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41 BTY HISTORYDate:
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41 FD BTY History
A Brief History of 41 Battery
1948 With the formation of the Australian Citizen Military Forces (CMF) following the end of the 2nd World War, 3 Composite Anti-Aircraft Regt (3 Comp AA Regt) was formed under command Lt Col J H Byrne, as Corps troops. It consisted of RHQ at Bulimba, with "P" and "Q" Battery's located (we believe) at both Kelvin Grove and Bulimba. Unit was equipped with 40mm Bofors Guns and 90 and 150 cm searchlights, apparently with each Bty manning both guns & searchlights.
At roughly the same time, 11 Field Regiment was formed at Kelvin Grove under command Lt Col C H Wilson, while 5 Field Regiment was formed at Marrickville, NSW under command Lt Col A J Blyth. Both Regiments were under command 2nd Infantry Division.
August – September 1948 (or possibly 1949?) First Parade of "R" Battery, 3 Comp AA Regt at Southport, under command of Major Roy Shepherd.
4 November 1949 3 Comp AA Regt was re-designated as 3 Light Anti-Aircraft & Searchlight Regt (3 LAA/SL Regt) but comprised same equipment, personnel & locations.
1 April 1953 Following another re-organisation, 3 LAA/SL Regt (Lt-Col D W Grant) and 11 Fd Regt (Lt-Col S C Foote) both came under command HQ 5 Army Group Royal Artillery (5 AGRA [Fd]).
5 Fd Regt (Lt-Col C C Thomas) still located in NSW, under command 2 Div.
Early 1955 3 LAA/SL Regt was re-designated 11 LAA/SL Regt but still comprised same personnel and equipment.   31 May 1955 Searchlights were withdrawn from service so the Unit was re-designated again, this time as 11 LAA Regt, but still consisting of "P", "Q" and "R" Bty's. However, at about this time, RHQ, "P" and "Q" Bty's moved to Annerley, while "R" Bty remained at Southport.
Meanwhile, 5 Fd Regt had been disbanded in NSW, but the original 11 Fd Regt, still based at Kelvin Grove was now re-designated as 5 Fd Regt, with RHQ and 13 Bty located at Kelvin Grove and 14 Bty at Ipswich.
11 July 1960 Unit was completely re-equipped, re-formed & re-designated, this time as 11 Fd Regt; consisting of RHQ, HQ and 42 Btys at Annerley, with 41 Bty remaining at Southport. With the change to a Field role, the 40mm Bofors guns were also withdrawn, with the two gun Bty's each being equipped with eight 25 Pdr guns, organised into 2 Troops of 4 guns.
December 1964 105 mm L5 Pack Howitzers were introduced, with the Regt being re-organised to form two six-gun Btys with one Bty being equipped with L5's while the other retained it's 25 Pdr's.
July 1965 At approximately this time, the L5s were withdrawn from CMF service due to a shortage of 105mm ammunition, so training continued using 25 Pdr's only.
3 December 1967 "Freedom of the City of the Gold Coast" granted to 41 Bty, both as recognition of it's past history and as a token of thanks for its help during severe cyclones that struck the coast during 1966 – 67.
December 1972 25 Pdr's were withdrawn and replaced by M2A2 105mm howitzers.
24 March 1973 First firing of M2A2 howitzers by a CMF unit (11 Fd Regt).
1 July 1975 The entire CMF was now re-named as the Australian Army Reserve, and, as part of the Army-wide re-organisation that took place, 11 Fd and 5 Fd Regts were amalgamated to form 5/11 Fd Regt, (Lt Col A R Windsor), comprising RHQ and HQ Bty at Annerley, 14 Bty at Ipswich and 41 Bty, Southport.
20 June 1981 41 Bty exercised it's right of "Freedom of Entry" to the City of the Gold Coast with a mounted parade through Southport and Surfers Paradise.
1981 13 Bty was raised at Kallangur, so making 5/11 the only Australian Field Regiment to have 3 gun Bty's.
1982 The M2A2s were withdrawn and replaced by L5 Pack Howitzers, with the Regt first firing the L5s at WBTA before deploying to Singleton for AFX in May. During August - September, members of the Regt formed a composite Bty supporting 3/4 Cav Regt on Ex Spartan Warrior at Shoalwater Bay. During this Exercise, we became the first ARES Bty to deploy L5 Pack Howitzers from M113 APCs and also the first Australian Bty to tow guns across a Leopard Tank Bridge.
December 1985 The Regt conducted a Mounted Parade at Wacol, and for the occasion, also paraded the Queens Banner.
1985 - 1986 Over the 1985 Christmas break, 41 Bty moved to it's newly built Depot in Wardoo St, with the "Last Roll-Call" at the old Lawson St Depot being conducted on 18 Jan, after 100 years continuous service as a military establishment.   17 July 1986 Official Parade to mark the Opening of the new depot, conducted by Commander 1 Division, Maj Gen Mike Jeffery.
22 April 1989 13 Bty was granted "Freedom of the Shire of Pine Rivers".
August 1989 Regt participated in Ex Kangaroo 89 with 14 & 41 Bty's flying to Tyndal RAAF base via Qantas a9nd then deploying in the Timber Creek - Delamere areas of the NT in support of 7 Bde, while 13 Bty deployed to Weipa in support of 11 Bde. While on Exercise, 41 Bty also conducted an air-move with the L5s being lifted by USAF Blackhawk helicopters.
4 July 1992 A parade was held at Enoggera to officially withdraw the L5 Howitzers and replace them with the new 105mm L119 Hamel guns – once again, the first ARES unit to be so equipped.
24 April 1993 Regts once again split so as to form 11 Fd Regt with RHQ and HQ Bty at Annerley, 14 Bty at Ipswich and 41 Bty, Southport; while 13 Bty remained at Kallangur as the sole Bty of 5 Fd Regt.
1995 41 Bty presented with the Mt Schank Trophy as the most efficient Fd Bty of the ARES.
1 June 1997 14 Bty and 41 Bty amalgamated to form 41 Bty, with Bty HQ and a 3 gun Troop at Southport, with another 3 gun Troop at Ipswich.
14 June 1997 41 Bty transferred under command 1 Fd Regt, commanded by Lt Col G Jones.
Sources: 41 Bty internal records (photo albums, dinner menu histories, trophies etc).
Personal history, Historical notes and Noel Haysom. |