The 5th Military District was an administrative district of the

Australian Army The Australian Army is the principal 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 (CA), wh ...

. Formed shortly after the Federation of Australia, the 5th Military District covered all of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

except the Kimberley region, with its headquarters at Swan Barracks in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth i ...

. Following the First World War, the area's designation was changed to the 5th District Base. In October 1939, it was re-designated as Western Command when the Army moved towards a geographic command structure. In April 1942, the Army was reorganised and Western Command became III Corps in April 1942. Western Command was re-formed in June 1944 when the need for a corps-level headquarters passed. Then-Captain William Henderson, later promoted to Major General, served on the command's staff soon after the

Second World War 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 opposi ...

ended. The 13th Infantry Brigade was re-raised in 1948, once again headquartered in Western Australia, and assigned to Western Command. Upon formation, it consisted of two infantry battalions: the 11th/44th and the 16th/28th. In 1960, when the CMF was reorganised following the adoption of the Pentropic divisional establishment, the brigade was disbanded. The geographical command structure was retained until the 1970s.

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References

* * * * {{cite journal , last=Shaw , first=Peter , title=The Evolution of the Infantry State Regiment System in the Army Reserve , journal=Sabretache , publisher=

Military Historical Society of Australia The Military Historical Society of Australia (MHSA) is a voluntary organisation formed in 1957, focused upon promoting research and study of Australia's military history. Administered by a federal council based in the Australian Capital Territor ...

, location=Garran, Australian Capital Territory , volume= LI , issue= 4 (December) , year=2010 , issn=0048-8933 , pages=5–12 History of Western Australia Military districts of Australia