The 6th Division was an infantry division of the Australian Army. It was raised briefly in 1917 during World War I, but was broken up to provide reinforcements before seeing action. It was not re-raised until the outbreak of World War II, when it was formed as a unit of the Second Australian Imperial Force. Throughout 1940–41 it served in the North African Campaign, the Greek campaign, on Crete and in Syria, fighting against the Germans, Italians and Vichy French. In 1942, the division left the Middle East and returned to Australia to meet the threat of Japan's entry into the war. Part of the division garrisoned Ceylon for a short period of time, before the division was committed to the New Guinea campaign. In New Guinea, its component brigades had a major role in the successful counter-offensive along the Kokoda Track, at Buna–Gona and around Salamaua–Lae in 1942–43. Throughout late 1943–44, the division was re-organised in Australia before being committed as a complete formation to one of the last Australian operations of the war around Aitape–Wewak in 1944–45.
The United States 32nd Infantry Division was formed from Army National Guard units from Wisconsin and Michigan and fought primarily during World War I and World War II. With roots as the Iron Brigade in the American Civil War, the division's ancestral units came to be referred to as the Iron Jaw Division. During tough combat in France in World War I, it soon acquired from the French the nickname Les Terribles, referring to its fortitude in advancing over terrain others could not. It was the first allied division to pierce the German Hindenburg Line of defense, and the 32nd then adopted its shoulder patch; a line shot through with a red arrow, to signify its tenacity in piercing the enemy line. It then became known as the Red Arrow Division.
II Corps was an Australian Army corps, one of three that were raised by the Army during the Second World War. Formed in mid-1942 as part of defensive measures to protect the eastern coast of Australia from invasion, the corps was initially composed mainly of home defence troops drawn from the Militia. For a brief period in 1942, a US infantry division was also assigned to the corps prior to its dispatch to fight the Japanese in New Guinea.
The 2/4th Battalion was an infantry battalion of the Australian Army that was raised for service during World War II, as part of the Second Australian Imperial Force. Deploying to the Middle East in early 1940, the battalion took part in the early fighting in North Africa in early 1941 along with the rest of the 6th Division, before being sent to Greece and then Crete, where it was heavily engaged and suffered heavy losses. Rebuilt in Palestine, the battalion undertook occupation duties in Syria.
The 2/7th Battalion was an infantry battalion of the Australian Army raised for service during World War II. Formed as part of the 6th Division shortly after the outbreak of the war as part of the all-volunteer Second Australian Imperial Force, the 2/7th Battalion's initial personnel were recruited primarily from the state of Victoria, although later reinforcements were drawn from most other Australian states. Basic training was completed in Australia, after which the battalion embarked for the Middle East as part of the first batch of Australian troops to deploy overseas. Further training was undertaken in Palestine before the battalion went into action against the Italians in January 1941. After participating in the successful capture of Bardia and Tobruk, it was committed to the disastrous Battles of Greece and Crete, where the battalion was essentially destroyed after the majority of its personnel were captured.
The 2/8th Battalion was an infantry battalion of the Australian Army that served during World War II. Raised as part of the Second Australian Imperial Force at Melbourne, Victoria on 30 October 1939, the 2/8th was initially attached to the 17th Brigade, 6th Division. It was later transferred to the 19th Brigade and with this formation the battalion saw action in Egypt, Libya, Greece and Crete before returning to Australia. A period of garrison duty in Darwin followed in 1942–1943, after which the battalion concentrated with other 6th Division units on the Atherton Tablelands, remaining there throughout 1943–1944. In late 1944, the battalion was sent to New Guinea to fight the Japanese as part of the Aitape–Wewak campaign. The battalion was disbanded at Puckapunyal on 14 December 1945.
The 36th Battalion was an infantry battalion of the Australian Army. It was originally raised in 1916 as part of the First Australian Imperial Force during World War I. Throughout World War I the battalion served on the Western Front as part of the 9th Brigade, attached to the 3rd Division. Due to heavy casualties amongst the AIF and a decrease in the number of replacements arriving from Australia in 1918, the battalion was disbanded before the war ended in order to reinforce other units in France. The 36th Battalion was re-raised in 1921 as part of the Militia based in Sydney. During World War II the battalion was attached to the 14th Brigade and was initially used in a defensive role as a garrison unit in Australia before being sent to New Guinea in 1942. Throughout the course of the war in the Pacific, the 36th Battalion spent most of the 1942–45 period overseas in New Guinea and New Britain where they undertook operations against the Japanese. In June 1945 they were returned to Australia and shortly afterwards the battalion was disbanded.
