7th Brigade ( Australia ) 7th Brigade is a combined arms formation or brigade of the Australian Army . The Brigade was first raised in 1915 as part of the First Australian Imperial Force and saw action at Gallipoli and on the Western Front during World War I . Following the end of the war the brigade was disbanded before being re - raised in 1921 as part of the Citizens Force ( later known as the Militia ) . During World War II the brigade took part in the fighting against the Japanese in New Guinea and on Bougainville . Today , the 7th Brigade is part of the 1st Division and is based in Brisbane , Queensland and is composed mainly of units of the Regular Army . While the Brigade has not deployed as a whole unit since World War II , component units have deployed on operations to East Timor , the Solomon Islands , Iraq and Afghanistan . History . World War I . The 7th Brigade was formed in early 1915 as part of the First Australian Imperial Force , which was raised for overseas service during World War I . Consisting of four infantry battalions raised in Queensland , South Australia and Western Australia — the 25th , 26th , 27th and 28th Battalions — the brigade was assigned to the 2nd Division in July 1915 . After being deployed to Egypt , the brigade was sent to the Gallipoli peninsula in September 1915 as reinforcements for the Allied force that had landed there on 25 April . In December the brigade was evacuated along with the rest of the force and after spending a further period of training in Egypt where the AIF was expanded , the 7th Brigade sailed to France in March 1916 where for the next two and a half years they would take part in a number of major Australian battles including Pozieres , the Lagnicourt , Passchendaele , Broodseinde and the Hundred Days Offensive . Inter war years . Following the end of hostilities , 7th Brigade was disbanded in 1919 . In 1921 , the decision was made to reorganise the part - time Citizens Military Force in order to perpetuate the numerical designations and battle honours of the AIF . As a consequence , 7th Brigade was re - raised on 21 May 1921 under the command of Brigadier James Campbell Robertson . Initially the brigade consisted of four infantry battalions , however , during the 1930s a number of the brigade ' s subordinate units were merged due manpower shortages that resulted from the economic hardships of the Great Depression and the end of the compulsory training scheme in 1929 . In 1938 , however , attempts were made to increase the size of the Militia due to concerns about the possibility of war in Europe , and as a part of this the 61st Battalion was raised in Brisbane and became part of 7th Brigade . World War II . During World War II , the 7th Brigade was a Militia unit made up of five infantry battalions — the 9th , 15th , 25th , 47th and 61st Battalions . At the beginning of the war the brigade was primarily responsible for the defence of South East Queensland , with battalions located at Chermside , Cabarlah and Maryborough . On 13 December 1941 , the brigade received order to partially mobilise ; the following day the order for full mobilisation was issued . The brigade then only had 1 , 393 men in all ranks . Because of the issue of the mobilisation order , by 27 December , this had increased to 4 , 449 men of all ranks . In May 1942 , the 7th Brigade , consisting only of the 9th , 25th and 61st Battalions , relocated to Townsville to act as the city ' s covering force along with the 11th Brigade and the 29th Brigade . On 9 July 1942 , the first elements of the brigade departed Townsville for Milne Bay , arriving there on 11 July embarked in the Dutch ship . In July , the Brigade took part in the Battle of Milne Bay along with the 7th Division . In November 1943 the brigade returned to Australia where it undertook a period of reorganisation and training on the Atherton Tablelands . In early 1944 , however , the brigade was deployed overseas again , firstly to Madang , before being transferred to Bougainville Island later in the year where they took part in the a number of significant battles until the end of the war including the battles of Pearl Ridge and Slater ' s Knoll . Following the end of hostilities the brigade was disbanded on 8 December 1945 . Post World War II . In 1948 the Citizens Military Force was re - formed on a voluntary basis and 7th Brigade was subsequently re - raised at Kelvin Grove in Brisbane , Queensland on 7 May 1948 under the command of Brigadier William Steele . During this time although most of the brigade ' s key appointments were filled by Regular Army personnel , the majority of brigade ' s personnel were part - time soldiers who had a limited training obligation and were confined to one evening parade per week , one training weekend per month and one 14 day continuous training camp a year . In 1951 the compulsory training scheme was reintroduced and this saw the brigade ' s establishment increase , although this scheme was reduced in 1957 and later suspended once more in 1960 . At the same time , the Army adopted the Pentropic divisional structure , which saw the formation of a number of State - based regiments , including the Royal Queensland Regiment and a number of the brigade ' s component units were reorganised and amalgamated . In late 1964 , conscription was reintroduced , albeit in a different form which focused mainly on bolstering the Regular Army in order to meet commitments in Southeast Asia . The following year , the Pentropic system was abolished and the Army returned to the traditional divisional structure . During the Pentropic years , brigade formations had been discontinued , although their headquarters units had remained in many cases , in order 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 , however , in 1967 the designation of " task force " was adopted instead of " brigade " , as it was felt that the later term was too " rigid " . As a result the 7th Brigade was known for a time as the " 7th Task Force " . In 1973 the 7th Task Force was placed under the command of the 1st Division and in 1982 the formation re - adopted the title of " 7th Brigade " . In 1997 a widescale reorganisation of the Army was instituted which saw the amalgamation of a number of the brigade ' s subordinate units as the 6th Brigade was disbanded . As a part of the restructure , the brigade moved towards the establishment of a core of Regular Army units supported by the brigade ' s Reserve units ; the brigade once again adopted the title of " 7th Task Force " , however , this was once again changed back to " 7th Brigade " in 1999 . The brigade also underwent a period of capability enhancement between 1997 and 2000 as a number of new equipment platforms were rolled out in an effort to motorise the brigade . These platforms included Bushmaster vehicles , Ninox night vision equipment , and Pintail radios . Current organisation . Today , the 7th Brigade is converting from an integrated formation containing both Regular Army and Army Reserve units , to a mainly Regular formation , based in Queensland as part of the Deployable Joint Force Headquarters / 1st Division . Under plans announced in 2006 , 7th Brigade was expanded by the re - raising of 8th / 9th Battalion , Royal Australian Regiment ( 8 / 9 RAR ) , as a Regular motorised infantry battalion . In order to facilitate this , the two Reserve infantry battalions of the Royal Queensland Regiment were transferred to the 11th Brigade in July 2007 . As such the current composition of the Brigade is as follows : While the Brigade has not deployed as a whole unit since World War II , component units have deployed on operations to East Timor , the Solomon Islands , Iraq and Afghanistan . Throughout 2010 the brigade provided elements to operations in Afghanistan , Iraq and East Timor , with around 2 , 500 personnel being deployed . On 20 November 2010 , the brigade marched through Brisbane ' s central business district , as the returning soldiers were officially welcomed back to Australia in the biggest welcome home parade since the end of the Vietnam War . Under a restructuring program known as Plan Beersheba announced in late 2011 , the 1st , 3rd and 7th Brigades will be reformed as combined arms multi - role manoeuvre brigades .