Австралия - сухопутные силы

Австралия - сухопутные силы

Postby Igor Kulakov » August 26th, 2012, 3:16 pm

Пехотные дивизии

1st Infantry Division

Parramatta (ок. Сиднея) - 23км западнее Сиднея
Сидней, Падддингтон, Ньюкастл

резервная
известно, что штат неполный, начал призываться после начала WWII


Order of Battle
Australian Military Forces
Eastern Command
1st Infantry Division
8th December 1941


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Re: Австралия - сухопутные силы

Postby Igor Kulakov » August 26th, 2012, 3:27 pm

2nd Infantry Division

Parramatta, Newcastle, Paddington

резервная



World War II

The Australian Army's 2nd Division is a Citizens Military Forces/Militia (reserve) formation formed in 1921. During World War II it was comprised primarily of infantry units from New South Wales and was based initially in Sydney.
The assignment of battalions to brigades and divisions varied considerably within the army at the time.

New South Wales, 1939-42

When World War II broke out, the 2nd Division was commanded by Major General Iven Mackay. The division was partly mobilised, although the Militia was barred from overseas service. As a result, many members joined the Second Australian Imperial Force. In 1940, Maj. Gen. Herbert Lloyd assumed command of the division.
After the Pacific War began in December 1941, Militia members were prevented from joining the AIF, and were called up for full-time service. The 2nd Division was mobilised at Parramatta, as part of Eastern Command. Its first role was as a reserve in supporting the 1st Division in the defence of the Sydney region. It now comprised the 5th Brigade (based at Bathurst), the 8th Brigade (Wallgrove) and the 14th Brigade (Greta).
As the possibility of Japanese invasion loomed, in May 1942, the 14th Bde (3rd, 36th, 55th Battalions) was transferred to New Guinea Force.

Western Australia, 1942-44

In July, the 2nd Division was transferred to III Corps, for the defence of Western Australia. The 5th Bde (54th, 56th and 44th Battalion, the latter being a WA unit) and 8th Bde (4th, 30th and 35th Battalions) were joined by the 13th Brigade (the 11th, 16th, 28th Battalions, all from WA).
As the tide of war turned in favour of the Allies, the division prepared for active service in the Australian territory of New Guinea. In early 1943, the 13th Bde was detached and the 2nd Brigade became part of the division until August 1943. When the 8th Brigade was transferred to the 5th Division in North Queensland in September 1943, for service in New Guinea, the 3rd Motor Brigade joined the division. During March-April 1944, the 5th Bde was moved to North Queensland to prepare for operational deployment, and the 2nd Division was officially disbanded in April.

----------------
3rd Battalion (Werriwa Regiment)

After the First World War the defence of the Australian mainland lay with the part-time soldiers of the Citizens Military Force, also known as the Militia. The Militia was organized to maintain the structure of the First AIF and kept the same numerical designations. The Militia units were distributed in the same areas the original AIF units were raised. Following this tradition the 3rd Infantry Battalion was the "Werriwa Regiment". Raised in 1921, with men from western Sydney, the 3rd was merged with the 4th Infantry Battalion to form the 4/3rd Infantry Battalion in 1930. In 1937 the 4/3rd was separated and the 3rd merged with Sydney's 53rd Infantry Battalion, forming the 53rd/3rd Infantry Battalion. However, the merger did not last long and by August 1937 the 3rd returned to its own identity. By 1937 the battalion was based around the Goulburn area, as part of the 14th Brigade with the 55th Infantry Battalion.

Before the Second World War the 3rd held occasional camps and paraded in the evenings. In 1942 with the start of the war in the Pacific the battalion was mobilised for full-time service and brought up to strength with national service recruits. These men came from the Southern Highlands, Canberra, the South Coast, and from other towns as far south as Delegate, on the Victorian border. In January 1942 the 3rd went into camp at Greta, west of Maitland, before moving to defensive positions along the coast near Newcastle in New South Wales in March. At the start of May the battalion returned to Greta, where it was told they would be on the move and, after only a few days leave, moved to Port Moresby at the end of the month. While the 3rd settled into garrison duties in Moresby, the Japanese were moving to Papua.

In the third week of July Japanese forces landed in the Gona area, on the north coast of Papua and moved inland a week later. The first clash between Australian troops, from the 39th Infantry Battalion and the Papuan Infantry Battalion (PIB), and the Japanese occurred at Awala on 23 July. On 8 August the 39th counter-attacked at Kokoda but, outnumbered and short of ammunition, fell back to Deniki. By 14 August the 39th and PIB had fallen back to Isurava.

On 23 August the 2/14th and 2/16th Battalions from the 7th Division 21st Brigade also reached the area. The Japanese resumed their advance on 26 August. Despite hard fighting the Australians were forced back to Eora Creek on 30 August, Templeton's Crossing on 2 September, and Efogi three days later. Exhausted, the 39th was relieved and sent down the track to Koitaki. By now, though, the Australians were reinforced by the 7th Division 25th Brigade, as well as the 3rd and the 2/1st Pioneer Battalion.

The 3rd left Port Moresby and started up the track on 5 September, reaching Ioribaiwa the next day. The 3rd and the pioneers came under the command of the 21st Brigade and later the 25th. The 3rd patrolled around Ioribaiwa and, along with the composite 2/14th-2/16th Battalion and 2/6th Independent Company, helped to hold off the Japanese. Ioribaiwa was held for four days before the Australians withdrew to Imita Ridge on 17 September. However, the Japanese had reached their limit and on 24 September began to withdrawal. Thereafter, the 3rd participated in the advance back along the track, patrolling and then occupying Ioribaiwa, Menari and Efogi, Myola and Templeton's Crossing. The patrol was constant and the fighting bitter. From 24 to 29 October the battalion rested at Myola before returning to the front.

The Australians reoccupied Kokoda on 2 November, followed a day later by the 3rd, which assumed responsibility for the area around the village. Shortly after, the 3rd moved on to Oivi behind the 2/1st and 2/2nd Battalions from the 6th Division 16th Brigade. The battalion reached Wairopi on 15 November and Soputa, on the east coast of Papua, five days later.

Having pushed the Japanese back across the Owen Stanley's, the Allies moved into the final phase of the Papuan campaign - the "battle of the beachheads". The 16th and 25th Brigades, as well as two inexperienced American regiments, were engaged in bitter fighting at Buna, Gona, and Sanananda. The Japanese positions were well-prepared and heavily defended.On 25 November the 3rd, now supporting the 25th Brigade, attacked Gona. Previous attacks on the area had failed and, although their casualties were lighter, the 3rd's attack also stopped. Another attempt four days later was again stopped by Japanese machine-gun fire and snipers. The 21st Brigade was brought in to reinforce the exhausted Australians and Gona was finally captured on 1 December. The 3rd returned to Popondetta and then Soputa, where it was flown back to Moresby.

At the start of 1943 the 3rd returned to Australia and went into camp at Wandecla, in the Atherton Tablelands. This was a period of reorganisation for the 3rd, as it became part of the 30th Brigade, which in turn became part of the 6th Division. Between April and July the 30th Brigade, composed of the 3rd, 39th and 49th Battalions, was disbanded. This came as a disappointing surprise to the 3rd, which had fought gallantly across the Kokoda Trail and at Buna. The national service recruits became part of the 36th infantry Battalion. Volunteers for overseas service were merged with the survivors of the 2/22nd Battalion to form the 3/22nd Battalion. Shortly afterwards, though, the 3/22nd was absorbed into the 2/3rd Battalion.
----------------





Order of Battle
Australian Military Forces
Eastern Command
2nd Infantry Division
8th December 1941


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Re: Австралия - сухопутные силы

Postby Igor Kulakov » August 26th, 2012, 3:34 pm

3rd Infantry Division

в штате Виктория - Мельбурн, Caulfield East, Brunswick
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The component brigades in Militia divisions changed repeatedly during the Pacific War of 1942-45.

Units from the division saw action in the New Guinea campaign. Its most notable service was in the Salamaua-Lae and Bougainville campaigns. By the time it was on Bougainville, it included the 7th Infantry Brigade (predominantly Queensland units), 15th Infantry Brigade (predominantly Victorian units) and 29th Infantry Brigade (predominantly Queensland units).

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4th Field Regiment

The 4th Australian Field Artillery Brigade was raised in Albert Park, Melbourne, in September 1915 as part of the 2nd Division. The brigade served in Egypt and the Western Front during the First World War. During the interwar period as a Militia unit, the regiment was based in St Kilda, Victoria, and was attached to the 3rd Division. Following Japan's entry into the war in December 1941, and the rapid advance through South East Asia and the Pacific, the unit, now the 4th Field Regiment was mobilised as a two battery unit (each battery had six 18-pounder guns) at Bonegilla where the regiment was under the command of the 4th Brigade.

In March the regiment moved to Connelly's Dam, south of Warwick, Queensland, where a third battery was raised. By the end of April the regiment had its full establishment of 18 25-pounder guns as well as 12 18-pounders and four 4.5 inch Howitzers. At this time too, the 4th Brigade was deployed to the Maroochydore, Brisbane, Southport area. While there, the 4th Field Regiment trained with the 7th Division's 2/4th Field Regiment. In June the 4th moved to Cabarlah, near Toowoomba.

Normally an infantry division would have three field regiments to support its operations, but during the Pacific war, Australian infantry divisions were reorganised into "jungle divisions" and the number of field regiments were reduced from three to one. The 4th Field Regiment survived this period and moved to the Helidon area in July 1943.

