18th Light Horse Regiment

Australian Army regiment (1921–1942) November 2019 18th Light Horse Regiment 18 LH (ADL).png 150px Hat badge of the 18th Light Horse Regiment 1921–1942 Australia Australian Light Horse Cavalry Divisional cavalry Regiment 6th Cavalry Brigade Adelaide "For God, King and Country" ANZAC, GALLIPOLI 1915, EGYPT 1915–17, PALESTINE 1917–18 100px Unit colour patch The 18th Light Horse Regiment (Adelaide Lancers) was a Citizens Military Force unit of the Australian Light Horse, formed during the post-World War I reorganisation of the Australian Army. The regiment traces its origins back to the militia cavalry regiments raised in the colony of South Australia, such as the Adelaide Cavalry Squadron, the Adelaide Mounted Rifles and the South Australian Mounted Rifles.The Australian Light Horse Hall Richard John W.D. Joynt 1968 Blackburn 77 This is a different unit to the pre-World War I, 18th Australian Light Horse (Western Australian Mounted Infantry).The Lineage of the Australian Army Festberg A.N. Allara Publishing 1972 Melbourne 45 History Formation The 18th Light Horse Regiment was formed on 31 March 1921,http://www.ordersofbattle.com/Units/UnitHistory?UniX=6678 18 Light Horse Unit History Order of Battle 26 January 2018 Orders of Battle 26 January 2018 drawing upon elements of the existing Light Horse regiments in South Australia for personnel. It was headquartered at Unley, in Adelaide. The initial role of the 18th was as divisional cavalry for the 2nd Cavalry Division, although it routinely trained with the South Australian-based 6th Cavalry Brigade, which included the 3rd Light Horse, 9th Light Horse, 23rd Light Horse and supporting units.Hopkins R.N.L. July 1971 The 6th Armoured Brigade Sabretache Winter 1971 7–8 Interwar period During the 1920s the Australian Light Horse converted from their pre-war mounted rifles role to that of cavalry modelled along British Army lines.Light Horse: A History of Australia's Mounted Arm Bou Jean Cambridge University Press 2010 0521197082 Port Melbourne 228–230 However, by the end of the 1920s the stringent financial situation across the Army, and the suspension of the compulsory training scheme,Light Horse: A History of Australia's Mounted Arm Bou Jean Cambridge University Press 2010 0521197082 Port Melbourne 236 led to the amalgamation of a number of light horse units. This led to the linking of the 18th with the 23rd Light Horse Regiment to form the 18th/23rd Light Horse Regiment in 1929. The 23rd Light Horse was not maintained during the period in which they were linked with the new unit remaining in the former 18th Light Horse locations.The Lineage of the Australian Army Festberg A.N. Allara Publishing 1972 Melbourne 51 In October 1936, the units were unlinked and the 18th was raised as the 18th Light Horse (Machine Gun) Regiment (Adelaide Lancers). Around this time, the regiment was awarded four battle honours for the service of predecessor units that had fought during World War I. As a machine gun regiment they provided fire support to the 2nd Cavalry Division, based in Victoria and South Australia. They were equipped with Vickers Medium Machine Guns which were transported via civilian trucks which were hired from members of the unit given the very limited motorisation which the Army had undergone by this time.https://www.army.gov.au/sites/g/files/net1846/f/sp307_mechanising_an_army-james_c_morrison.pdf Land Warfare Studies Centre Study Paper No. 307, Mechanising an Army: Mechanisation Policy and the conversion of the Light Horse,1920–1943 Morrison James June 2006 Australian Army 26 January 2018 13 January 2018 https://web.archive.org/web/20180113150240/https://www.army.gov.au/sites/g/files/net1846/f/sp307_mechanising_an_army-james_c_morrison.pdf dead By 1938, the 18th Light Horse (Machine Gun) Regiment was part of the 6th Cavalry Brigade along with the 3rd and 9th/23rd Light Horse Regiments.The Australian Light Horse Hall Richard John W.D. Joynt 1968 Blackburn 80 World War II In the late 1930s, the regiment came under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Arthur Blackburn, VC. As the prospect of war loomed again in 1939, the unit prepared for service overseas. However, when the Second World War broke out and this did not eventuate, Blackburn and many of the officers and men of the unit joined the 2nd Australian Imperial Force's 2/3rd Machine Gun Battalion, which fought in Syria and later formed part of the ill-fated Black Force in Java.Arthur Blackburn, VC: An Australian Hero, His Men, and Their Two World Wars Faulkner A. Wakefield Press 2008 186254784X Adelaide 178–185 The unit was converted to the 18th Motor Regiment in March 1942. However, this proved to be a short-lived step as on 8 May 1942 the unit was ordered to convert to an armoured regiment and was renamed the 12th Armoured Regiment. At this time the unit was transferred to the Australian Armoured Corps. Perpetuation Following the Second World War, the South Australian light horse units were perpetuated through the 3rd/9th South Australian Mounted Rifles,http://www.defence.gov.au/army/3_9lh/history.htm 3/9 Light Horse (South Australian Mounted Rifles) History Department of Defence https://web.archive.org/web/20110317144129/http://www.army.gov.au/3_9lh/history.htm 17 March 2011 dead 26 January 2010 which was raised as part of the Royal Australian Armoured Corps.Australian Armour. A History of the Royal Australian Armoured Corps 1927–1972. Hopkins R.N.L. Royal Australian Armoured Corps Museum 1978 PuckapunyalJobson Christopher 2009 Looking Forward, Looking Back: Customs and Traditions of the Australian Army Big Sky Publishing Wavell Heights, Queensland 978-0-98032-516-4 118–123 Alliances 18th Royal Hussars (Queen Mary's Own) References Category:Military units and formations established in 1921 Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1942 Category:Mounted regiments of Australia