About This Unit
The Queensland-based 1st Garrison Brigade was the headquarters for all Garrison Battalions within the 1st Military District (QLD) and was responsible for all administrative work of the Garrison Battalions within the state. Garrison HQ were embedded in the Military District Headquarters / Line of Communications. 1st Garrison Brigade was raised in 1942 and disbanded in 1944.
The Brigade over saw the command of the following Garrison Battalions:
- 1st Garrison Battalion (/explore/units/669) (Internal Security)
- 14th Garrison Battalion (/explore/units/681) (Coast Defence) - this Garrison unit was transferred to the 2nd AIF in 1942 and redesignated as the 62nd Infantry (militia) Battalion. It retained its Garrison colour patch until September 1943 when it was given a standard AIF colour patch.
- 15th Garrison Battalion (/explore/units/668) (Internal Security)
- 32nd Garrion Battalion (/explore/units/667) (Internal Security)
Garrison Battalions were part of the Australian 'Army Reserve' within the CMF Militia structure for Homeland Defence with the role of manning fixed defences and vulnerable points. The personnel were Class B men, those between 48 and 55 who had seen war service before September 1939, therefore mostly WW1 veterans.
Prisoner-of-War and Internment Camp units were part of the Garrison Battalion organisation but were on a special establishment where the need for prior war service was waived and females were sometimes included. AWAS personnel were subsequently posted in for clerical and administrative roles.
The first seven Garrison battalions were raised in October 1939, rising to 33 battalions plus around four individual companies by the end of the war. From 1940, in commands where more than one Garrison Battalion had been raised, a small Garrison Brigade administrative HQ was also created, of which there were five by the end of the war. These were embedded in the Command / Military District Headquarters.
From early on some battalions had adopted a secondary title indicating their specific role, such as (Internal Security). In 1942 this was formalised and most battalions were given an appropriate secondary title.
Initially, all Garrison Battalions wore the same shoulder patch, a black square on a green square. Numerous requests were made by battalions to individualise their patches and in late 1942 the system was adopted of geometric shapes, green on black in a reversal of the original design, approval for which was dated 11 December 1942.