In January 1944 the regiment moved to Townsville in preparation for its deployment to New Guinea, where it was to relive an artillery unit at Lae. One of regiment's batteries remained at Lae, while the rest of the unit moved to Dumpu in the Ramu Valley to relieve the two batteries of the 2/4th Field Regiment that were in action. The 4th came under the command of the 7th Division and on 2 February it fired its first shots in action. It was only a short campaign for the regiment though, as by March the infantry were supported by the 2nd Mountain Battery as they advanced towards Madang. In August the regiment moved to Wawin, near Nabzab.

Towards the end of 1944 Australian forces were being redeployed around the islands. At the end of October the 4th left Lae for Bougainville, arriving at Torokina, the main Australian base, on 5 November. The 2nd Field Regiment and the 2nd Mountain Battery provided artillery support for the campaign.

For the next nine months, until the end of the war in August 1945, the regiment would be in action. One of its batteries supported the advance across the Numa Numa Trail in the Northern Sector, another supported the 3 Division's campaign in the Southern Sector in the push towards Buin, while the third battery and the regimental headquarters moved to the Northern Sector where the infantry were moving towards the Bonis Peninsula.

As the Australian campaign on the island progressed, in June 1945 a company from the 31st/51st Battalion made an amphibious landing at Porton, in Bougainville's Norther Sector. Things quickly went bad for the landing troops and eventually they had to be evacuated, but through out the entire operation, 11 Battery, firing from Soraken, provided outstanding support. Indeed, if not for their professionalism and skill of Lieutenant David Spark, the Forward Observation Officer who had landed with the infantry at Porton, the company probably would have been over run by the Japanese. During the course of the Bougainville campaign, the 4th fired 62,723 rounds.

Over time the regiment's ranks reduced as men returned to Australia and in December those left in the regiment returned home too where the 4th Field Regiment was disbanded.
---------------------


Order of Battle
Australian Military Forces
Southern Command
3rd Infantry Division
8th December 1941


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Re: Австралия - сухопутные силы

Postby Igor Kulakov » August 26th, 2012, 3:39 pm

4th Infantry Division


в штате Виктория - Мельбурн,

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Order of Battle
Australian Military Forces
Southern Command
4th Infantry Division
8th December 1941

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Re: Австралия - сухопутные силы

Postby Igor Kulakov » August 26th, 2012, 3:45 pm

6th Infantry Divsion

The 6th Australian Division was the first formation of the 2nd AIF. Its artillery component was
three field regiments of two batteries each of three troops with four guns apiece, together with
a fourth field regiment as a slice of corps troops. Each battery had two troops armed with 18-pdr
guns and one with 4.5-inch howitzers. It would be armed with 25-pdrs when they became available.
The three troop battery was unwieldy and soon changed to three batteries of two troops.



After British forces withdrew from France in the face of the German Blitzkrieg,
the 6th, 7th and 9th Divisions, as I Corps, were sent to Egypt. From late 1940,
the individual divisions faced Italian and German forces in North Africa.

The 6th Division then experienced many casualties in mainland Greece, and on Crete,
and 3,000 of its personnel were taken prisoner in this campaign.


значительная часть входящей в нее 19-й бригады потеряна на Крите


остатки дивизии с крита эвакуированы в Александрию...


на 22.06(?) 17-я бригада из ее состава (+остатки др. частей дивизии?), сражалась против
сил виши в компании "сирия-ливан"... фактически входя в состав 7-й австралийской дивизии...

-----
это похоже, все - потери 6 пд к июню 41г...
The Australians lost some 2,000 captured in Greece, and 3,000 in Crete, and these operations
cost Australia some 600 killed and 1,000 wounded.
-----

примерно западнее Дамаска, западнее 7-й пд австралии

на 22.06 явно меньше штата! (большие потери людей и техники)
------------------------------------
Formation

When World War II broke out, because all Militia (reserve) units (which were organised in five divisions) were barred from serving overseas, the 2nd AIF's 6th Division was formed with regular army units and new, all-volunteer infantry brigades, from September 28, 1939.

The 6th Division and the 7th Division were sent to Palestine, to complete their training before joining the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in France. Together they formed the Australian I Corps. However, France fell to German forces in July 1940, before I Corps arrived.

The division was originally composed of the Australian 16th Brigade, Australian 17th Brigade and Australian 18th Brigade, but the diversion of the 18th Brigade to the United Kingdom in June 1940, meant that the Australian 19th Brigade, became its third infantry brigade.

Between early 1942 and late 1943 the composition of the 6th Division varied considerably due to the changing operational situation. During this time the 14th, 21st, 25th and 30th Brigades also came under the division's command for varying periods.

North Africa

The 6th Division first saw action in late 1940, against Italian forces in North Africa, in the advance to Benghazi

In June 1940, Italy declared war on the Allies and began to build up forces in Libya. In September 1940, the Italian Tenth Army invaded Egypt, a British colony, threatening Alllied control of the Middle East and most particularly, the Suez Canal and international supply routes. British forces under General Sir Archibald Wavell expelled the Italians from Sidi Barrani and pursued them back towards the Libyan border. In December 1940, the 6th Division was moved forward from training camps around Alexandria to relieve British troops around Bardia and at the end of December they were ordered to prepare to attack.

On 3 January 1941, the first major Australian action of World War II took place, the Battle of Bardia. The 6th Division penetrated the defences of the Italian stronghold. Despite some heavy resistance the town fell to the Australians just two days later. The Australians captured Italian war material as well as thousands of Italian prisoners of war (POWs), many of whom were shipped to prison camps in Australia.

The fighting continued until 5 January when the Italian position had been cut almost into two. The allies took nearly 40,000 Italian prisoners and considerable amounts of enemy weapons, supplies and equipment. The battle for Bardia cost 130 Australian lives with 320 men wounded.

On 22 January 1941, the Italian Tobruk fell to the AIF and 25,000 Italians became prisoners. During January and February 1941, the 6th Division, together with British units, pushed the Italian army back across Libya. The Italian Tenth Army was destroyed.

In early April 1941, the 6th Division was withdrawn from North Africa to defend Greece and replaced by the Australian 9th Division , which took part in the epic Siege of Tobruk between April and November 1941 against Italian and German forces.

Greece and Crete

In March 1941, Prime Minister Robert Menzies, of Australia, with the concurrence of his Cabinet, agreed to the sending of Australian troops to Greece. Both Menzies and the I Corps commander, Lieutenant General Thomas Blamey, felt that the operation was risky and might end in disaster. But Menzies felt that Greece should be supported against German aggression and that the defence of Greece was a "great risk in a good cause".

In Greece, the Australians joined with a New Zealand and British force to defend the country against a threatened German invasion. Hitler was concerned that if Greece became a British ally then oilfields in Romania, on which Germany relied for her fuel, might be open to air attack from Greece. As the Germans were planning an invasion of Russia for June 1941, they could not allow such a threat to their essential oil supplies.

The 6th Division arrived in Greece in early April 1941 and on 6 April the Germans began their invasion of Greece. Despite their efforts, the Allied force, together with Greek units, was unable to halt the rapid German advance down central Greece towards Athens. During the campaign, Brig. George Vasey's 19th Brigade (minus the 2/11th Battalion) was defeated by the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler brigade, at the Battle of Vevi. The 2/4th and 2/8th Battalions became the only Australian Army units to face elite Waffen SS soldiers in combat.The Allies were outflanked by the Germans, and were driven off the Greek mainland. The 19th Brigade Group then took part in the Battle of Crete. More than 3,000 members of the division could not be evacuated, and were taken prisoner in the Greek campaign, including Crete. A great deal of equipment was also lost. Almost immediately, however, the 17th Brigade was detached to take part in the bloody but successful attack on Vichy French forces in the Syria-Lebanon campaign.

Greece and Crete were costly operations for Australia. About 39 per cent of the Australia troops in Greece on 6 April 1941 were either killed, wounded or became prisoners of war. More than 450,000 Greeks died during the next four years of German occupation, nearly 25,000 of them executed for assisting the allies.

After the news of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941 and the perceived threat to Australia, the 2/5th Battalion left the Middle East on 10 March 1942 to defend Australia. However, on the return voyage, they were diverted to defend Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) from the Japanese from mid March through to early July 1942.



------------------------------------




2/1st Pioneer Battalion

The 2/1st Pioneer Battalion was raised in Sydney in May 1940. Its men came from around New South Wales and, uniquely, two of its sergeants had served in the 1st Pioneer Battalion during the First World War. In June the battalion moved to the army camp at Greta. After a brief sojourn to Dubbo, at the end of September, it sailed from Sydney as part of a convey taking I Australian Corps' support units to the Middle East.

The convey reached Suez on 2 November and the 2/1st travelled by train to Palestine and camped at Julis. In January 1941 it left Palestine and moved to Tobruk where it came under the command of the 6th Division. The battalion immediately helped to restore the port, repair roads, and reclaim engineering material.

Following the Allies advance at the start of February the 2/1st moved forward to maintain the road between Tobruk and Derna. In March the 6th Division was relieved by the newly formed 9th Division, as the 6th was needed in Greece.

The Axis were also reorganising their forces. The Germans had landed at Tripoli, bolstering the Italian force, and were advancing east. Consequently, British troops were forced to evacuate to Benghazi and fall back to Tobruk - colloquially referred to as the "Benghazi handicap". Most of the 2/1st was already stationed between Derna and Tobruk but, to bide more time, a lieutenant from the battalion destroyed the Derna pass after the last Allied unit passed through on 7 April. All pioneers were in Tobruk the next day.

