34th Brigade (Australia)

34th Brigade (Australia)

Troops from the 34th Brigade march through Saijo in 1946
Active 1945–48
Country  Australia
Branch  Australian Army
Type Infantry
Size ~4,700 men
Part of BCOF

The Australian 34th Brigade was an Australian Army brigade. The brigade was formed in late 1945 following the end of World War II as part of the Australian contribution to the British Commonwealth Occupation Force (BCOF) in Japan. In late 1948 it was renamed the 1st Brigade.

History

During the final part of World War II the Australian government became concerned that despite the nation's contributions to the Allied war effort, that these might not be recognised in the post war settlement. As a result, shortly after Japan's capitulation, the Australian prime minister, Ben Chifley made a formal offer of troops for occupation duty.[1] The Australian contribution was to encompass naval, air and ground forces, the later of which were to form an independent brigade-sized formation.[1] As the process of demobilising Australia's military forces had begun the day the war ended,[2] it was necessary to raise a new force and consequently the 34th Brigade was formed on 27 October 1945 at Morotai in the Netherlands East Indies.[3] The brigade's units were formed from personnel drawn from the 6th, 7th and 9th Divisions who volunteered for occupation duty in Japan.[3] Upon formation the brigade was under the command of Brigadier Robert Nimmo.[4]

After a lengthy period of training which took place while political negotiations between the Allied powers took place,[1] the brigade finally departed for Japan in February 1946,[3] arriving at Kure between the 21 and 23 February.[5] With an authorised strength of 4,700 personnel,[4] the brigade was structured around three infantry battalions—the 65th, 66th and 67th—with various supporting arms including an artillery battery, a squadron of engineers and an armoured car squadron, which had been raised from the 4th Armoured Brigade and equipped with Staghound armoured cars.[6] The Australian contribution represented about one third of the strength of the BCOF force, while the other two-thirds were provided by India, the United Kingdom and New Zealand.[7]

General Robert L. Eichelberger inspects the Australian Guard of Honor at Kure.

As part of the BCOF, the 34th Brigade was assigned responsibility for providing security and enforcing the armistice conditions in Hiroshima Prefecture. The 65th Battalion was based at Fukuyama, the 66th Battalion at Hiro and the 67th Battalion at Kaitaichi.[5] There was no resistance to the occupation, however, the brigade's units conducted regular patrols throughout the prefecture and provided support to the occupation government.[3] During this time, the tasks that the 34th Brigade were involved in included providing security for elections, locating and destroying war equipment and stores, and ceremonial duties, including mounting guard at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo.[7]

As a result of the withdrawal of British and Indian forces throughout 1947, the brigade had to expand the area in which it operated at that time.[4] By June of that year, the Australians made up the bulk of the BCOF, representing 6,250 personnel out of the total force of 6,850.[7] In October the New Zealanders also withdrew,[8] and shortly thereafter, as a result of the stable security situation in Japan, the Australian government decided to reduce its contribution to the Allied occupation force from a full brigade, to just one infantry battalion, as well as one fighter squadron and supporting personnel[7] in an effort to build up the newly established Australian Regular Army.[8]

As a result, in late December 1948 the brigade and two of the three infantry battalions (the 65th and 66th) returned to Australia.[3] Upon its return to Australia, the 34th Brigade was redesignated the 1st Brigade.[9]

The Australian contribution to the occupation of Japan continued, however, as the 67th Battalion (which had been re-designated the 3rd Battalion, Australian Regiment in November 1948) remained as the Australian Army's only combat unit in Japan.[3] In early 1950, the Menzies government announced that it would finally withdraw all its forces later in the year, although the outbreak of the Korean War prevented this and ultimately 3 RAR remained in Japan until September 1950 when it was deployed to Korea,[5] where it served as part of the 27th Commonwealth Brigade.[10]

Composition

The primary elements of the 34th Brigade were:[11]

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 Wood 2001, p. 39.
  2. ↑ James 2009, p. 14.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Grey 2008, p. 203.
  4. 1 2 3 "A Short History of the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment" (PDF). Australian Army. Retrieved 3 November 2011.
  5. 1 2 3 Horner & Bou 2008, p. 20.
  6. ↑ Handel, Paul D. "Australian Armour in Japan 1946 to 1950". Anzacsteel.com. Retrieved 30 December 2009.
  7. 1 2 3 4 Wood 2001, p. 40.
  8. 1 2 Dennis et al 1995, p. 125.
  9. ↑ Kuring 2004, p. 219.
  10. ↑ Grey 2008, p. 210.
  11. ↑ Horner & Bou 2008, p. 2.

References

  • Dennis, Peter; Grey, Jeffrey; Morris, Ewan; Prior, Robin (1995). The Oxford Companion to Australian Military History. Melbourne: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-553227-9. 
  • Grey, Jeffrey (2008). A Military History of Australia (3rd ed.). Melbourne: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-69791-0. 
  • Horner, David; Bou, Jean (2008). Duty First. A History of the Royal Australian Regiment (2nd ed.). Sydney: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 978-1-74175-374-5. 
  • James, Karl (2009). "Soldiers to Citizens". Wartime (Canberra: Australian War Memorial) (45). ISSN 1328-2727. 
  • Kuring, Ian (2004). Redcoats to Cams: A History of Australian Infantry 1788–2001. Loftus, New South Wales: Australian Military Historical Publications. ISBN 1-876439-99-8. 
  • Wood, Jim (December 2001). "The Forgotten Force – The Australian Military Contribution to the Occupation of Japan 1945–1952". Journal of the Royal United Services Institute of Australia (Canberra: United Services Institute of Australia) 23: 39–41. ISSN 0313-6809. 

Further reading

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