The Australian Army in 1942
This is a consolidation of my earlier posts about the Australian Army in 1942. It is intended to show that Australia was weakly defended in the first half of 1942, which gave the Japanese a window of opportunity for a successful invasion. Most of the information comes from the Australian Encyclopaedia.
Deployment in Far East in December 1941
Malaya - 2 Brigades of the 8th Australian Division (22nd and 27th Brigades)
Ambon & Timor - 1 Brigade of the 8th Australian Division
Rabul - 2/22nd Battalion
Naru & Ocean Island - A small artillery detachment
Solomons, New Ireland & Admiralties -1st Independent Company
New Caledonia - 3rd Independent Company
Australia - 8 Divisions as follows:
1st Armoured Division with 12 tanks
1st and 2nd Cavalry Divisions of the Militia - they became the 1st and 2nd Motorised Divisions in March 1942
1st to 5th Divisions of the Militia
The Militia divisions were up to strength in men, but they did not have their full strength of weapons and equipment. Furthermore they were badly trained and organised.
The 2/40th Battalion was sent to Timor and the 2/2nd Independent Company was sent to Portuguese Timor.
Reinforcements in the First Quarter of 1942
46,000 men of 6th and 7th Australian Divisions (less 1 Brigade in Ceylon)
63,000 men of AIF who had not left Australia
33,000 men in US 41st Division and some USAAF men
Combined with the 114,000 men of the Militia there was a grand total of 256,000 soldiers in Australia by the end of March 1942. Which is more than the Japanese would be able to send. However, the British had 90,000 men in Malaya at the start of the Pacific War IIRC and received 45,000 reinforcements before it surrendered. Furthermore the Japanese were the best at Jungle warfare at this stage of the war. I'm sure they could have learnt how to survive and fight in deserts if they needed to.
Also the Japanese were able to occupy the Dutch East Indies, which had a population of 70 million in 1940 and Australia only had 7 million. So although it is a huge place they should be able to keep the civil population pacified.
Organisation on 9th April 1942
Land Headquarters
First Army
I Corps (South Queensland) - 4 Divisions (3rd Division, 5th Division, 7th Division and 1st Motor Division)
II Corps (New South Wales) - 3 Divisions (1st Division, 2nd Division and 10th Division)
Second Army (New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and Tasmania) - 2 Divisions (2nd Motor Division and US 41st Division, plus Tasmania Force)
III Corps (Western Australia) - 4th Division
Northern Territory Force - 19th Brigade Group (of the 6th Division) and the Northern Territory Lines of Communication Area
Land Headquarters Reserve - One Division (1st Armoured Division, plus 2/2nd Pioneer Battalion and 2/1st Machine Gun Battalion)
Land Headquarters Troops - which may have included the Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania, Western Australia and New Guinea Line of Communication Areas
New Guinea Force - 30th Australian Brigade. Joined by 14th Australian Brigade on 14th May.
AIF (Overseas) - 2 Divisions (16th and 17th Brigades of the 6th Division in Ceylon from mid-March to early July 1942 and 9th Division in the Middle East until February 1943).
Therefore there was a total of 11 divisions in Australia on this date consisting of one armoured, 2 motor and 8 infantry divisions (1st to 5th, 7th, 10th and US 41st).
Although 12 infantry divisions (8 Militia and 4 A.I.F) were formed the maximum strength was 10 divisions. The 8th Division was destroyed by March 1942; the 10th existed between April and August 1942; and the 12th Division only existed for the first 15 days of January 1943. In early 1943 the Australian Army converted 6 divisions from motorised infantry to "jungle" divisions and they were not disbanded until the end of the Pacific War. The other 3 infantry divisions were disbanded between April 1944 and May 1945.
The A.I.F. had the following un-brigaded units: 4 pioneer battalions; 8 machine gun battalions; the Parachute Battalion; the Papua Infantry Battalion; 4 New Guinea infantry battalions; the Torres Strait Light Infantry Battalion; the garrison battalions; and 8 independent companies (later named commando squadrons).
Australian Armoured Forces
In May 1942 the armoured formations of the Australian Army consisted of:
1 Armoured Division (1st and 2nd Armoured Brigades plus divisional troops)
1 Motor Division - formerly the 1st Cavalry Division (1st and 2nd Motor Brigades plus division troops)
2 Motor Division - formerly the 2nd Cavalry Division (6 armoured brigade and 3 motor brigade, plus divisional troops)
3 Armoured Tank Brigade (1st, 2nd and 3rd Tank Battalions)
At the end of February 1942 there were only 12 tanks in Australia (2 British Medium Tanks built in the 1920s and 10 Light Tanks Mk VI delivered in 1937). However, between then and the end of the year 1,200 tanks were supplied by the US and 300 by the UK so that there were about 1,500 tanks in Australia at the end of 1942. This allowed the 1st and 2nd Motor Divisions to be converted into the 3rd and 2nd Armoured divisions respectively. However, a shortage of manpower forced a reduction in the size of the Armoured Corps to the following by August 1943:
1st Armoured Division (1st Armoured Brigade, 3rd Motor Brigade and divisional troops)
3rd Armoured Division (2nd Armoured Brigade and Divisional troops)
4th Armoured Brigade (1st Tank Battalion, 2/6th, 2/8th and 2/9th Armoured Regiments)
2nd and 3rd Tank Battalion Groups
Further reductions became necessary during 1943 and 1944, and by 1945 the Australian Armoured Corps had shrunk to 5 armoured regiments and one reconnaissance squadron. At the time there were also the 2/6th, 2/7th and 2/9th Cavalry (Commando) regiments, originally named Divisional Cavalry regiments.
Australian AFV Production and AFV Imports to Australia
This is the history of Australian tank production in World War II courtesy of Jane's World War II Tanks and Armoured Fighting Vehicles by Leland Ness
A handful of Vickers Medium Tanks had been purchased in the 1930s, but these were worn out by 1939. 10 Light Tanks Mk VIA were ordered in the Spring of 1936 and delivered in late 1937. A follow up order for 24 Light Tanks Mk VIB was placed on their arrival, but this was cancelled shortly after. About 5,000 Universal Carriers were built in Australia 1940-44. These were the only tanks in Australia until March 1942.
According to Ness the General Staff requirement for the AC-1 Sentinel was drawn up in November 1940 and the prototype appeared in January 1942, but only 66 Sentinel tanks were built. That is 22 between August and December 1942 and 44 between January and July 1943. However, the Australians also built 15 LP armoured cars in 1939; 245 Dingo scout cars 1942-43; 238 Rover light armoured cars 1942-43; and 5,661 Universal Carriers 1940-43.
The loss of the Dutch East Indies in March 1942 resulted in the diversion of 50 M3 light tanks and 148 Marmont-Herrington CTLS light tanks to Australia, which were taken over by the Royal Australian Armoured Corps (RAAC). The CTLS machines were only good for training, but the M3 light tanks complemented 10 that the RAAC had already received from the US for familiarisation, which came from the Australian allocation of British Lend Lease and 315 M3 light tanks (270 in 1942 and 45 in 1943) were received from this source. This source also provided 777 M3 Lee/Grant medium tanks which were delivered between March/April 1942 and the end of that year. The Australians also received British built Matilda infantry tanks which arrived from April 1942 and 304 were on strength by the end of the year and in 1944 they bought New Zealand's 33 Matilda close support tanks.
The source also says that the Americans sent 503 M3A1 scout cars, but does not give the dates. At least 97 British Staghound armoured cars were received in 1944 and the Canadians sent 171 scout cars.