For the next five months the 2/1st helped defend the "fortress" by manning various posts and fighting as infantry. In May it was involved in the bitter fighting in the Salient. Tobruk cost the battalion heavily, with 37 men killed in action and seven mortally wounded. Nine became prisoners of war while another 68 were wounded. As with the rest of the Australian defenders, except the 2/13th Infantry Battalion, the 2/1st was evacuated from Tobruk in September.

After a short time in Palestine, the battalion left the Middle East in early March 1942, as the I Australian Corps returned home. The 2/1st arrived in Australia at the end of the month. After only a few days leave it was sent to conduct engineering tasks in the Brisbane-Ipswich area. At the end of August the battalion went to Papua, arriving on 5 September.

After two days in Port Moresby, A, B, and C Companies moved to Owers' Corner at the base of the Kokoda Trail and up the track through Uberi to Ioribaiwa. The battalion patrolled and manned defensive positions along Imita Ridge. It also helped the 14th Field Regiment move their 25-pounder guns up the track to the foot of Imita Ridge.

More draining work followed when the three companies moved to 9-mile Quarry in November. For the next seven months the pioneers worked as miners and labourers in two plants, producing crushed metal used to surface airfields and roads. Work at the quarry was frustrating and morale was low. At the same time, D Company was in Milne Bay helping to develop the area's infrastructure. They built trestle bridges and maintained roads.

The battalion returned to Australia in October 1943 and, after leave, regrouped at Wongabel on the Atherton Tablelands. Located with the 6th Division the pioneers could concentrate on infantry training. It was with the 7th Division, though, the battalion would again go to war.

Devised towards the end of the war, the OBOE operations aimed to reoccupy areas of the Netherlands East Indies, with the 9th and 7th Divisions making amphibious landings on Borneo in 1945. The 9th Division landed on Tarakan in May, and Labuan Island and Brunei Bay in June; the 7th Division landed at Balikpapan at the start of July.

The 2/1st came ashore at Balikpapan on 1 July, the first day of the battle. After working to consolidate the beachhead, the battalion's next task was to help defend Balikpapan Harbour. Crossing Balikpapan Bay in landing craft, A Company were sent to patrol the Penadjam and Riko Rivers, while B Company went to Tempadung. In August D Company moved out along Milford Highway.

Japan surrendered on 15 August. With the war over the ranks of the 2/1st gradually thinned, as men were discharged or transferred. What was left of the battalion returned to Australia in December and on 18 February 1946 the 2/1st was disbanded.
------------------------------------


Order of Battle
Australian Imperial Force
6th Australian Divsion
8 December 1941


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Re: Австралия - сухопутные силы

Postby Igor Kulakov » August 27th, 2012, 9:28 am

7th Infantry Divsion

After British forces withdrew from France in the face of the German Blitzkrieg,
the 6th, 7th and 9th Divisions, as I Corps, were sent to Egypt. From late 1940,
the individual divisions faced Italian and German forces in North Africa.

The 7th Division formed the body of the successful Allied invasion of
Vichy French-controlled Lebanon and Syria in 1941. The 9th Division and part of
the 7th played a celebrated defensive role at the Siege of Tobruk.




The 7th Division of the Australian Military Forces was raised in February 1940 to serve in World War II, as part of the Second Australian Imperial Force (2nd AIF). The division was raised on the British establishment of nine infantry battalions per division and consisted of two new brigades and three of the original 12 battalions of the 6th Division forming the third brigade.

The 7th is sometimes known by the nickname "The silent seventh", due to a perception that its achievements were unrecognised, in comparison to the other Australian divisions. The origin of this belief appears to be censorship of the part played by the 7th Division in the fierce fighting in the 1941 Syria-Lebanon campaign.[1]

The 7th Division along with the 6th and 9th Australian Divisions were the only divisions to serve in the both the Middle East and the South West Pacific Area.


North Africa and Middle East

The 7th Division left Australia for the Middle East in October 1940. It was then sent to North Africa, and the 18th Brigade played a successful defensive role in the Siege of Tobruk, from May 1941. Meanwhile, the rest of the 7th Division formed the backbone of the Allied invasion of Lebanon and Syria; with British, Indian and Free French forces defeated Vichy French land forces in the Middle East.

Both Victoria Crosses for the campaign were awarded to men of the 7th Division. Lieutenant Arthur Roden Cutler was awarded the Victoria Cross for his exploits in June at Merdjayoun and in early July in the Damour area where he was seriously wounded. Corporal Jim Gordon of the 2/31st Bn was the second recipient of the campaign.


The Pacific War

In December 1941, as Japanese forces advanced rapidly in South East Asia, it was decided that the 6th and 7th Divisions were needed to defend Australia. Elements of the 7th Division were diverted to Java, and fought bravely alongside Dutch forces there, but were soon overwhelmed. The bulk of the division went straight to Australia. Five months later, in August 1942, the 21st Brigade under Brig. Arnold Potts reinforced the reservists of the 39th Battalion, fighting a rearguard action on the Kokoda Track.

Simultaneously, the 18th Brigade, with a Militia brigade, Royal Australian Air Force planes and ground staff, and a US engineer regiment, successfully defended an airfield at the eastern tip of Papua from a major assault by Japanese Special Naval Landing Forces - the Battle of Milne Bay was the first outright defeat of Japanese land forces in World War II. Corporal John French who was killed at Milne Bay, was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross (VC).


Main divisional units (with state of origin, where applicable) Infantry units
18th Australian Infantry Brigade - from 6th Division in 1941.
2/9th Australian Infantry Battalion, Queensland (Qld)
2/10th Australian Infantry Battalion, South Australia(SA)
2/12th Australian Infantry Battalion Qld/Tasmania (Tas.)
20th Australian Infantry Brigade - to 9th Division in 1941.
21st Australian Infantry Brigade
2/14th Australian Infantry Battalion, Victoria (Vic.)
2/16th Australian Infantry Battalion, Western Australia (WA)
2/27th Australian Infantry Battalion, SA
25th Australian Infantry Brigade - from 9th Division, 1941.
2/25th Australian Infantry Battalion, Qld (from 24th Bde, 9th Div., 1940)
2/31st Australian Infantry Battalion, Qld
2/33rd Australian Infantry Battalion, NSW
Artillery regiments
2/4th Field Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery (RAA)
2/5th Field Regiment, RAA
2/6th Field Regiment, RAA
2/2nd Anti-Tank Regiment, RAA
Other units
2/2nd Australian Machine-Gun Regiment
2/2nd Australian Pioneer Battalion, Vic.
7th Australian Divisional Cavalry
Engineer companies
2/4th Field Company, Royal Australian Engineers (RAE), NSW
2/5th Field Company, RAE, NSW
2/6th Field Company, RAE, NSW
2/2nd Field Park Company, RAE, WA





на 22.06(?) - против сил виши в компании "сирия-ливан", но без 18-й бригады, к-ая сражалась
в сев. африке (в осаде тобрука), фактически ее заменила 17-я бригада из 6-й австралийской дивизии
(? +остатки самой 6-й австралийской дивизии, оставшиеся по сле греции и крита )


примерно западнее Дамаска, восточнее 6-й пд австралии (точнее, ее 17-й бригады)

на 22.06 явно меньше штата! (большие потери людей и техники)



--------------------
2/2nd Pioneer Battalion

The 2/2nd Pioneer Battalion was raised in Puckapunyal in Victoria in May 1940. After completing its initial training at "Pucka", the battalion sailed for the Middle East aboard the Queen Mary in April 1941.

The battalion arrived in Port Tewfik, the port of Suez, in May and travelled by train to Palestine and camped at Hill 95. It began preparing for its first action supporting the 7th Division in Syria.

Initially the battalion did not fight as a whole - each of it companies supported different brigades. A Company went to the 21st Brigade at Er Rama and B Company to the 25th Brigade near Rosh Pinah.

When the attack began on 7 June A Company was placed under the command of the 2/16th Infantry Battalion and had three tasks: breach the frontier fence at El Malakiya, a formidable obstacle of barbed-wire and iron picket; improve the approaches from the frontier road to the gap in the fence; and build a road across the fields to link with the road passing through Aiteroune. B Company had a similar task. At Metulla it prepared artillery approaches and improved the track from Mezudal and Banias. The men also assisted engineers to repair a crater in the road near Dan.

D Company joined the 25th Brigade and also assisted maintaining and repairing roads. Several days later C Company came forward from Er Rama and began improving the rough track to Metulla for vehicles to pass.

But when the Vichy French counter-attacked Merdjayoun on 15 June the 2/2nd recalled its scattered companies to hold the Litani Bridge and prevent further enemy advance.

On 17 June the pioneers participated in the attack on Fort Merdjayoun. In a reckless decision, A and B Companies made a frontal attack on the fort. French machine-gun fire quickly stopped the attack and the Australians were exposed. Casualties mounted but the companies were pinned, unable to withdraw until evening. They suffered heavily: 27 killed, 29 captured, and 46 wounded.

Despite the losses the battalion remained in action for the rest of the campaign. It was particularly active in the fighting around Merdjayoun and El Mtolle and in the attack on Damour in July.

Following the surrender of the Vichy French the battalion concentrated first at Damour and then near Tripoli, bivouacking in the olive groves opposite Fort Legout. For the next four months the battalion trained and conducted garrison duties, with each company sent to different locations as needed. In November the pioneers moved to Qatana.

