In Darwin, the brigade defended against a possible Japanese invasion. In April 1942, the 2/11th Battalion was detached from the brigade and sent to its home state of Western Australia; its place in the brigade was taken by a Militia unit, the &lt;a href="23rd/21st%20Battalion%20%28Australia%29"&gt;23rd/21st Battalion&lt;/a&gt;, which had been raised in Victoria in May 1942; the 2/11th Battalion rejoined the brigade in July 1943. While the 16th and 17th brigades from the 6th Division took part in some of the early campaigns in the Pacific, including the Kokoda Track campaign and the Salamaua–Lae campaign, the 19th Brigade remained in Australia and had to wait three-and-a-half years before returning to action. In June 1943, the brigade was relieved around Darwin by the 12th Brigade and moved to the Atherton Tablelands in Queensland and amphibious training was undertaken in November. In late 1944, the brigade was committed to the Aitape–Wewak campaign in New Guinea, as the Australians relieved US forces around Aitape.