page_title: 2/1st Machine Gun Battalion (Australia)
section_title: New Guinea and Borneo
hierarchical_section_title: 2/1st Machine Gun Battalion (Australia) / History / New Guinea and Borneo
caption_attribution_description: English: Australian soldiers from 'A' Company, 2/1st Machine Gun Battalion rest at Skindewai, on the march from Bulolo to Nassau Bay, August 1943
context_page_description: The 2/1st Machine Gun Battalion was a battalion of the Australian Army that was raised for service during World War II as part of the 6th Division. When it was formed on 14 December 1939, its component companies were spread across several Australian states, but it was later concentrated at Ingleburn, New South Wales, where it completed basic training in the early months of the war. In mid-1940, the battalion embarked for overseas, bound initially for the Middle East, but following the Fall of France it was diverted to the United Kingdom. Along with a larger contingent of Australians, it helped to bolster the island's garrison, undertaking defensive duties during a period when it was expected that the Germans might launch a cross-Channel invasion.
  The battalion was transferred to the Middle East in late 1940, after the threat of invasion had passed. It underwent further training in Egypt, before taking part in fighting against the Germans in Greece and on Crete in mid-1941. Having lost most of its equipment and suffering heavy casualties, the 2/1st was rebuilt in Palestine before undertaking garrison duties in Syria in 1941–1942.
context_section_description: Following the battalion's arrival in Adelaide, the men were billeted by locals in the city's suburbs while leave drafts were despatched throughout April. In early May, the 2/1st was reconstituted at Ingleburn, where it remained until June 1942, when the order came to move to Queensland. Moving up the coast via train, the battalion established a camp near Peachester, in the Sunshine Coast hinterland. Jungle training was undertaken there until September, when the 2/1st moved to another camp closer to the coast at Deception Bay. At the end of October, 'A' and 'B' Companies embarked in Brisbane, bound for New Guinea, to reinforce the troops fighting around Buna; en route they were diverted to Townsville, where they were unloaded. 'B' Company later re-embarked and arrived in Port Moresby in late November on the transport Both, before moving to Oro Bay, where it was deployed defensively around the US base and the mission at Eroro. 'A' Company also deployed in December, and the following month also moved to Oro Bay. The rest of the battalion remained at Deception Bay in Queensland and did not link up with the other companies until May 1943, landing in Port Moresby from the Duntroon. In the intervening period, the two deployed companies were temporarily detached to the Militia 7th Machine Gun Battalion, and 'A' Company went into action in the Pacific for the first time, fighting around Wau, before marching to Nassau Bay to support the 3rd Division during the Salamaua–Lae campaign.
  The battalion was withdrawn back to Australia in early 1944 for rest and reorganisation. During this period it was stationed at Tenterfield, where the soldiers experienced a bitterly cold winter, before moving to Petrie and then Kiari on the Atherton Tablelands. The battalion was reorganised to conform with the requirements of the jungle divisional establishment, and as a result its vehicles were changed to include jeeps and trailers, instead of trucks, which were considered impractical in the jungle. A change of commanding officer also took place in this time, with Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Haupt – who had previously served as battalion second-in-command before leaving to take over command of the 62nd Battalion in January 1943 – returning to take over from Fidock. A long period of training, which included courses in amphibious warfare and various jungle exercises followed, as the focus of the fighting in the Pacific shifted away from Australian forces towards the US military. Consequently, it was not until close to the end of the war that the battalion went into action again. Before this, the battalion contributed to an Australian contingent that was sent to India to lecture British Army officers on the lessons of jungle warfare.
  In May 1945, the battalion was transported to Morotai Island in preparation for Operation Oboe, the recapture of Borneo and the Netherlands East Indies. The 2/1st was assigned to support the 7th Division's landing on Balikpapan in July. Now largely being used as a divisional asset, the battalion provided a company to each of the division's component brigades – the 18th, 21st and 25th – while one company remained in reserve with the headquarters. Coming ashore aboard several landing craft, the two companies taking part in the initial assault – 'B' and 'D' – helped to secure the high ground overlooking the beachhead, while 'C' Company remained a floating reserve along with the 25th Brigade. The battalion's reserve company, 'A' Company, and headquarters element came ashore in a later wave to set up a secure base. During the subsequent advance inland, the battalion's main focus was progressing through what the Australians dubbed the "Vasey Highway", which ran east–west along the island's southern shore, as the Australians fought to take the oil pipeline and the airfield at Manggar, and the "Milford Highway", which ran north–south through the centre into the more mountainous hinterland. During the fighting on Borneo, the 2/1st lost 17 men killed or wounded.
  Following the conclusion of hostilities, the battalion's personnel were
caption: Members of 'A' Company, 2/1st Machine Gun Battalion, rest at Skindewai during the march from Bulolo to Nassau Bay, 1943
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