In early 1942 the 6th and 7th Divisions returned to Australia and the 2/2nd began the voyage home on the troopship Orcades. The 2/3rd Machine Gun Battalion, 2/6th Field Company, and other support units were also on board. However, the Orcades was about to be caught in the Japanese thrust.

British forces in Singapore surrendered on 15 February. Two days later the Orcades reached Oosthaven in Sumatra before going to Batavia in Java. The Japanese were moving through the Netherlands East Indies and decided to make a stand on Java.

The troops aboard Orcades, as well as a battery of American artillery and a squadron from the 3rd King's Own Hussars, combined to defend Java. They became known as the "Blackforce". Their directive was political rather than strategic and ultimately futile.

The Japanese landed on Java on 28 February. Blackforce went into action at Leuwiliang near Buitenzorg on 4 March. It fought against the Japanese for two days but was ordered to lay down arms the day after Dutch surrender on 8 March.

The majority of the 2/2nd survived the fighting (865 officers and men) and spent the rest of the war as prisoners. Of these, 258 men died, most while working on the Burma-Thailand railway. Others died in Java, Borneo, and at sea when ships they were being transported on were sunk.

Not all the battalion was captured. Days after the Blackforce surrender, ships carrying the battalion's rear echelon troops, baggage, and stores returned to Australia. There were also a handful of troops, mainly drivers, who had remained in Australia. Initially the remaining troops were told the 2/2nd was not going to be reformed but the decision was reversed the following month. By June 1943 the new 2/2nd was ready for action and sailed to Port Moresby in Papua the following month.

The pioneers supported the 7th Division in New Guinea for the rest of the year. Its first action was near Nabzab, during the Ramu Valley campaign and then in the advance to Lae. The pioneers served as both infantry and engineers.

In February 1944 the 2/2nd returned to Australia, exhausted and wracked with tropical disease. After a short period of leave, it met at Townsville and then Deadman's Gully near Cairns and undertook amphibious training with the 2nd Australian Beach Group.

In March 1945 the battalion finally left Deadman's Gully and moved to Morotai. The 7th and 9th Divisions were being concentrated in readiness for their amphibious landings on Borneo, as part of OBOE efforts to reoccupy areas of the Netherlands East Indies.

The first landing took place at Tarakan on 1 May. The pioneers supported the 9th Division's 26th Brigade, helping to defend the beachhead. The rest of the division landed on Labuan Island and Brunei Bay in June. On 2 May the 2/2nd and the 2/3rd Pioneer Battalion relieved the two infantry battalions protecting ANZAC Highway. The 2/2nd took over Finch feature and the Lingkas Tank Farm and helped unload landing craft.

By the end of June the fight on Tarakan was almost over but by this time the 2/2nd had returned to Morotai in preparation for the 7th Division landing at Balikpapan on 1 July.

The 2/2nd was unique in supporting both divisions. Its work at Balikpapan was similar to Tarakan: helping to organise and defend the beachhead, guarding prisoners, and providing labour for burial parties and other activities. On 11 July the battalion was concentrated at Romilly at the site of the bombed hospital.

Japan surrendered on 15 August. With the war over the 2/2nd was declared "redundant" and its personnel were either discharged or transferred by the end of the year.

--------------------
2/4th Field Regiment

Following the formation of the 6th Division, in early 1940 it was decided that the 2nd Australian Imperial Force (AIF) would be expanded. The decision to raise the 7th Division was made in February 1940 and, following the appointment of its first commanding officer, Lieutenant Colonel Lewis Barker, the 2/4th Field Regiment began recruiting at Caulfield Racecourse, Melbourne, on 7 May. Many of its first officers and men came from the 4th Australian Field Artillery Brigade, of the pre-war Militia, based at St Kilda, Melbourne. The regiment was formed and trained at Puckapunyal, Victoria, where it had two batteries - 7th and 8th- each consisting of three troops and four 18-pounder guns.

The regiment embarked for overseas service in October, leaving Port Melbourne on 21 October and arriving in Egypt in November. Disembarking at El Kantara, Suez, the regiment travelled by train to Deir Suneid, Palestine. However, the regiment did not receive its first guns until January 1941 and it was not until mid-April, when the unit was at Ikingi Maryut, that it received its full compliment of 25-pounders, 18-pounders, and 4.5 inch howitzers.

With Australian and British troops besieged at Tobruk, the 7th Division, less a brigade that was part of the Tobruk garrison, moved to help defend the Mersa Matruh fortress, in Egypt. While there, four of the regiment's guns went forward in an anti-tank role. In May the 9th Division's artillery, which had not accompanied the infantry forward to Tobruk because of a lack of transport, replaced the 7th Division's artillery at Matruh, as the 7th Division was preparing for the Allies invasion of Vichy Syria. As part of the preparations for the new offensive, when the 2/4th was at Tel el Kebir, it received 12 new 25-pounder guns and moved to Affula by the end of May.

The invasion of Syria was to occur on three axes, with the 2/4th supporting the 7th Division's 21st Brigade as it advanced along the coast. The regiment crossed the borders on 8 June and its 7th Battery, part of the advance guard overlooking the Litani River, fired the first shots. Thereafter, single guns and sections were continually used forward to anti-tank and direct-fire tasks. The regiment also experienced counter battery fire and came under enemy air attack.

On 9 June the regiment came under fire from a French sloop, which came close to shore, and shelled and machine-gunned the regiment's positions near Sidon. In accordance with orders not to reveal their position, the gunners took cover but, when the sloop began to move out to sea, the regiment's guns opened fire, at a range of 4,000 yards, until the ship was out of range. The next day, 10 June, the regiment fired 1,440 rounds as it supported the attack on Aldoun. There was heavy fighting for the next ten days, as the regiment's gunners helped repel French tank attacks, although members of a forward were killed and wounded when they sustained directs hits while engaging a French gun over open sights. One of the guns had to be abandoned but was later recovered. Before Saida fell on 20 June, a French sloop came in close to shore, shelling the 21st Brigade, but was it driven off by the regiment's artillery fire. The final major operation of the campaign was the battle for Damour, which began on 5 July and during which the regiment fired thousands of rounds to support the attack. Fighting lasted until 12 July when an armistice was signed, bringing an end to the campaign with the surrender of Vichy French forces. During the Syrian campaign, Australian artillery had fired 147,399 rounds, 40,152 of which were fired by the 2/4th.

The regiment spent the rest of the year in Syria as part of the garrison force and were based at Jdaide. In September artillery regiments were reorganised and the regiment formed a third battery - the 54th. In December the 7th Division was relieved by the 9th Division in Syria, as the 6th and 7th Division were to return to Australia. The last members of the 2/4th left the Middle East at the end of January and the regiment arrived in Australia, at Port Adelaide, on 23 March.

The unit reformed in the Nambour area, in Queensland, in May. The regiment exercised with the 25th Brigade on the Caloundra Range, and provided personnel for X and Y Batteries. X Battery made up part of Lilliput Force, which was sent to New Guinea, while Y Battery went to Papua to help provide some of the defences for Milne Bay.

The 2/4th spent the first months of 1943 in manoeuvres throughout south-east Queensland. In March the regiment received the first of the new 25-pounder Mk II short guns, which were better suited to jungle warfare. In April the unit conducted amphibious training east of Caboolture, at Toorbul Point, before moving to the Atherton Tablelands, Queensland, in May, where it rejoined the 7th Division.

By 1943 the fighting had moved from Papua to New Guinea. The 9th Division, having recently returned from the Middle East, was to make an amphibious landing on New Guinea's coast near the Japanese base at Lae, while the 7th Division would be flown to the Markham Valley and advance towards Lae both overland and in an air operation. The 25th Brigade was to lead the 7th Division's advance but, in order to facilitate this, the American 503rd Parachute Infantry Regiment had to first secure the airfield at Nadzab. In what was a first for Australian artillery, the part of a section from the 2/4th made the drop with the American paratroops. This was done in great secrecy and with only one practice jump but the 31 gunners from 54 Battery, led by Lieutenant John Pearson, and two 25-pounder shorts, safely made the drop into Nadzab on 5 September. Thereafter, the 25th Brigade was flown in and went on to capture Lae, just ahead of the 9th Division. The 2/4th remained in New Guinea for the next four months and supported the 7th Division's campaign through the Ramu Valley, the assault on Shaggy Ridge, and in the Finisterres.

On 1 February 1944 the 2/4th was relieved by the 4th Field Regiment, and the former was flown back to Port Moresby and then sailed back to Australia. It participated in the 7th Division march through the streets of Melbourne and, after leave, reformed at Strathpine, near Brisbane, before moving to Kairi, on the Atherton Tablelands, in late August. The war was nearly over before the 2/4th went into action again.

In early June 1945 the regiment moved to Morotai, which was being used as a staging area for the Australian operations on Borneo. The 9th Division made amphibious landings at Tarakan and north Borneo in May and June, while the 7th Division landed at Balikpapan on 1 July. 8th Battery was the regiment's first unit ashore and the first to report "ready". Although there had been a massive pre-invasion air and naval bombardment of the landing beaches, the division still experienced heavy fighting as it pushed inland. In the first four days of the campaign the 2/4th fired more than 10,000 rounds. After about two weeks the campaign was all but over and on 15 August Japan announced its surrender.

