Pre-war
The Australian Army formed its first armoured units in the late 1920s when two independent Tank Sections equipped with Vickers Medium tanks were formed in New South Wales and Victoria. An armoured car regiment was formed in 1933 based on the 19th Light Horse Regiment. A second armoured car regiment was formed in Sydney in 1939.
As with the rest of the Australian Army, the outbreak of war in 1939 lead to a dramatic expansion of Australia’s armoured force. Each of the four divisions in the Second Australian Imperial Force (AIF) was authorised a cavalry reconnaissance regiment equipped with light tanks and scout carriers.
Read more about this topic: Australian Armoured Units Of World War II