Following the completion of its training, the company was deployed to New Guinea in late 1942, landing at Port Moresby. From there it was flown to Wau in January 1943, where it was used to reinforce elements of the 6th Division and units Kanga Force during the Salamaua–Lae campaign. Between January and April, the company operated in conjunction with &lt;a href="2/3rd%20Independent%20Company%20%28Australia%29"&gt;2/3rd&lt;/a&gt; and &lt;a href="2/5th%20Independent%20Company%20%28Australia%29"&gt;2/5th&lt;/a&gt; Independent Companies, performing mainly a traditional infantry role. During this time they conducted a number of patrols and were involved in a very successful ambush on a large force of Japanese, resulting in a high number of enemy casualties. Later, they were directly involved with the defence of Wau, before helping to push the Japanese back to Mubo, where they conducted small scale harassment raids. The 2/7th's commanding officer, Major Thomas MacAdie, was awarded a Distinguished Service Order for his gallantry and leadership during this phase of the campaign.