The 33rd Brigade was a formation of the
Australian Army
The Australian Army is the principal Army, land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (Austral ...
established at the end of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. Formed in August 1945 at
Morotai Island
Morotai Island ( id, Pulau Morotai) is an island in the Halmahera group of eastern Indonesia's Maluku Islands (Moluccas). It is one of Indonesia's northernmost islands.
Morotai is a rugged, forested island lying to the north of Halmahera. It ha ...
, it consisted of three
Australian Imperial Force infantry battalions that were raised for occupation duties in the
Dutch East Indies
The Dutch East Indies, also known as the Netherlands East Indies ( nl, Nederlands(ch)-Indië; ), was a Dutch colony consisting of what is now Indonesia. It was formed from the nationalised trading posts of the Dutch East India Company, which ...
following Japan's surrender. After deployment to
Timor
Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, in the north of the Timor Sea. The island is East Timor–Indonesia border, divided between the sovereign states of East Timor on the eastern part and Indonesia on the western p ...
and
Ambon
Ambon may refer to:
Places
* Ambon Island, an island in Indonesia
** Ambon, Maluku, a city on Ambon Island, the capital of Maluku province
** Governorate of Ambon, a colony of the Dutch East India Company from 1605 to 1796
* Ambon, Morbihan, a c ...
, it returned to Morotai when Dutch colonial rule was re-established. It was disbanded in early 1946 and its personnel demobilised.
History
The 33rd Brigade was formed in late August 1945 at
Morotai Island
Morotai Island ( id, Pulau Morotai) is an island in the Halmahera group of eastern Indonesia's Maluku Islands (Moluccas). It is one of Indonesia's northernmost islands.
Morotai is a rugged, forested island lying to the north of Halmahera. It ha ...
. Initially the force was under the command of Brigadier Lewis Dyke, a regular Army artillery officer, who began organising the brigade before being called to fly to Darwin, where he began preparing for deployment to
Timor
Timor is an island at the southern end of Maritime Southeast Asia, in the north of the Timor Sea. The island is East Timor–Indonesia border, divided between the sovereign states of East Timor on the eastern part and Indonesia on the western p ...
. He subsequently led the first troops to Timor – including elements of the 33rd Brigade – becoming commander of Timor Force. Command of the brigade later passed to Brigadier
William Steele, who remained in the role until November 1945 when Brigadier
Hugh Wrigley
Brigadier Hugh Wrigley, (1 December 1891 – 3 June 1980) was a senior officer of the Australian Army who served in the First and Second World Wars. He also served with the Indian Army between 1917 and 1922.Coulthard-Clark, pp. 591–592. After ...
took over. The brigade's staff was drawn from the disbanded
I Corps I Corps, 1st Corps, or First Corps may refer to:
France
* 1st Army Corps (France)
* I Cavalry Corps (Grande Armée), a cavalry unit of the Imperial French Army during the Napoleonic Wars
* I Corps (Grande Armée), a unit of the Imperial French A ...
headquarters. Upon establishment, the brigade consisted of the
12th/40th,
63rd, and
64th Infantry Battalions. Its constituent units were raised over the course of several months in mid- to late-1945: the 12th/40th in June 1945 in the Northern Territory, and 63rd and 64th in August 1945 on Morotai. The 63rd and 64th Battalions were initially raised as the 1st and 2nd Australian Reinforcement Infantry Battalions, but were re-designated shortly after being raised. All three units were formed as part of the all volunteer
Australian Imperial Force.
Under Dyke's command, the 12th/40th deployed from Darwin to Timor in early September. They arrived at
Koepang
Kupang ( id, Kota Kupang, ), formerly known as Koepang, is the capital of the Indonesian province of East Nusa Tenggara. At the 2020 C ensus, it had a population of 442,758; the official estimate as at mid 2021 was 455,850. It is the largest ci ...
, in the middle of the month, shortly after the Japanese surrender on 11 September, which took place on board the survey ship
HMS ''Moresby'', in Dyke's presence just prior to him handing over as 33rd Brigade commander. At Koepang, the 12th/40th established themselves in former Dutch barracks and began patrolling and internal security duties. This included collecting Japanese prisoners of war, distributing food and supplies, identifying war criminals and overseeing Japanese security details and work parties, collecting weapons and ammunition, and reconstruction efforts. Arrangements were also made to return around 200 Australian former prisoners of war back to Darwin.
Initially, it had been planned to deploy the entire brigade to Timor; however, in mid-September it was determined the situation was stable and that the rest of the brigade would deploy to Ambon, as well as sending smaller elements to the
Kai,
Aru and
Tanimbar Islands
The Tanimbar Islands, also called ''Timur Laut'', are a group of about 65 islands in the Maluku (province), Maluku Provinces of Indonesia, province of Indonesia. The largest and most central of the islands is Yamdena; others include Selaru to t ...
. At this point, Steele assumed command of the brigade, and deployed an advanced party of 100 troops on Ambon from
HMAS ''Glenelg'' on 22 September. These troops came from the 64th Battalion deploying from Morotai,
[ with the remainder of the battalion arriving on 27 September. They were joined by the 63rd Battalion in early October. On Ambon, Steele took the Japanese surrender from Vice Admiral Ichise Shin'ichi, and carried out his interrogation.
On Ambon, where the brigade headquarters was established, its duties included providing personnel to support war crimes trials and details to assist war graves units.] There were also about 800 Australian former prisoners of war at Ambon who needed repatriation,[ and parade details undertook ceremonial duties as war cemeteries were established. Beyond the main areas where units of Australian troops were established, small surveillance parties were dispatched to areas in western New Guinea, as well as the Talaud Islands, Halmahera and Ternate. These parties were tasked with collecting information regarding war crimes and monitoring the Japanese efforts to maintain law and order, which led to several clashes between local civilians and the remaining Japanese.
Established as an interim measure to occupy the Indies until the Dutch could return, as the Dutch forces began arriving in December 1945, the Australians began winding up their operations although they would continue for several more months. On 19 March 1946, the 12th/40th Battalion ceased operations on Timor. Around this time, the brigade returned to Morotai where its headquarters was closed. Its constituent units were also disbanded, and personnel returned to Australia for demobilisation.][
Although the headquarters of most brigades of the Army that were raised during the war were allocated a ]Unit Colour Patch
Unit colour patches (or simply known as colour patches) are a method of identification used by the Australian Army, used to indicate which unit a soldier belongs to.
It is believed that the Australian system of colour patches is based upon the ...
, none were assigned to the 33rd Brigade.
See also
*List of Australian Army brigades
This is a list of the brigades raised by the Australian Army. The list includes brigades that served in World War I, World War II, Vietnam and the present-day brigades.
Current active brigades
World War I Light horse
* 1st Light Horse Briga ...
Citations
Bibliography
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* {{cite book , last=McKenzie-Smith , first=Graham , year= 2018, title=The Unit Guide: The Australian Army 1939–1945, Volume 2 , publisher=Big Sky Publishing , location=Warriewood, New South Wales , isbn=978-1-925675-146
Brigades of Australia
Military units and formations established in 1945
Military units and formations disestablished in 1946
1946 disestablishments in Australia