The 6th Brigade traces its origins to 1912, when it was formed as a Militia brigade as part of the introduction of the
compulsory training scheme, assigned to the
2nd Military District. At this time, the brigade's constituent units had training depots located around
New South Wales including
Woollahra,
Double Bay,
Bondi,
Randwick,
Waterloo,
North Botany,
Rushcutters Bay, and
Paddington.
First World War Following the outbreak of
World War I, the 6th Brigade was re-formed in early 1915 from volunteers for oversea service. At this time, the brigade consisted of four infantry
battalions—the
21st,
22nd,
23rd and
24th Battalion—all of which were raised in
Victoria. After being sent to
Egypt in June 1915 with the
2nd Division as part of an expansion of the
Australian Imperial Force, the brigade was sent to
Gallipoli in September, however, as the last
Allied offensive had come to an end the previous month, from then up until December 1915 when the Anzacs were evacuated from the peninsula, the brigade was not involved in any significant engagements. Later, in 1916, they were transferred to the
Western Front, where they took part in the fighting in the trenches until 5 October 1918. It was headquartered in Melbourne at this time. In 1928, it became part of the 3rd Military District and was re-organised to include the
7th,
8th, 21st and
38th Battalions. At the start of the Second World War, the brigade was mobilised for full time service in December 1941, after Japan's entry into the war. The brigade consisted of the 7th, 8th and 38th Battalions at this time and concentrated at
Balcombe, Victoria at this time, although it moved to
Dandenong shortly afterwards. Assuming a command reserve role in the defence of Melbourne, the brigade was bolstered with the
17th Light Horse (Machine Gun) Regiment and the 4th Armoured Regiment. In early 1942, the 7th and 8th Battalions were detached to
Darwin, Northern Territory, and the brigade was moved to
Gherang to form part of the Army Headquarters Reserve; the 17th Light Horse and 4th Armoured Regiments were detached at this time, and the
48th Battalion was gained from South Australia. at which time the 48th Battalion was replaced by the
14th Battalion. They remained there until January 1943, when the brigade returned to
Seymour, Victoria, for a period of leave prior to deployment to the Northern Territory to replace the
3rd Brigade. The plans to send the brigade to Darwin were cancelled, though, and instead it moved to
Woodford, Queensland. In July 1943, consisting of the
14th/32nd,
19th and
36th Battalions, it was sent to
New Guinea. Based in
Buna, in Papua, they carried out garrison duties as well as patrols around the areas surrounding Milne and Nassu Bay. In May 1944, they moved to
Lae. In June they were sent to Buolo for a rest, before returning to Lae in September where they were transferred from the 4th Division to the
5th Division and the decision was made to send them to
New Britain.
Post war In 1948, the CMF was re-raised By April 1953, it was part of Southern Command. In the immediate period, the 6th Brigade consisted of the
38th,
58th/32nd and
12th/40th Battalions. Between 1960 and 1965, the Australian Army briefly adopted the
Pentropic divisional structure. During this time brigade formations were discontinued, although their headquarters units remained in many cases, to improve the flow of information. Following the decision to return to the traditional triangular divisional structure in 1965, the brigade formations were re-adopted, albeit with the designation of task forces rather than brigades, as it was felt that the later term was too "rigid". As a result, the 6th Brigade was known for a time as the 6th Task Force. In early 1982, however, the designation of brigade was readopted. At this time, the 3rd Division was disbanded and the 6th Brigade was re-allocated to the 2nd Division. Later, in 1996, after the decision was made to discontinue the Ready Reserve Scheme, the 6th Brigade was disbanded, and its units were merged with others and reallocated to the
7th Brigade.
CS & ISTAR brigade The 6th Brigade was re-raised on 1 March 2010 to command the Army's CS & ISTAR units. Its headquarters is located at
Victoria Barracks, Sydney and it forms part of the Army's
Forces Command. For a period, the brigade commanded the Army's
Regional Force Surveillance Units, but these were later reorganized as direct command units under 2nd Division headquarters. On 2 October 2018, the 1st Military Police Battalion transitioned from the
17th Brigade to align it with other theatre-level combat support capabilities that were already under the command of the 6th Brigade. The
20th Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery was transferred from the 6th Brigade to the
16th Aviation Brigade in 2022. As of 2023 the 6th Brigade consisted of: •
12th Chief Engineer Works (
Gallipoli Barracks, Qld) •
16th Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery (
Woodside Barracks, SA) •
19th Chief Engineer Works (
Randwick Barracks, NSW) •
20th Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery (Gallipoli Barracks, Qld) As part of changes to the structure of the Army, the 6th Brigade's units were transferred to other headquarters starting in December 2024. The brigade was disbanded on 13 December 2024. ==Notes==