During World War II, the 9th Battalion, along with the rest of the 7th Brigade was sent to New Guinea to help stem the tide of the Japanese advance. At the Battle of Milne Bay a number of university men played an instrumental part in the first major Allied land victory in the Pacific. One of these was Mahoney who served as the brigade major and was mentioned in despatches, while Captain Jack Kelly served as adjutant of the 9th Battalion and Captain Murray Brown served in the &lt;a href="2/10th%20Battalion%20%28Australia%29"&gt;2/10th Battalion&lt;/a&gt;. Lieutenant Ron Dark, the first man to gain a commission through the university detachment, also served along the Kokoda Track with the &lt;a href="2/33rd%20Battalion%20%28Australia%29"&gt;2/33rd&lt;/a&gt;. Later in the war, the 9th Battalion took part in the Bougainville campaign in 1944–45 where it took part in significant actions at Pearl Ridge, Artillery Ridge and along the Numa Numa Trail. In all, throughout the war, a total of 120 men who had previously served in the university detachment were killed. Their names were later inscribed upon the Forgan Smith Building in the university grounds.