The 3rd Battalion was an infantry battalion of the Australian Army. Originally raised as part of the First Australian Imperial Force for service during World War I, the battalion formed part of the 1st Brigade, attached to the 1st Division. It was formed shortly after the war broke out and was among the first Australian units to be sent overseas, arriving in Egypt in December 1914. In April 1915 the battalion participated in the Landing at Anzac Cove, coming ashore in the second and third waves. In December 1915 the 3rd Battalion was evacuated from the Gallipoli peninsula and withdrawn to Egypt again, where it took part in the defence of the Suez Canal before being sent to France to fight on the Western Front in March 1916. For the next two and a half years the unit would serve in the trenches in France and Belgium and would take part in many of the major battles fought during that time. In May 1919, following the end of the war, the battalion was disbanded and its personnel repatriated back to Australia.
The 26th Brigade was an Australian Army infantry brigade of World War II. Formed in mid-1940, the brigade was assigned to the 7th Division initially, but later transferred to the 9th Division. It was primarily recruited from Victoria and South Australia. After training in Australia, in late 1940, the brigade deployed to the Middle East and subsequently took part in the Siege of Tobruk, defending the vital port town between April and October 1941. After being relieved, the brigade undertook garrison duties in Syria in the first half of 1942, before taking part in the First and Second Battles of El Alamein between July and November 1942. After returning to Australia in early 1943, the brigade fought against the Japanese in New Guinea in 1943 and 1944, including the capture of Lae and the Huon Peninsula campaign, and then took part in the fighting on Tarakan in 1945. It was disbanded in early 1946.
The 57th Battalion was an infantry battalion of the Australian Army. Formed in early 1916 for service during World War I, the battalion served on the Western Front until the end of the war, when it was disbanded. In 1921, it was re-raised as a part-time unit in Victoria, known as "The Merri Regiment". In 1930, the battalion was amalgamated with the 60th Battalion, to form the 57th/60th Battalion, which remained linked until it was disbanded in 1946, after having fought against the Japanese in New Guinea and Bougainville during World War II.
The 29th Brigade was an infantry brigade of the Australian Army that was raised for service during World War II. Formed in late 1941 as part of the Militia, the brigade was initially formed for home defence in response to Japan's entry into the war. Composed of three Queensland-based infantry battalions and various supporting elements, the brigade initially undertook defensive duties around Townsville in 1941–1942 before deploying to New Guinea in 1943. There, the brigade undertook garrison duties before taking part in the Salamaua–Lae campaign. After a period of almost 18 months overseas, the brigade's elements were returned to Australia for a period of rest and reorganisation before later being assigned to the Bougainville campaign in 1944–1945. After the war, the brigade was disbanded in December 1945, along with its component units.
The 2/6th Cavalry Commando Regiment was a cavalry regiment of the Australian Army that served during the Second World War and was later converted into a commando unit. Formed at Ingleburn, New South Wales, in November 1939, it was originally raised as an armoured reconnaissance regiment attached to the 6th Division. In that role, the 2/6th saw action in the North Africa campaign and in the Middle East during 1940–41, where the regiment distinguished itself at Bardia, Tobruk and in Syria. Later, following Japan's entry into the war, the 6th Division was brought back to Australia and following a re-organisation, the regiment was converted into a cavalry commando regiment, incorporating the independent companies that had been formed at the start of the war. In late 1944, the 2/6th Cavalry Commando Regiment was deployed to New Guinea, where it participated in one of the final Australian campaigns of the war in the Aitape–Wewak area.
The 2/5th Commando Squadron was one of twelve independent companies and or commando squadrons of the Australian Army formed for service during World War II. Initially formed in 1942 as the "2/5th Independent Company", the 2/5th served in New Guinea, taking part in a major commando raid on Salamaua in June 1942. It was later withdrawn from New Guinea and reformed as the "2/5th Cavalry (Commando) Squadron", as part of the 2/7th Cavalry (Commando) Regiment which saw service in Borneo in 1945. It was disbanded in early 1946.