Following the end of the war, 54th Battery was disbanded and, over time, the regiment's ranks reduced as men volunteered for the occupation of Japan or were discharged. Those left in the regiment returned to Australia and the final elements of its headquarters went into camp at Chermside, Brisbane. The 2/4th Field Regiment was disbanded on 7 February 1946.
--------------------

Order of Battle
Australian Imperial Force
7th Australian Divsion
8 December 1941

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Igor Kulakov
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Re: Австралия - сухопутные силы

Postby Igor Kulakov » August 27th, 2012, 9:34 am

8th Infantry Divsion




As fears of war with Japan mounted, most of the 8th Division was sent to Singapore,
to strengthen the British garrison; the remaining battalions were deployed in the
islands to Australia's north, at Rabaul, Ambon and Timor. Following short but bloody
campaigns in Malaya and the islands, virtually all of the 8th division was lost, when
stronger Japanese forces swept through South East Asia, in early 1942. In the Fall of
Singapore alone, more than 15,000 Australians were taken prisoner.


на 22.06 - в ней фактич. 1 бригада и дивизионные части! (22-я бригада)

22-я бригада из 8-й дивизии -с (However, as the possibility of war with Japan loomed,
the 22nd Brigade was sent instead to Malaya on February 2, 1941.)

23-я бригада из 8-й дивизии - The 23rd Brigade moved to Darwin in April.(1941)


(27-я) -оставалась в Австралии до? (The 27th Brigade joined the 22nd Brigade in Malaya,
in August.) (1941) - там же, с 27-й и 2/15 field art regiment из 8-й пд...



Kluang, Malaya (малайзия)

на 2008:
Kluang is a town and district located roughly in the middle of the state of Johor in Malaysia.
Kluang lies about 110km north of Johor Bahru, east-southeast of Batu Pahat, west of Mersing and
south of Segamat. The population of Kluang district now exceeds 250,000 residents and the town
itself has over 140,000 residents.



The 8th Division of the Australian Army was formed to serve in World War II, as part of the Second Australian Imperial Force, who were in turn, part of the Allies of World War II. The 8th Division was raised from regular army units and new, all-volunteer infantry brigades, from July 1940 onwards. As war with Japan loomed in 1941, the division was divided into four separate forces, which were deployed in different parts of the Asia-Pacific region. All of these formations were destroyed as fighting forces by the end of February, 1942. Most members of the division became prisoners of war, and a large number died in captivity.


History

The 8th Division was raised to fight Nazi Germany, and was trained for the conditions of the Middle East. In December 1940, the 24th Brigade was sent to North Africa, and became part of the 9th Division. It was replaced in the 8th Division by the 27th Brigade.

However, as the possibility of war with Japan loomed, the 22nd Brigade was sent instead to Malaya on February 2, 1941. The 23rd Brigade moved to Darwin in April. The 2/22nd Battalion was detached from it and deployed to Rabaul, New Britain in April. The 27th Brigade joined the 22nd Brigade in Malaya, in August. The remainder of the 23rd Brigade was split into another two detachments: the 2/40th Battalion left for Timor, on December 12 and; the 2/21st Battalion went to Ambon in the Dutch East Indies on December 17. The 23rd Brigade headquarters remained in Darwin.

Malaya

As war broke out Japanese forces based in Vichy French-controlled Indochina quickly overran Thailand and invaded Malaya. The demoralising loss of two British capital ships, HMS Repulse and HMS Prince of Wales, off Malaya on December 10, 1941, neutralised Allied naval superiority, allowing the Japanese to perform amphibious assaults on the Malayan coast with much less resistance. Japanese forces met stiff resistance from III Corps of the Indian Army and British units in northern Malaya, but Japan's superiority in air power, tanks and infantry tactics forced the Allied units, who had very few tanks and remained vulnerable to isolation and encirclement, back.

On January 14, parts of the division went into action south of Kuala Lumpur, at Gemas and Muar. The 2/30th Battalion had some early success at the Gemencheh River Bridge, destroying a Japanese battalion. However, other Allied units were already severely depleted and demoralised, and Japanese flanking operations began to take their toll, whose tactics of isolation and encirclement often forced mass surrenders of other Allied units.

The 2/29th and the 2/19th Battalions were detached as reinforcements for the Indian 45th Brigade, which was in danger of being overrun near the Muar River. By January 22, a mixed force from the two battalions, with some Indian troops, had been isolated and overrun. Members of the Japanese Imperial Guards Division massacred about 150 Allied prisoners at Parit Sulong, following the fighting. Lieutenant-Colonel Charles Anderson, acting commander of the 2/19th, was taken prisoner and was later awarded the Victoria Cross for his actions.

The remainder of the 27th Brigade was waging a rearguard action, while the rest of the 22nd Brigade had been sent back to guard the north end of the Johor-Singapore Causeway which linked the Malayan Peninisula to Singapore, as Allied forces retreated.

Singapore

As Allied forces in Malaya retreated towards Singapore, a 2,000-strong detachment of 8th Division reinforcements arrived in Singapore, including the 2/4th Machine Gun Regiment.

By January 31, the last Allied forces had left Malaya, and Allied engineers blew a hole, 70 feet (20 metres) wide, in the causeway.

The Allied commander, Lieutenant General Arthur Percival gave Maj. Gen. Gordon Bennett's 8th Division the task of defending the prime invasion points on the north side of the island, in a terrain dominated by mangrove swamps and forest. The 22nd Brigade was assigned a daunting 10 mile (16 kilometre) wide sector in the west of the island, and the 27th Brigade a 4,000 yard (3,650 metre) zone in the north west, near the causeway.

From vantage points across the straits, including the Sultan of Johore's palace, as well as aerial reconnaissance and infiltrators, the Japanese commander, General Tomoyuki Yamashita and his staff gained excellent knowledge of the Allied positions. From February 3, the Australian positions were shelled by Japanese artillery. Shelling and air attacks intensified over the next five days, destroying communications between Allied units and their commanders.

At 8.30pm on February 8, Australian machine gunners opened fire on vessels carrying a first wave of 4,000 Japanese troops towards Singapore Island.

Fierce fighting raged all day, but eventually the increasing Japanese numbers, as well as their artillery, planes and military intelligence began to exploit gaps in the Australian lines. By midnight the two 8th Division infantry brigades were separated and isolated, and the 22nd Brigade was being forced to retreat. At 1 am further Japanese troops were landed in the west of the island and the last Australian reserves went into position.

Towards dawn on the February 9, elements of the 22nd Brigade were being overrun and it was decided to form a secondary defensive line. The 2/18th Battalion had lost more than 50% of its personnel. During the course of the day, the 22nd and other Allied units in the east were forced to retreat further south.

The 27th Brigade had not yet faced an attack. However, the next day, the Japanese Imperial Guard made a botched landing in the north west, suffering severe casualties from drowning and burning oil in the water, as well as Australian mortars and machine guns. In spite of the 27th Brigade's success, as a result of a misunderstanding, they began to withdraw from Kranji in the north. That same day, further misunderstandings, increasing numbers of desertions and the arrival of Japanese tanks, caused the Allies to lose control of the crucial Kranji-Jurong ridge through the western side of the island. However the Japanese armoured units failed to seize an opportunity to advance into the heart of the city itself.

On February 11, knowing that his own supplies were running low, Yamashita called on Percival to "give up this meaniningless and desperate resistance".

The next day the Allied lines stabilised around a small area on the south side of the island and fought off determined Japanese assaults. However, the Allies lost more ground on February 13, and Bennett and other senior officers advised Percival to surrender, in the interests of minimising civilian casualties. Percival refused but unsuccessfully sought authority to surrender from his superiors.

The following day the remaining Allied units battled on; civilian casualties mounted as one million people crowded into the area now held by the Allies and bombing and artillery attacks intensified. Civilian authorities began to fear that the water supply would soon give out. Japanese troops killed 200 staff and patients after they captured Alexandra Barracks Hospital.

By the morning of February 15, the Japanese had broken through the last line of defence in the north and food and some kinds of ammunition had begun to run out. After meeting his unit commanders, Percival contacted the Japanese and formally surrendered the Allied forces to Yamashita, shortly after 5.15pm. Bennett created an enduring controversy when he handed over the 8th Division to a brigade commander, commandeered a boat and managed to escape captivity.

Almost 15,000 Australians became prisoners of war at Singapore, an absolute majority of all Australian prisoners of the Japanese in World War II. During the Malaya-Singapore campaign as a whole, the 8th Division suffered 73% of Allied deaths in battle, even though they comprised only 14% of the Allied forces.

Rabaul

The 2/22nd Battalion - composed of 716 men - made up the majority of the combat personnel in the Lark Force, the name given to the 1,400-strong garrison concentrated in Rabaul, New Britain, from March 1941. Lark Force also included personnel from the New Guinea Volunteer Rifles, a coastal defence battery, an anti-aircraft battery, an anti-tank battery and a detachment of the 2/10th Field Ambulance.

The island, part of the Australian territory of New Guinea was important because of its proximity to the Japanese territory of the Caroline Islands, including a major Japanese Navy base on Truk Island. The main tasks of Lark Force were protection of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) airfield and flying boat anchorage, which were important in the surveillance of Japanese movements in the region. A 130-strong detachment from the 2/1st Independent Company was detached to the nearby island of New Ireland.

In January 1942, Lark Force came under heavy attack by Japanese aircraft, which neutralised coastal artillery. In the early hours of January 23, 1942, 20,000 Japanese marines began to land. Some faced fierce resistance, but because of the balance of forces, many landed unopposed. Within hours, the Lark Force commander, Lt Col. J. J. Scanlan had ordered: "every man for himself" and Australian soldiers and civilians split into small groups and retreated through the jungle. Only the RAAF had made evacuation plans and its personnel were removed by flying boat.

