehicles 4 Korean War 4.1 Infantry Weapons 4.1.1 Side-arms 4.1.2 Long-arms 4.1.3 Grenade 4.1.4 Sub-machine-gun 4.1.5 Light machine-gun 4.1.6 Heavy machine-gun 4.1.7 Infantry-Support 5 Vietnam War 5.1 Infantry Weapons 5.1.1 Side-arms 5.1.2 Long-arms 5.1.3 Assault Rifles 5.1.4 Sub-machine-gun 6 1980s & 90s 7 Recent Changes

[edit] Second Boer War to World War I

[edit] Infantry Weapons

[edit] Side-arms

• Beaumont-Adams Revolver (.450 calibre)
• Enfield Revolver (.476 calibre)

[edit] Long-arms

• Martini-Henry Rifle (.577/.450 calibre)
• Snider-Enfield Rifle (.577 calibre)

[edit] Horses

• Waler horse

[edit] World War I

By the outbreak of World War I, the equipment of the Australian Army had become standardised, and was essentially the same as most of the armies of the British Empire. The one major difference was the preference of kangaroo leather over canvas for webbing and other equipment, straps and belts.

[edit] Infantry Weapons [edit] Side-arms Enfield Revolver (.476 calibre) Webley Revolver (.455 calibre) [edit] Long-arms Lee-Enfield Rifle (.303 calibre) [edit] Grenade Mills Bomb [edit] Light machine-gun Lewis Gun (.303 calibre) [edit] Heavy machine-gun Vickers Machine Gun (.303 calibre)

[edit] Infantry-Support Stokes Mortar (3 inch calibre) [edit] Horses Waler horse [edit] Artillery [edit] Trench Mortar 2 inch Medium Mortar [edit] Heavy Mortar 9.45 inch Heavy Mortar [edit] Field Guns 4.5 inch Howitzer 18-Pounder Field Gun

[edit] Vehicles Armoured Cars Model T Ford (with mounted Lewis Gun) Rolls-Royce Type A (with mounted Lewis Gun) 50 HP Daimler (with mounted M1895 Colt-Browning machine gun) 60 HP Mercedes (with mounted M1895 Colt-Browning machine gun) 50 HP Minerva (with mounted M1895 Colt-Browning machine gun)

[edit] Aircraft

(The Australian Flying Corps which served in WWI was an Army unit, not a separate airforce.)

Airco DH 5 Airco DH.6 Armstrong Whitworth F.K.3 Avro 504 Bleriot XI Bristol Boxkite Bristol F.2 Fighter Bristol Scout Caudron G.3 Curtiss JN Jenny Deperdussin Grahame-White Type XV Boxkite Handley Page 0/400 Martinsyde S.1 Martinsyde G.100

Martinsyde G.102 Farman MF.7 Longhorn Farman MF.11 Shorthorn Maurice Farman Seaplane/Landplane Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.2 Royal Aircraft Factory B.E.12 Royal Aircraft Factory F.E.2 Royal Aircraft Factory R.E.8 Royal Aircraft Factory S.E.5A Sopwith Buffalo: (two prototypes for trials only) Sopwith Baby: (One aircraft flown by the Royal Australian Navy in 1917) Sopwith Camel (AFC, RAN) Sopwith Pup (AFC, RAN) Sopwith Snipe Sopwith 1½ Strutter (AFC, RAN)

[edit] World War II

At the beginning of World War II, the Australian Army was continuing with the practice of sourcing military equipment from the United Kingdom as it has done in the colonial era, and the first three decades of the twentieth century. However, as the war progressed, Britain's difficulties in keeping up production demand, Australia's geographic isolation, and a differing focus on war policies and theatres meant that Australia increasingly looked to the United States for both arms and equipment, and military assistance.

[edit] Infantry Weapons [edit] Side-arms Enfield Revolver MK II (.380 calibre) Webley Revolver MK IV (.38 calibre) Colt 1911A1 (.454 calibre) [edit] Long-arms Lee-Enfield SMLE MK III Rifle (.303 calibre) [edit] Grenade Mills Bomb M36 [edit] Sub-machine-gun Owen Gun (9mm calibre) Sten submachine gun (9x19mm Parabellum) Austen MK I (and MK II) (9x19mm Parabellum) Thompson submachine gun (.45 calibre) [edit] Light machine-gun Bren Gun (.303 calibre) [edit] Heavy machine-gun Vickers Machine Gun (.303 calibre)

[edit] Infantry-Support Stokes Mortar (3 inch calibre) Flamethrower, Portable, No 2 (flamethrower) [edit] Anti-Armour Rifle, Anti-Tank, .55 in, Boys (.551 calibre) [edit] Artillery [edit] Trench Mortar 2 inch Medium Mortar [edit] Heavy Mortar 9.45 inch Heavy Mortar [edit] Field Guns 4.5 inch Howitzer 18-Pounder Field Gun [edit] Vehicles Amphibious Vehicles DUKW Amphibious Jeep

Scout Cars Dingo S1 Scout Car Armoured Cars Rover Light Armoured Car Bren Carrier Staghound Armoured Personnel Carriers Kangaroo Bandicoot Tanks Centurion Tank Churchill Tank Cromwell Tank Cruiser Tank Grant Tank Lee Tank Sherman Tank Stuart Tank Matilda Tank

[edit] Korean War

[edit] Infantry Weapons [edit] Side-arms Enfield Revolver MK II (.380 calibre) Webley Revolver MK IV (.38 calibre) Colt 1911A1 (.454 calibre) [edit] Long-arms Lee-Enfield SMLE MK IV Rifle (.303 calibre) [edit] Grenade Mills Bomb M36 [edit] Sub-machine-gun Owen Gun (9mm calibre) Sten submachine gun (9x19mm Parabellum) Austen MK I (and MK II) (9x19mm Parabellum) Thompson submachine gun (.45 calibre) [edit] Light machine-gun Bren Gun (.303 calibre) [edit] Heavy machine-gun Vickers Machine Gun (.303 calibre)

[edit] Infantry-Support Stokes Mortar (3 inch calibre) M20 Bazooka (89mm calibre) Flamethrower, Portable, No 2 (flamethrower)

[edit] Vietnam War

[edit] Infantry Weapons [edit] Side-arms Colt 1911A1 (.454 calibre) L9A1 Browning Hi-Power (9x19mm Parabellum) [edit] Long-arms Lee-Enfield SMLE MK IV Rifle (.303 calibre) SMLE MK V Jungle Carbine Rifle (.303 calibre) Parker Hale M82 (.308 calibre Sniper-Rifle) [edit] Assault Rifles L1A1 Self-loading Rifle (SLR) (Commonwealth FN FAL derivative) (7.62 calibre) Armalite M16 A1 (5.56 calibre) AR-15 Armalite (5.56 calibre) with M79 Grenade launcher [edit] Sub-machine-gun F1 submachine gun (9x19 Parabellum) [edit] 1980s & 90s [edit] Recent Changes Main article: Weaponry of the Australian Army