The 2/6th Commando Squadron was one of 12 independent companies or commando squadrons raised by the Australian Army during the Second World War. Raised in May 1942 as the 2/6th Independent Company, the 2/6th's main role was to conduct irregular type warfare including small scale raiding, sabotage, long-range patrolling and reconnaissance operations rather than the traditional commando type direct action operations. As such, for the most part the unit conducted operations in small groups operating inside enemy territory, or out in front of larger friendly forces. Between 1942 and 1945, the 2/6th undertook four major campaigns during the war—Kokoda, Buna, Markham–Ramu and Borneo—and was involved in arguably one of the most spectacular small unit actions of the war during the Battle of Kaiapit. The unit was disbanded in January 1946, following the cessation of hostilities in the Pacific.
The 1st New Guinea Infantry Battalion was a battalion of the Australian Army during World War II. One of four infantry battalions raised in New Guinea, 1 NGIB was formed in March 1944. In late 1944, the battalion began deploying company-sized elements in support of combat operations on Bougainville, New Britain and on mainland New Guinea. It later became part of the Pacific Islands Regiment before being disbanded in June 1946.
The 2/1st Machine Gun Battalion was a battalion of the Australian Army that was raised for service during World War II as part of the 6th Division. When it was formed on 14 December 1939, its component companies were spread across several Australian states, but it was later concentrated at Ingleburn, New South Wales, where it completed basic training in the early months of the war. In mid-1940, the battalion embarked for overseas, bound initially for the Middle East, but following the Fall of France it was diverted to the United Kingdom. Along with a larger contingent of Australians, it helped to bolster the island's garrison, undertaking defensive duties during a period when it was expected that the Germans might launch a cross-Channel invasion.
The 2/33rd Battalion was an infantry battalion of the Australian Army during the Second World War. It was formed as part of the Second Australian Imperial Force in the United Kingdom in June 1940 as the "72nd Battalion" to create the 25th Brigade, which eventually became part of the 7th Division. After the threat of invasion had passed, the battalion was transferred to the Middle East in early 1941, and after a period of garrison duty in the Western Desert, the battalion fought against the Vichy French in the invasion of Syria and Lebanon.
The 22nd Battalion was an infantry battalion of the Australian Army. It was raised in 1915 as part of the Australian Imperial Force for service during World War I and formed part of the 6th Brigade, attached to the 2nd Division. It fought during the Gallipoli campaign and on the Western Front before being disbanded in 1919. In 1921, it was re-raised as a part-time unit and was merged with the 29th Battalion in 1930 to form the "29th/22nd Infantry Battalion". Split in August 1939 and known as the "22nd Battalion ", the battalion saw action against the Japanese during World War II in the Huon Peninsula and New Britain campaigns. The battalion was disbanded in June 1946. It was re-established as part of the Royal Victoria Regiment in the mid-1960s as a remote area battalion within the Citizens Military Force, and later became a part of the 8th/7th Battalion, Royal Victoria Regiment.
The 2/32nd Battalion was an infantry battalion of the Australian Army, which served during the Second World War. Formed in June 1940 from surplus Australian troops who had been sent to the United Kingdom shortly after the Fall of France, the battalion was originally designated the "71st Battalion", before being redesignated. After completing training in the United Kingdom, the 2/32nd served in North Africa in 1941–1942 as part of the 25th Brigade, which was assigned to the 9th Division, before being assigned to the 24th Brigade. In early 1943, the battalion returned to Australia and later took part in campaigns against the Japanese in New Guinea in 1943–1944 around Lae and on the Huon Peninsula, and in Borneo, landing on Labuan in mid-1945, before being disbanded in 1946.
The 6th Machine Gun Battalion was a battalion of the Australian Army that was raised for service during World War II. Formed in late 1942 from the machine gun companies of several infantry battalions, the 6th Machine Gun Battalion undertook training on the New South Wales south coast before being deployed to New Guinea where they took part in the Markham and Ramu Valley – Finisterre Range campaign, defending the airfield at Gusap, and undertaking patrols. In early 1944, the battalion returned to Australia and over the course of the year was disbanded, with its personnel being sent to other units as reinforcements. Many of these personnel then saw combat in Borneo in 1945.
