page_title: 2/43rd Battalion (Australia)
section_title: North Africa and the Middle East
hierarchical_section_title: 2/43rd Battalion (Australia) / History / North Africa and the Middle East
caption_attribution_description: English: Bren carriers from the Australian 2/43rd Infantry Battalion on manoeuvres at Homs, Syria, June 1942
context_page_description: The 2/43rd Battalion was an infantry battalion of the Australian Army. Raised in July 1940 in South Australia as part of the 24th Brigade, the battalion was initially part of the 8th Division, until the 24th Brigade was re-allocated to the 9th Division in late 1940. It was with this formation that the 2/43rd saw service in the Middle East in 1941–1942, taking part in the fighting at Tobruk and in the First and Second Battles of El Alamein. It also undertook garrison duties in Syria, before returning to Australia early in 1943 to fight against the Japanese in the Pacific.
  In 1943–1944, after re-organisation and training to prepare for jungle warfare, the 2/43rd fought in New Guinea, as part of operations to capture Lae and secure the Huon Peninsula. After returning to Australia in early 1944, a long period of training followed on the Atherton Tablelands in Queensland, before the battalion undertook its final campaign of the war, taking part in Allied operations to re-take Borneo from the Japanese in June 1945. Following the end of the war, the battalion was disbanded in February 1946. One member of the battalion, Private Tom Starcevich, was awarded the Victoria Cross.
context_section_description: Escorted by the cruiser HMAS Canberra, the Mauretania proceeded along the southern Australian coast as part of a convoy of four other troopships. Reaching Fremantle, Western Australia, on 3 January 1941, a brief shore leave was granted before the convoy set sail across the Indian Ocean. From there, the convoy berthed at Colombo in Ceylon, where further shore leave was granted while arrangements were made to transfer the battalion to another ship, the Nevasa, for the remainder of the journey to Port Tewfik in Egypt, where it disembarked on 2 February 1941. From there, the battalion moved by rail to Palestine, where the 9th Division was attempting to make good its equipment and training deficiencies while the more experienced divisions – the 6th and 7th Divisions – led the Australian Army's efforts in Libya and later Greece. The 2/43rd subsequently moved into camp at Khasa, linking up with another South Australian battalion, the 2/27th, which had prepared the camp for their arrival.
  In early February, acclimatisation training was conducted until the battalion's heavy equipment arrived in camp, including Bren carriers and trucks, when section level and platoon tactical training began. This increased in complexity and progressed to company-level exercises, culminating in battalion offensive manoeuvres. Leave was granted for the soldiers to visit Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. This ceased mid-March, when the battalion was ordered to cross the Suez Canal and take up positions west of the port of Tobruk to complete training prior to relieving the 6th Division in the desert. As British troops advanced west, pushing the Italians back through Libya during Operation Compass, plans were made for the 9th Division to move forward. In the end, only part of the division advanced past Tobruk and, due to lack of transport, the 24th Brigade garrisoned the port itself. In early April the advance turned into a withdrawal as Axis forces, bolstered by the arrival of the Afrika Korps, which had landed around Tripoli, launched a determined counter-attack. The 9th Division, along with the Australian 18th Brigade, from the 7th Division, withdrew intact to Tobruk, and within a week the advancing Axis forces had placed the strategic port under siege. The 2/43rd would remain there, manning defences, mounting patrols and conducting raids, for the next six months.
  The battalion's most significant action around Tobruk came on 3 August, when 'A' and 'B' Companies attacked a German outpost on the right flank of the "Salient", designated "R7" by the Allied operational staff. The attack was part of an attempt to reduce the German-held Salient, which had developed in the line south-west of Bianca. In conjunction with the 2/43rd's attack, the 2/28th Battalion attacked the left flank around posts "S6" and "S7" from the north. Heavy fighting around R7 resulted in 100 Australian casualties, the majority being borne by 'B' Company, and the fighting ended in the Australian assault being repulsed followed by a temporary truce for both sides to collect casualties. During the truce, German sappers led the Australian stretcher bearers through the German-laid minefields. Finally, in October, the decision was made to withdraw the Australian garrison from Tobruk by sea. By this time, the 2/43rd was holding the Bardia Road sector, and after two successful raids on Italian positions, which resulted in around 75 Italian casualties, the battalion was withdrawn. As part of the evacuation, the 2/43rd was taken aboard the Australian destroyer HMAS Nizam and the Royal Navy's HMS Latona on 17 October 1941. The Australians were replaced by British troops from the 70th Division, with the 2/43rd handing over to troops from the Durham Light Infantry. Casualties for the battalion during the siege of Tobruk amounted to 38 killed in action, 13 died of wounds, 156 wounded, and four captured.
  Following its evacuation from Tobruk, the 2/43rd was landed in Alexandria, after which it moved by buses to Amiriya and then by train, crossing the Suez at Kantara, and arriving in camp at Kilo 89 in Palest
caption: 2/43rd Bren carriers on manoeuvre in Syria, June 1942
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