History
The 2/5th Armoured Regiment was formed on 26 July 1941 as part of the 1st Armoured Brigade of the 1st Armoured Division. Under the command of Lieutenant Colonel F.D Sandilands, the regiment was initially located at Grovely near Brisbane, Queensland but joined the rest of the 1st Armoured Brigade at Greta, New South Wales in October.
Following the outbreak of the Pacific War the 2/5th Armoured Regiment was equipped with Universal Carriers to train as a light armoured unit. The regiment was re-equipped with 52 M3 Grant medium tanks on April 1942, and moved to Edgeroi, New South Wales in August to conduct large-scale exercises with the rest of the 1st Armoured Division. While the regiment was ordered to prepare for deployment to New Guinea in August or September 1942, it was replaced by the 2/6th Armoured Regiment which was equipped with lighter M3 Stuart tanks which were better suited to New Guinea's terrain.
In early 1943 the 2/5th Armoured Regiment moved to Western Australia with the rest of the 1st Armoured Division and was based near Geraldton. The regiment moved south to Moora in July 1943 and remained part of the independent 1st Armoured Brigade Group upon the 1st Armoured Division's disbandment in September. The 2/5th Armoured Regiment was transferred to the 4th Armoured Brigade in March 1944 and moved to Southport, Queensland to train for possible deployment overseas. Although the regiment was initially selected to support the 7th Division during the liberation of Balikpapan in July 1945 it was replaced by the Matilda II-equipped 1st Armoured Regiment shortly before it would have embarked for the operation. Later they were earmarked for deployment as part of Operation Zipper, but the war ended before the operation was commenced. The 2/5th Armoured Regiment was disbanded in September 1945.
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