The 1st Brigade is a combat brigade within the Australian Army consisting of around 4000 military and civilian personnel. The brigade is based at Robertson Barracks, Palmerston, 20kms south of Darwin in the Northern Territory, with a component located at RAAF Edinburgh in Adelaide, South Australia. History
The 1st Brigade was raised in Sydney, New South Wales, shortly after the start of World War I in August 1914 for service overseas as part of the Australian Imperial Force (AIF). Upon formation it consisted of four infantry battalions—the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th however, later it received organic fire support when the 1st Australian Machine Gun Company (February 1916 to February 1918) and 1st Australian Trench Mortar Battery (from April 1916) were added to its order of battle. During the war, the 1st Brigade took part in the fighting at Gallipoli and on the Western Front in France and Belgium, before being disbanded in April 1919. Notable battles in which the brigade fought include: Lone Pine, Pozieres, Bullecourt, Passchendaele, Hazebrouck, Amiens and the Hindenburg Line. Five soldiers from 1st Brigade units received the Victoria Cross, Australia's highest military decoration, for their actions during the war. These were: John Hamilton, George Howell, Thomas Kenny, Leonard Keysor and Alfred Shout. In 1921, the Australian military was re-organised so that units of the part-time forces perpetuated the numerical designations and structures of the AIF. As a result, the 1st Brigade was re-raised as a part-time formation of the Citizens Forces based in Newcastle, New South Wales, and consisting of four infantry battalions: the 13th, 33rd, 35th and 41st Battalions. Initially the brigade was staffed through the compulsory training scheme, which maintained the brigade’s troop numbers, however, following the signing of the Washington Naval Treaty in 1922, Australia's security concerns were reduced. As a result, the Army's budget was halved and the scope of the compulsory training scheme scaled back. The authorised strength of each infantry battalion was reduced to just 409 men of all ranks. In 1929, the compulsory training scheme was suspended by the newly elected Scullin Labor government and was replaced by a voluntary system, under the new name of the "Militia". This, coupled with the financial hardships of the Great Depression, meant that there were few volunteers available for service and many units had to be amalgamated or disbanded. As a result, the 1st Brigade was reduced to just three infantry battalions. Upon the outbreak of World War II in September 1939, the 1st Brigade consisted of the 13th, 33rd and 41st Battalions. Upon the commencement of hostilities it was decided to call up
the Militia to undertake periods of continuous training to boost the nation's readiness for war. Following Japan's entry into the war in December 1941, however, they were mobilised for defensive duties. Although some Militia units were committed to combat operations in New Guinea from 1942 onwards, the 1st Brigade remained in Australia for the duration of the war. It was headquartered around Parramatta, New South Wales, where it formed part of the 1st Division. By the end of hostilities, it consisted of only one battalion—the 41st/2nd Battalion—as other units had been transferred, amalgamated or disbanded. Between May 1942 and August 1945 it was commanded by Brigadier Frederick Burrows. Following the end of hostilities in August 1945, the existing structures were disbanded throughout 1945 and into 1946 and the Interim Army was raised. As a part of this, the 34th Brigade was raised for occupation duties in Japan. In 1948, with the reformation of the Regular Army and the raising of the Australian Regiment (later known as the Royal Australian Regiment), the 34th Brigade was renamed the 1st Brigade following its return to Australia. During the Korean War, individual elements of the brigade were detached for combat in Korea, although they were subsequently placed under the command of other formations. In 1960, the Australian Army adopted the Pentropic divisional establishment. This saw the adoption of the five-battalion division and resulted in the disbandment of the old three-battalion brigade formations. As a result the 1st Brigade, including its headquarters, was disbanded. In late 1964, however, the decision was made to end the experiment with the Pentropic establishment, partly because of the difficulties it created with allied interoperability. Early in the following year the brigade formations were re-established, although they were designated "task forces" instead of brigades. In mid-1965, 1 RAR was sent to Vietnam as part of Australia's commitment to the ongoing conflict in that country. In early 1966, the decision to increase the Australian Army's presence in Vietnam from one infantry battalion to two was announced. In order to command this force, it was decided to form an Australian task force. Shortly after this, the 1st Task Force, consisting of 5 RAR, undertook a readiness exercise around Gospers in New South Wales. Once this exercise was successfully completed, the 1st Task Force's headquarters was used to raise the 1st Australian Task Force and was dispatched to Vietnam, where it would remain until the end of the Australian involvement. In 1972, the task force returned to Australia and had units located at Holsworthy in New South Wales, Woodside in South Australia and at Puckapunyal in Victoria. In 1982, the "brigade" designations were readopted. Brigadier John Sheldrick was in command of the 1st Brigade and early in the year the 1st Armoured Regiment was placed under the 1st Brigade's command as part of the Army's mechanisation trials. The new role of the 1st Brigade as a mechanised force was confirmed in 1983 and following this the capability was developed. This saw the 5th/7th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment (5/7 RAR), re-equipped with armoured personnel carriers beginning in July 1983. During the 1980s, one of the brigade's other infantry battalions, 3 RAR, began training as the Australian Army's parachute capability, and by late 1983 it had become a specialised parachute infantry battalion. They were later transferred to the 3rd Brigade. In 1992, the brigade began the process of moving to Darwin as part of a force structure review focused upon relocating defence assets in the north. By 2000, the brigade had completed its move and was headquartered in Robertson Barracks in Darwin. Before the move was complete, the brigade was warned out to support the 3rd Brigade's deployment to East Timor and in October 1999, 5/7 RAR began deploying. They returned to Australia in April 2000. As part of the Hardened and Networked Army initiative 5/7 RAR was de-linked in 2006 to form two mechanised battalions. 5 RAR remained in Darwin, while 7 RAR, along with subunits from the 8th/12th Medium Regiment, 1st Combat Engineer Regiment and 1st Combat Service Support Battalion were moved to Adelaide, based at RAAF Base Edinburgh. Although the brigade was now split, the Adelaide–Darwin Railway could be used to transport heavy vehicles and equipment north. In the past decade units of the brigade have undertaken deployments to East Timor, Iraq and Afghanistan. In late 2011, the Chief of Army introduced Plan Beersheba, the most sweeping serried of changes to Army structures and roles in a generation. Rather than having the 1st, 3rd, and 7th Brigades focused on a different level of manoeuvre capability, each of these brigades would now reform to be similar multi-role combat brigades. Under Plan Beersheba, the 1st Brigade would command three battle groups, based on the 1st Armoured Regiment, 5 RAR and 7 RAR. In January 2014, the 1st Brigade was the first combat brigade to adopt these Plan Beersheba force structures, including reconfiguring the 1st Armoured Regiment to an Armoured Cavalry regiment formation. The Brigade also realigned several of its units in 2014/2015. 9 Field Squadron and 102 Coral Battery moved from Adelaide to join their parent units in Darwin, while D Squadron, 1st Armoured Regiment relocated from Darwin for Adelaide. Most notably, the 2nd Cavalry Regiment, the first Brigade unit established in Darwin in 1994, transferred from Darwin to Townsville to form part of the 3rd Brigade.
