On its way home, the battalion – along with the 16th Brigade and the rest of the 17th Brigade – was landed on Ceylon due to the perceived threat of a Japanese invasion there. The battalion remained there for five months, constructing defences and conducting jungle training at various locations including Lake Koggala, Weligama, Matara, Tangalle and Hambantota. After the threat of invasion passed, the battalion eventually returned to Melbourne on the transport HMT "Athlone Castle", arriving in early August 1942, at the height of the fighting along the Kokoda Track in Papua.