The army had made no preparations for guerilla warfare, and most soldiers surrendered during the following weeks. At least 130 Australians, taken prisoner at the Tol Plantation, were massacred on February 4, 1942. From mainland New Guinea, some civilians and individual officers organised unofficial rescue missions and - between March and May - about 450 troops and civilians who had managed to evade the Japanese, were evacuated by sea.

At least 800 soldiers and civilian prisoners of war lost their lives on July 1, 1942, when the ship on which they were sent from Rabaul to Japan, the Montevideo Maru, was sunk off the north coast of Luzon by the US submarine USS Sturgeon (SS-187).

A handful of Lark Force members remained at large on New Britain and - often in conjunction with indigenous people - conducted guerilla operations against the Japanese. Rabaul became the biggest Japanese base in New Guinea. Allied forces landed in December 1944, although substantial Japanese forces continued to operate on New Britain until Japan surrendered in August 1945.

By the end of the Pacific War, more than 600 members of the 2/22nd Battalion were dead.

Ambon

The island of Ambon, in the Dutch East Indies, was perceived to be under threat from Japan because of its potential as a major air base. However, by mid-December 1941, only two flights of RAAF light bombers were deployed there, along with assorted US Navy and Royal Netherlands Navy aircraft.

The 8th Division's 1,100-strong Gull Force, commanded by Lt Col. L. N. Roach, arrived on December 17. In addition to the 2/21st Battalion, it included 8th Division artillery and support units. The existing Royal Netherlands East Indies Army garrison, commanded by Lt Col. J. R. L. Kapitz, consisted of 2,800 Indonesian colonial troops, with Dutch officers. Kapitz was appointed Allied commander on Ambon. Roach had visited the island before Gull Force's deployment and requested that more artillery and machine gun units be sent from Australia.

Ambon first came under attack from Japanese aircraft on January 6. Roach complained about the lack of response to his suggestions and he was replaced by Lt Col. W. R. J. Scott on January 14, 1942.

A Japanese fleet including two aircraft carriers and about 5,300 Japanese marines and soldiers reached Ambon on January 30, 1942. Although the Japanese ground forces were numerically not much bigger than the Allies, they had overwhelming superiority in air support, naval and field artillery, and tanks. In the belief that the terrain of the southern side of the island was too inhospitable for landings, the Allied troops were concentrated in the north. However, the iniital Japanese landings were in the south.

Within a day of the Japanese landing, the Dutch forces had been surrounded and had given up. Gull Force held out until February 3, when Scott surrendered.

According to Australian War Memorial principal historian, Dr Peter Stanley several hundred Australians surrendered at Laha Airstrip. At intervals for a fortnight after the surrender, more than 300 prisoners taken at Laha were executed. The government of Australia states that "The Laha massacre was the largest of the atrocities committed against captured Allied troops in 1942." [1]

Dr. Stanley said of Australian prisoners of war on Ambon: "They suffered an ordeal and a death rate second only to the horrors of Sandakan, first on Ambon and then after many were sent to the island of Hainan late in 1942. Three-quarters of the Australians captured on Ambon died before the war's end. Of the 582 who remained on Ambon 405 died. They died of overwork, malnutrition, disease and one of the most brutal regimes among camps in which bashings were routine." [2]

Only 302 members of Gull Force survived the war.

Timor

In 1941, the island of Timor was divided into two territories under different colonial powers: Portuguese Timor and West Timor part of the Dutch East Indies. The Australian and Dutch governments agreed that, in the event of Japan entering World War II, Australia would provide forces to reinforce West Timor. Consequently a 1,400 strong detachment, known as the Sparrow Force, and centred on the 2/40th Battalion, arrived at Kupang on December 12, 1941.

The force was initially commanded by Lieutenant Colonel William Leggatt. It also included the Australian commandos of the 2/2nd Independent Company. Sparrow Force joined about 650 Dutch East Indies troops and was supported by the 12 Lockheed Hudson light bombers of No. 2 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force and a troop from the British Royal Artillery's 79th Light Anti-Aircraft Battery. The Allied forces were concentrated around the strategic airfield of Penfui.

As the government of Portugal declined to cooperate with the Allies, a force composed of the 2/2nd Independent Company and Dutch forces occupied Portuguese Timor, without any resistance being offered by the Portuguese Army or officials; the civilian population, both Portuguese and Timorese, generally welcomed the Allied soldiers.

Additional Australian support staff arrived at Kupang on February 12, including Brigadier William Veale, who was to be the senior Allied officer on Timor. By this time many of the Australians, unused to tropical conditions, were suffering from malaria and other illnesses.

Timor came under attack from Japanese aircraft on January 26. The bombers - hampered by AA guns and a squadron of US Army Air Forces fighters based in Darwin - intensified during February. Air attacks forced an Allied convoy - escorted by the destroyers HMAS Swan and HMAS Warrego - to return to Australia. It had included valuable reinforcements, such as a US Army artillery battalion and the remainder of the British AA battery.

During the night of February 19-February 20, the Imperial Japanese Army's 228th Regimental Group, under the direct command of Col. Sadashichi Doi, began landing in Portuguese Timor.

The first contact was at Dili, the capital of Portuguese Timor, where the Allies were caught by surprise. Nevertheless, they were well-prepared and the garrison began an orderly retreat towards the mountainous interior and the south coast.

On the same night, Allied forces in West Timor were under extremely intense air attacks, which had already caused the RAAF force to be withdrawn to Australia. The bombing was followed up by landings from the 228th Regiment, on the undefended south west side of the island, at the Paha River. Light tanks were landed to support the Japanese infantry, and the force advanced north, cutting off the Dutch positions in the west and attacking the 2/40th Battalion positions at Penfui. A parallel Japanese thrust to the north-east, aimed to cut off the Allied retreat, at Usua. Sparrow Force HQ was immediately moved further east, to its supply base at Champlong. Leggatt ordered the destruction of the airfield.

The 2/40th's line of flight towards Champlong had been cut off by the dropping of about 500 Japanese marine paratroopers, from the 3rd Yokosuka Special Naval Landing Force, near Usua. Sparrow Force HQ moved further eastward and Leggatt's men launched a sustained and devastating assault on the paratroopers. By the morning of February 23, the Allies had killed all but 78 of the enemy forces in front of them, but had been engaged from the rear by the main Japanese force once again.

With his soldiers running low on ammunition, exhausted and carrying 132 men with serious wounds, Leggatt consulted his men and then accepted a Japanese invitation to surrender, at Usua. The 2/40th had suffered 84 killed in action. More than twice that number would die as prisoners of war during the next two and a half years. [3]

Veale and the Sparrow Force HQ force - including about some members of the 2/40th and about 200 Dutch East Indies troops - continued eastward across the border, and eventually joined the 2/2 Independent Company. The 2/40th effectively ceased to exist, its survivors being absorbed into the 2/2nd.

Structure

Infantry units (with state of origin, where applicable)
22nd Australian Infantry Brigade, New South Wales, (NSW)
2/18th Australian Infantry Battalion
2/19th Australian Infantry Battalion
2/20th Australian Infantry Battalion
23rd Australian Infantry Brigade
2/21st Australian Infantry Battalion, Victoria, (Vic.)
2/22nd Australian Infantry Battalion, Vic.
2/40th Australian Infantry Battalion, Tasmania, (Tas.)
24th Australian Infantry Brigade - to 9th Division, 1940
27th Australian Infantry Brigade - from 9th Div., 1941
2/26th Australian Infantry Battalion, Queensland (Qld)
2/29th Australian Infantry Battalion, Vic.
2/30th Australian Infantry Battalion, NSW
Artillery regiments
2/9th Field Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery (RAA) - to 7th Division, 194?
2/10th Field Regiment, RAA
2/11th Field Regiment, RAA - to 7th Div., 194?
2/14th Field Regiment, RAA
2/15th Field Regiment, RAA
2/3rd Anti-Tank Regiment, RAA - to 9th Div., 1940
2/4th Anti-Tank Regiment, RAA
Other units
2/4th Australian Machine-Gun Regiment, Western Australia (WA)
2/3rd Australian Pioneer Battalion
8th Australian Divisional Cavalry - to 9th Div., as 9th Div. Cavalry, May 1941.
Engineer companies
2/10th Field Company, Royal Australian Engineers, Vic.
2/11th Field Company, RAE, Qld
2/12th Field Company, RAE, NSW
2/4th Field Park Company, RAE, WA - to 9th Div., 194?



------------
2/10th Field Regiment

Queensland's 2/10th Field Regiment was formed in July 1940 at Randbank Camp, Brisbane, as one of the 8th Division's three artillery regiments. The division's other two regiments were the 2/14th and 2/15th Field Regiments. Most of the 2/14th's gunners had served in the militia, while a number of officers had served with the 6th Division and had completed an intensive training course at the School of Artillery, Holsworthy. Men from across Queensland joined the regiment, including a group of lifesavers from Tugun. Initially, two batteries were formed, the 19th and 20th Batteries, and in January 1941 a third battery, initially known as "X" Battery, was formed. This name continued until December, when it became the 60th Battery.

From October to December the regiment conducted field manoeuvres and trained with 18-pounder guns from the First World War. A high point of their training was a nine day field manoeuvre through the Brisbane Valley, with live shooting, firing from Caloundra range. The 2/10th was given leave in January 1941 and on 1 February began moving from Redbank Camp to the South Brisbane railway station to travel by train to Sydney. They arrived at Circular Quay the next day where they boarded Queen Mary, which had been converted from a passenger ship to a troopship.

