The Australian 1st Armoured Car Squadron was an

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 ...

unit formed as part of Australia's contribution to the

occupation of Japan Japan was occupied and administered by the victorious Allies of World War II from the 1945 surrender of the Empire of Japan at the end of the war until the Treaty of San Francisco took effect in 1952. The occupation, led by the United States wi ...

. Upon its return to Australia in 1948 the Squadron was expanded and re-equipped to form the 1st Armoured Regiment.

History

The 1st Armoured Car Squadron was raised at

Puckapunyal, Victoria Puckapunyal (more formally the Puckapunyal Military Area, but also known as the Puckapunyal Camp or Puckapunyal Army Base, and colloquially as "Pucka") is an Australian Army training facility and base 10 km west of Seymour, in central Vi ...

in January 1946 to form part of the Australian 34th Brigade which was forming at

Morotai 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 ...

in the

Netherlands 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 ...

prior to its deployment to Japan. The Squadron was manned by volunteers from the 4th Armoured Brigade and was equipped with 18 Staghound armoured cars and 8 Canadian Scout Cars. After a brief period of training the Squadron embarked for Japan in late March 1946, arriving at

Hiroshima is the capital of Hiroshima Prefecture in Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 1,199,391. The gross domestic product (GDP) in Greater Hiroshima, Hiroshima Urban Employment Area, was US$61.3 billion as of 2010. Kazumi Matsui h ...

on 12 April 1946. Following the arrival of its armoured cars in early June the 1st Armoured Car Squadron began conducting patrols across the 34th Brigade's area of responsibility. These patrols were generally uneventful and, like almost all of the Allied occupation force, the Squadron did not experience combat. Due to the unsuitability of the Staghounds for Japan's roads the Squadron was completely equipped with Canadian Scout Cars in 1947. The 1st Armoured Car Squadron returned to Australia in December 1948. In July 1949 the Squadron was expanded and re-equipped with

Churchill tank The Tank, Infantry, Mk IV (A22) Churchill was a British infantry tank used in the Second World War, best known for its heavy armour, large longitudinal chassis with all-around tracks with multiple bogies, its ability to climb steep slopes, a ...

s to form the 1st Armoured Regiment.

References

{{Use dmy dates, date=June 2017 1st Armoured Car Squadron Military units and formations established in 1946 Armoured car units and formations Military units and formations disestablished in 1949