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CONTACT magazine

Author: Posted by Brian Hartigan

A400m Atlas. Luftwaffe photo supplied.
Europe New Zealand News 

Luftwaffe training visit to New Zealand

09/11/202509/11/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 1425 Views 0 Comments

Royal New Zealand Air Force (RNZAF) will host several German air force (Luftwaffe) aircraft, working alongside the visitors as they

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Exercise Suman Warrior 2025 underway in Linton Military Camp, New Zealand. Exercise SUMAN Warrior seeks to enhance the interoperability between Five Power Defence Arrangement (FPDA) nations. NZDF photo supplied.
New Zealand News 

New Zealand hosts Five Powers exercise

08/11/202508/11/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 815 Views 0 Comments

Manawatū’s Linton Military Camp is this month the battlefield headquarters for leading soldiers from New Zealand, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia and

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Editor's Vlog 

Shewolf lion and shields

08/11/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 496 Views 0 Comments

Is that a catchy/scary title? In any case, it marks a significant decorative input to the bunker. But, it was

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Australian Army soldiers from the 1st Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, conduct a trench clearance, supported by 2nd Cavalry Regiment M1A1 Abrams main battle tanks, as part of Exercise Brolga Sprint at Townsville Field Training Area, Queensland. Photo by Private Jessica Gray.
Letters to the Editor 

Is frank and fearless advice a thing of the past?

08/11/202508/11/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 2768 Views 4 Comments

Is the concept of ‘frank and fearless advice’ simply rhetoric; or is it a goal which defines the ideals to

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An Australian Army M1A2 Abrams main battle tank from the 2nd Cavalry Regiment during the South Queensland Warfighter Exercise at Shoalwater Bay, Queensland. Photo by Corporal Johnny Huang.
Letters to the Editor 

An Appalling Lapse of Judgement

06/11/202506/11/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 618 Views 0 Comments

“It was warm and humid as I stepped out of my vehicle to greet the commander of the Australian Army’s

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Editor's Vlog 

Special castle, lake and memories

04/11/202504/11/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 529 Views 0 Comments

I once worked at a castle in Ireland. Well actually, on the castle estate – milking cows and birthing calves.

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Poets Corner 

The Soldier-Poet

04/11/202504/11/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 777 Views 0 Comments

Although relatively unknown at the time, Wilfred Owen would come to be recognised as the best of the WWI poets.

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Letters to the Editor 

The Last Battle – SOTG in Shah Wali Kot

03/11/202503/11/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 706 Views 0 Comments

Dear editor, May I introduce you to a new book I have written, highlighting the role of the Australian Special

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Australian Army Abrams M1A2 SEPv3 main battle tanks during a live-fire serial as part of a qualification course for Royal Australian Armoured Corps soldiers at Puckapunyal Military Area, Victoria. Story and photos by Corporal Jacob Joseph.
Letters to the Editor 

What will be the cost of NOT having a tank regiment?

01/11/202502/11/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 991 Views 0 Comments

The National Defence Strategy 2024 makes it clear that the Army must have the capacity to respond with credible military

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Editor's Vlog 

My last days in Ireland

01/11/202502/11/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 668 Views 0 Comments

Never say never, but I may have spent my last days in Ireland. And, to be honest, I’m not even

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An Australian Army Boxer combat reconnaissance vehicle (left) and an M1A2 SEPv3 Abrams main battle tank during sea-transportability trials at Townsville Port, Queensland. Photo by Lance Corporal Caitlyn Davill.
Letters to the Editor 

The RAAC like it’s never been before

25/10/202525/10/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 808 Views 0 Comments

A direct consequence of 1st Armoured Regiment being stripped of its tanks and made into a Combat Experimentation Group (CXG),

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Editor's Vlog 

Honk for happiness

25/10/202525/10/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 833 Views 0 Comments

My sister-in-law owns a pub! I love my sister-in-law – and her pub. The Honk, Newmarket-on-Fergus, round the back of

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An Australian Army M1A1 Abrams main battle tank fires its 120mm cannon during a live-fire serial for the Coral-Balmoral Cup at Puckapunyal Military Area. Story by Captain Thomas Kaye. Photos by Corporal Johnny Huang.
Letters to the Editor 

Where will the hurt be felt most?

22/10/202522/10/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 710 Views 1 Comment

Making 1st Armoured Regiment a non-combatant was something managed very closely by Defence.  Complaints from the unit itself had to

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THE BATTLE OF CAMBRAI, NOVEMBER-DECEMBER 1917 (Q 6284) A British Mark IV tank at Wailly. This shows how it would appear to occupants of the German trenches during the Battle of Cambrai. This was the first occasion on which tanks were launched en masse in a surprise attack and it clearly demonstrated the potential of the armoured vehicle. Copyright: © IWM. Original Source: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205124999
Letters to the Editor 

The Values of Cambrai: Recognised Today?

18/10/202518/10/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 740 Views 0 Comments

“It remains for unit Commanders and for Tank crews to complete the work by judgement and pluck in the battle

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Editor's Vlog 

Me Little Irish Mammy’s Funeral

18/10/202518/10/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 1353 Views 0 Comments

My Mammy passed away on 5 October 2025, just two weeks short of her 85th birthday. I made it home

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An Australian Army M1A1 Abrams Main Battle Tank from the 1st Armoured Regiment, drives through the Cultana Training Area, SA during Exercise Rhino Run 24. Photo by Corporal Johnny Huang.
Uncategorized 

The sacrifice of ADF readiness: What does the future hold? 

15/10/202515/10/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 754 Views 0 Comments

Sadly, the Royal Tank Regiment Website is not up to date re ‘Affiliations’.  It currently states, that 1st Armoured Regiment

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Veterans of the 1st Armoured Regiment during the Cambrai Parade at Edinburgh Defence Precinct. Photo by Corporal Adam Quinn.
Letters to the Editor 

A primer for Cambrai Day:  The enduring legacy of the tank – or is it?

13/10/202513/10/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 600 Views 0 Comments

“Special Order No. 6 H J Elles, Commander Tank Corps19th November 1917” 0630hrs, 20 Nov 1917.   “A predicted bombardment

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Editor's Vlog 

Rough carpentry and sad news

12/10/202512/10/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 771 Views 2 Comments

It’s only an auld shed – so rough carpentry is good enough. But, I recon I’ll get better at this,

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An Australian Army soldier from 1st Armoured Regiment briefs Chief of Army on some of his units new experimental fighting equipment in Shoalwater Bay training area in Queensland during Exercise Talisman Sabre 2025. Photo by Captain Joanne Leca.
Letters to the Editor 

Experimentation and the Australian Army: What’s Going on?

10/10/202510/10/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 3281 Views 2 Comments

“From commanding armoured vehicles in land combat to operating emerging technology, robotics and autonomous systems, soldiers from the 1st Armoured

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An Australian Army soldier from 1st Armoured Regiment demonstrates hyper-teaming with uncrewed aerial systems on Project Convergence Capstone 5 at Fort Irwin, California, on 11 March 2025. Photo by Corporal Nakia Chapman.
Letters to the Editor 

A Battle Laboratory AND a Combat Experimentation Group – why? 

10/10/202510/10/2025 Posted by Brian Hartigan 741 Views 0 Comments

Most of us thought, based on information from the Chief of Defence Force, that 1st Armoured Regiment had been specially

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