The Queen Mary was apart of a convoy taking troops of the 8th Division to Malaya and Singapore. The convey reached Malaya two-and-a-half weeks later, with the Queen Mary disembarking the 2/10th at Malacca, in Johore, on 19 February. The regiment took up residence in the Malacca High School and the school at Tranquerah; for the next two months batteries were rotated between both locations. While in Malacca the regiment was attached to the 8th Division's 22nd Brigade. The regiment trained and carried out manoeuvres at Mersing, where the regiment was located when Japan entered the Second World War, beginning with the invasion of Malaya.

On 9 January 1942, while still at Mersing, the regiment was re-equipped with 25-pounders, replacing the old 18-pounders. Four days later, the regiment's position was bombed and strafed for the first time by Japanese aircraft. Japanese troops were able to quickly advance through Malaya and by January they had entered Johore. The regiment first went into action on 21 January, when it was called upon to bring down artillery fire on Japanese troops along the Mersing-Endau Road, north of Lalang Hill. The Japanese force had cut off a platoon from the 2/20th Battalion but the regiment's fire allowed the platoon to escape.

The 2/10th was in action from then on, firing on targets in the Mayang Estate and Lalang Hill. During the night of 26-27 January the regiment provided artillery support for the 22nd Brigade's successful ambush in the Nithsdale Estate. After the Nithsdale battle the brigade withdrew to Singapore Island, which took several days, one gun at a time, due to the enemy air activity. The last of the regiment's troops, the 20th Battery, crossed the causeway to Singapore just after 9 pm on 30 January. The causeway was demolished the next morning.

For the coming battle, the 2/10th was located in the north-west of the island. Although the British Commonwealth troops had more guns than the Japanese, the Japanese were able to concentrate their artillery together for the attack, while the British artillery had to be distributed across the island. The 22nd Brigade, supported by the 2/10th, defended the island's north-west coat in the Western Area, while the 27th Brigade and the 2/10th covered causeway sector in the Northern Area.

The 60th Battery took up position south of the Mandai Road, with the regiment's headquarters further south. The 19th Battery travelled along the Mandai Road to the south-west corner of the island and the 20th Battery took up position along the Mandai Road, south of the 2/26th and 2/30th Battalions, and with the 2/29th Battalion on their left. On 2 February a new sub-unit was formed, called "G Troop", with the regiment's surplus 4.5 inch howitzers and two 18-pounders. The troop dug in north of the Mandai Road in support of the 2/30th.

Between 2 and 8 February, the 22nd Brigade's area was subjected to an intense artillery barrage by the Japanese. The 20th and 60th Batteries returned fire, engaging targets in Johore Bahru, but the effectiveness of this was limited, as the artillery was ordered to fire no more than 12 rounds per 25-pounder gun per day. This restriction was only lifted after the Japanese invaded the island.

The main Japanese assault on Singapore began at 11 pm on 8 February. Crossing the Johore Strait in barges, by midday the next day the Japanese had broken through the 22nd Brigade. There had been continual heavy fighting and although it had been shelled and bombarded with air attack, the 20th and 60th Batteries fired up to 800 shells and sunk 30 sampans carrying Japanese troops. With the Japanese advancing, on 10 February both batteries were withdrawn to Singapore Harbour. By now, G Troop had ran out of ammunition for its howitzer and was also withdrawn.

By 12 February Commonwealth troops had withdrawn to the city, around which they formed a defensive perimeter. Troops were withdrawn from Changi and the eastern beaches. What was left of the 8th Division was concentrated around Tanglin Barracks. The 2/10th remained in action, firing 2,100 rounds on Bukit Timah village. The next day the regiment moved to the Tanglin golf course, where it came under enemy artillery fire and air strikes. The regiment ceased firing at 10.30 pm on 14 February and the next day the garrison surrendered. For the next three-and-a-half years the men had to endure the brutality of being a prisoner of war of the Japanese.

Initially imprisoned in the sprawling Changi prisoner of war camp, it was not long before members of the 2/10th were allocated to external work parties. The first parties were dispatched around Singapore and southern Malaya, but later 2/10th members found themselves bound for the camps along the Thailand-Burma Railway and to Borneo. Other prisoners were sent to Japan and Sumatra. Of the 834 officers and men of the regiment who became prisoners, 270 died. The surviving prisoners were liberated in late August 1945 and began returning to Australia almost immediately.
------------

Order of Battle
Malaya Command
Australian Imperial Force
8th Australian Divsion
8 December 1941



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Re: Австралия - сухопутные силы

Postby Igor Kulakov » August 27th, 2012, 9:43 am

9th Infantry Divsion

After British forces withdrew from France in the face of the German Blitzkrieg,
the 6th, 7th and 9th Divisions, as I Corps, were sent to Egypt. From late 1940,
the individual divisions faced Italian and German forces in North Africa.

The 9th Division and part of the 7th (К.И. - здесь "...и часть 7-ой пд австралии")
played a celebrated defensive role at the Siege of Tobruk.



On 6 April 1941 the retreating 9th Division was ordered to enter and defend the important
port town of Tobruk which General Wavell, the commander of the British Middle East Command,
had ordered be held for at least two months. Reinforced by the 18th Brigade of the Australian
7th Division and British artillery and armoured regiments the 9th Division successfully defended
the port for over 6 months.

->т.е. Тобрук


в ней British 18-pounder guns

в 2/12th Field Regt RAA - are using an Italian 75mm gun. (т.е. помимо стандартных и 75мм захв. итал
пушки)


также были захваченные 47мм итал. ПТ пушки...


9 пд австралии в тобруке -
без 2/7 и 2/8 арт. полков, к-ые оставались на 22.06 в Мерса-Матрух, где получили новые QF 25-pdr

(
In March 1941 the 9th Division was brought from Palestine to Libya to garrison the area east of
Tobruk, but the division did not have enough vehicles to bring all its units forward. In April
the 2/7th Field Regiment moved to Ikingi Marut, Egypt, and in May to Mersa Matruh, where it and
the 2/8th Field Regiment contributed to defending the "fortress". (The 2/12th Field Regiment
followed the infantry to Tobruk). It was not until the end of July, while still at Matruh,
that the regiment received most of its 25-pounders.
)


The 9th Division of the Australian Army was formed to serve in World War II, as part of the Second Australian Imperial Force (AIF). The division was raised from regular army units and volunteer infantry brigades, from October 1940 onwards. In common with several other Australian divisions, the 9th Division was one of only a few Allied army units to serve with distinction against both Nazi Germany (in North Africa) and the Empire of Japan (in New Guinea and Borneo).


Formation

The 9th Division was formed in the United Kingdom in late 1940, with the 18th and 25th Infantry Brigades as its nominal founding units.[1] However, only the 18th Brigade was actually in the UK. The 24th Brigade was also assigned to the division. These three infantry brigades had all been formed in Australia.

By February 1941, 9th Division headquarters had been relocated to the Middle East. As part of a reorganisation of the AIF, the 18th and 25th Brigades became part of the 7th Division. The 26th and 28th Infantry Brigades replaced them as part of the 9th Division.

North Africa

Cyrenaica

After completing its initial training in Australia, the UK and Palestine, the 9th Division was sent to Cyrenaica in Libya in early March 1941 to complete its training and equipping as part of the garrison of this region. When the German-led Axis forces launched an offensive, on March 24, the Allied forces were not sufficiently prepared for action and they were quickly driven out of Cyrenaica, an event nicknamed the "Benghazi Handicap" by the Australians. The division suffered relatively light casualties in this retreat and was fortunate to escape without severe loss.

Siege of Tobruk

On 6 April 1941 the retreating 9th Division was ordered to enter and defend the important port town of Tobruk which General Wavell, the commander of the British Middle East Command, had ordered be held for at least two months. Reinforced by the 18th Brigade of the Australian 7th Division and British artillery and armoured regiments the 9th Division successfully defended the port for over 6 months.

The Australian defence of Tobruk was anchored on three factors: the use of the pre-existing Italian fortifications around the port, aggressive patrolling and raiding of Axis positions and the firepower of the garrison's artillery. Fighting from fixed positions, the Australian infantry successfully contained and defeated repeated German armoured and infantry attacks on the fortress. After the failure of the British attempts to relieve the fortress in May and June 1941 the 9th Division was successful in gradually improving Tobruk's defences through aggressively raiding Axis positions.

Upon the request of the Australian War Cabinet, the bulk of the 9th Division was withdrawn from Tobruk in September and October 1941 with only the 2/13th Battalion remaining in the fortress at the time the garrison was finally relieved in December. The defence of Tobruk cost the 9th Division 3,164 casualties (650 killed, 1,597 wounded and 917 captured).

El Alamein

Syrian interlude

After its withdrawal from Tobruk the 9th Division enjoyed only a brief period of rest in Palestine before being redeployed to northern Syria where, as part of the British 9th Army, it was responsible for guarding the Turkish-Syrian frontier. This deployment was the first time all the elements of the Division had been concentrated in the one area. In addition to its garrison duties, the 9th Division also conducted some much needed training in mobile warfare during its stay in Syria.

While the Australian I Corps, including the 6th and 7th Divisions, was withdrawn to Australia in early 1942 the Australian government agreed to British requests to retain the 9th Division in the Middle East in exchange for an additional American division being sent to Australia. Following the withdrawal of the I Corps the 9th Division was the only Australian Army unit in the Middle East and the last Australian Army unit to see action against the German and Italian armies.

