The "Orcades", a fast transport capable of 26 knots, set sail for Colombo before even the battalion's baggage could be brought on board. On 8 February 1942, the ship reached its intermediate destination from where it was escorted by the cruiser HMS "Dorsetshire". As the situation in the Pacific worsened for the Allies – Singapore had fallen in early February and the Japanese were steadily advancing through the Netherlands East Indies – the Allies made the decision to hastily make a stand. The "Orcades" reached Oosthaven, in Sumatra, on 15 February, and the troops from "Orcades" were ferried ashore on the tanker "Van Spillsbergen", where they were grouped together as "Boost Force" under orders to take up the defence of the Palembang airfields and providing protection to civilians as they were evacuated. Missing many of their weapons, the troops were re-equipped with rifles from the "Orcades"s armoury. However, shortly after their arrival, they were ordered to re-embark on the tanker, which eventually caught up with "Orcades" and transferred its personnel for the remainder of the journey to Batavia. There, fresh orders reached them. The units aboard the "Orcades" (the &lt;a href="2/2nd%20Pioneer%20Battalion%20%28Australia%29"&gt;2/2nd Pioneers&lt;/a&gt;, an engineer field company, an anti-aircraft regiment as well as transport and medical personnel) were ordered to form an ad hoc force along with a squadron from the British 3rd The King's Own Hussars and an artillery battery from the US 131st Field Artillery Regiment. This force, under Blackburn who was promoted to brigadier, came to be known as "Blackforce", with headquarters being established at Batavia. In Blackburn's stead, the 'D' Company commander, Major Edward Lyneham, was promoted to take over command of the battalion.