In March 1942, the 6th Brigade was dispatched to undertake garrison duties in Western Australia, at which time the 48th Battalion was replaced by the 14th Battalion. They remained there until January 1943, when the brigade returned to Seymour, Victoria, for a period of leave prior to deployment to the Northern Territory to replace the 3rd Brigade. The plans to send the brigade to Darwin were cancelled, though, and instead it moved to Woodford, Queensland. In July 1943, consisting of the &lt;a href="14th/32nd%20Battalion%20%28Australia%29"&gt;14th/32nd&lt;/a&gt;, 19th and 36th Battalions, it was sent to New Guinea. Based in Buna, in Papua, they carried out garrison duties as well as patrols around the areas surrounding Milne and Nassu Bay. In May 1944, they moved to Lae. In June they were sent to Buolo for a rest, before returning to Lae in September where they were transferred from the 4th Division to the 5th Division and the decision was made to send them to New Britain.