During early 1942 the Axis forces advanced steadily through north west Egypt. It was decided that the Eighth Army should make a stand just over 100km west of Alexandria, at the railway siding of El Alamein, where the coastal plain narrowed between the Mediterranean Sea and the inhospitable Qattara Depression.

On 26 June 1942 the 9th Division was ordered to begin moving from northern Syria to El Alamein. The lead elements of the Division arrived at El Alamein on 6 July and the Division was assigned the most northerly section of the Commonwealth defensive line.

The Axis leader, Erwin Rommel made a major attack on July 1, hoping to dislodge the Allies from the area, take Alexandria, and open the way to Cairo and the Suez Canal. However the Eighth Army had regrouped sufficiently to repel the Axis forces and launch counterattacks.

Before dawn on July 10, as Rommel focused his efforts on the southern flank of the battlefield, the 9th Division attacked the north flank of the enemy positions and captured the strategic high ground around Tel el Eisa. Rommel redirected his forces against them, in a series of intense counterattacks, but was unable to dislodge the Australians.

The final phase of the First Battle of El Alamein was a disaster for the Allies and the 2/28th Battalion in particular: an attempt to capture Sanyet el Miteiriya, known as "Ruin Ridge", on July 26. The operation was part of a complex series of night attacks. The 2/28th suffered significant casualties and vehicle losses in its advance, but achieved its objective. However, the battalion was soon surrounded by German infantry. A planned advance by British tanks failed and German tanks arrived. The 2/28th's positions came under a prolonged and methodical attack by the Axis forces. By the time they surrendered, 65 Australians had been killed. Although the vast majority of the 2/28th had become POWs, 105 members of the battalion remained behind Allied lines and it was subsequently rebuilt.


Structure

Infantry units (with state of origin, where applicable)
Australian 20th Brigade - from 7th Division, 1941.
2/13th Australian Infantry Battalion, New South Wales (NSW)
2/15th Australian Infantry Battalion, Queensland (Qld)
2/17th Australian Infantry Battalion, NSW
Australian 24th Brigade - from 8th Division, 1940
2/25th Australian Infantry Battalion, Qld (to 25th Infantry Brigade, 1940)
2/28th Australian Infantry Battalion, Western Australia (WA)
2/32nd Australian Infantry Battalion, Victoria (Vic.)
2/43rd Australian Infantry Battalion, South Australia (SA)
Australian 25th Brigade - to 7th Div., 1941
Australian 26th Brigade
2/23rd Australian Infantry Battalion, Vic.
2/24th Australian Infantry Battalion, Vic.
2/32nd Australian Infantry Battalion, Victoria (Vic.) (to 24th Brigade, 1940)
2/48th Australian Infantry Battalion, SA
Australian 27th Brigade - to 8th Div., 1941
Artillery regiments
2/7th Field Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery
2/8th Field Regiment, RAA
2/12th Field Regiment, RAA (ex 2/2nd Medium Reg., Corps Artillery)
2/3rd Anti-Tank Regiment, RAA (from 8th Div., 194?)
Other units
2/2th Australian Machine-Gun Regiment (Vic.)
2/3rd Australian Pioneer Battalion
9th Australian Divisional Cavalry (from 8th Div., 1941)
Engineer companies
2/3rd Field Company, Royal Australian Engineers, Tasmania/WA/SA (from 6th Div., 194?)
2/13th Field Company, RAE, Qld (ex 2/1st Field Park Company)
2/7th Field Company, RAE, Qld (ex Corps Troops)
2/4th Field Park Company, RAE, WA (ex 8th Division)


----------------
2/3rd Pioneer Battalion

The 2/3rd Pioneer Battalion was raised in May 1940 at Glenfield, near Liverpool, with men mainly from the Sydney area. The battalion did its initial training at Glenfield, before moving to Cowra in September for further training. In March 1941 the 2/3rd moved to Darwin, where it became attached to elements of the 7th Division. In September the pioneers returned to Sydney and in November left Sydney as part of a convey going to the Middle East. The 2/3rd sailed on the Queen Mary, the same ship that brought them home 14 months later.

The battalion arrived in Egypt in the third week of November and travelled by train through Palestine, spending Christmas in Qastina. In January 1942 units from the 7th Division began returning to Australia. However, the 2/3rd moved to Syria and became attached to the 9th Division. The 2/3rd fought alongside the 9th Division for the rest of the war.

By July 1942 the battle in North Africa became critical for the British Eighth Army, with German and Italian forces reaching El Alamein in Egypt, about seventy miles from Alexandria. The 9th Division was rushed from Syria to the Alamein area and held the northern sector for almost four months as the Eighth Army reinforced for an offensive under new a commander.

The 2/3rd moved to Bir Abu Shinena, part of the "Alamein box", at the start of August and became attached to the 24th Brigade. The pioneers replaced the 2/28th Infantry Battalion, which had suffered heavy casualties, and went into reserve. They helped defend the area and improve the defences before the Allied counter-attack in October.

The battalion played a prominent role in the heavy fighting around areas known as the "Saucer" and the "Blockhouse". The operation was carried out at the end of October by two battalions from the 26th Brigade, a battalion from the 24th Brigade, three companies from the 2/3rd Pioneer Battalion, and a number of British tanks. The 2/3rd was directed to attack 3,000 yards directly north from the Saucer and take up a blocking position in the dunes near the coast. In the early hours of 30 October the pioneers had travelled only halfway when they were blocked by supporting artillery bombardment. Forced to leave their heavy weapons and ammunition behind in trucks, the pioneers continued on. At the break of dawn, however, they found themselves in another saucer, subject to enemy fire from three sides. But they had achieved their goal and virtually sealed-off the enemy in the coastal salient.

For the next two days the Australians defended their exposed positions. Many of their front positions were either captured or ground down by repeated German attacks. In the main Saucer, however, the Germans had less success, even though the eastern part of the Australian defence was pushed back south of the railway line. Fighting continued for the next couple of days and German forces were worn down. By 5 November Axis forces were falling back.

Between August and November the battalion suffered 28 men killed and 46 captured. Alamein was a vital, although bloody, success for the Allies and one of the war's turning points. The 9th Division, however, was recalled to Australia to face a new enemy - the Japanese. The 2/3rd returned to Australia in early 1943.

After leave, the battalion underwent jungle training on the Atherton Tablelands in Queensland but would soon return to action. As part of the move to capture the Japanese base at Lae the 9th Division landed at Red Beach, north-west of the area, in September. Following Lae's capture, the Australians made another landing at Scarlet Beach, near Finschhafen. The 2/3rd rejoined the division and in October participated in the successful defence of Scarlet Beach when the Japanese counter-attacked. When the fighting was over, the pioneer's reverted to their engineering role, working on the Satelburg Road and other locations on New Guinea's northern coast supporting the Huon Peninsula campaign.

The 2/3rd returned to Australia in March 1944, disembarking in Brisbane. After leave, the battalion reformed at Ravenshoe in May and did not go into action again until the final months of the war.

Devised towards the end of the war, the OBOE operations were designed to reoccupy areas of the Netherlands East Indies with the 9th and 7th Divisions making amphibious landings on Borneo. The 9th Division landed on Tarakan in May and on Labuan Island and Brunei Bay in June. The 7th Division land at Balikpapan in July.

In order to support the landing at Tarakan, Australian troops first landed on Sadau. A detachment from the 2/3rd worked as gun crews on the landing craft that took the men ashore. When the 26th Brigade landed on Tarakan, the pioneers were assigned to the 2nd Beach Group. On 4 May the battalion relieved the 2/23rd Infantry Battalion and began patrolling the Tarakan township and around the Pamoesian oilfield. The next day they began clearing the Japanese from high ground to the east of the town.

On 5 May two companies from the 2/3rd advanced eastward along John's Track and found two Japanese positions - called the "Helen" and the "Sadie" - on each side. The positions were overcome with persistent attacks from the pioneers supported by heavy artillery, naval concentrations, and napalm air strikes. They were finally occupied on 14 May. At the same time elements of the pioneers reached the coast and captured the Japanese defences. Corporal John Bernard Mackey was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for his involvement in the fight for the Helen.

By the end of June the fighting was over on Tarakan and Japan surrendered in August. The 2/3rd gradually thinned, as men were discharged or transferred. In January 1946 the remaining troops returned to Australia and the battalion was disbanded shortly after.
----------------

Order of Battle
Australian Imperial Force
9th Australian Divsion
8 December 1941

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Re: Австралия - сухопутные силы

Postby Igor Kulakov » August 27th, 2012, 9:46 am

1 мотопехотная бригада

(по некоторым данным, соединение ранее наз-ся 1-й кав. бригадой)

на дек 41

ком-е Брисбен
5 мото пех бат-н Gympie
11 мото пех бат-н Toowoomba
14 мото пулем бат-н Toowoomba
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Re: Австралия - сухопутные силы

Postby Igor Kulakov » August 27th, 2012, 9:47 am

3 пехотная бригада


During World War Two the Brigade participated in the defence of Darwin until it was disbanded in April 1944.


на дек41

ком-е Keswich

10 пех бат-н Adelaide
27 пех бат-н Keswich
43 пех бат-н Adelaide
48 пех бат-н Adelaide
13 арт бат-н Adelaide (прим:. на дек41 - в пути в Порт-Морсби)
3 Fld инж рота Keswich
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