page_title: New Guinea Volunteer Rifles
section_title: Initial preparations
hierarchical_section_title: New Guinea Volunteer Rifles / History / Second World War / Initial preparations
caption_attribution_description: English: AWM description: Outdoors portrait of the officers of the New Guinea Volunteer Rifles (NGVR). Identified in the back row is: (fourth from the left) NG2033 Lieutenant (Lt) John Alexander Sutherland; (third from the right) NGX344 Lt William (Bill) McDonald; (far right) NG2296 Lt Robert Phillips. Seated in the front row are (from left): NX151701 (N280518) Captain (Capt) Hugh Lyon; NGX265 Capt Dr Noel McKenna; NGX455 Major (Maj) William Manning Edwards, commanding officer of the NGVR; NGX350 Maj Edmund Jenyns; NGX433 Capt Padre Vernon Sherwin. Capt McKenna was accidentally killed in New Guinea on the 30 September 1943, Lt McDonald died of disease on 20 July 1944. The men of the NGVR were Australian residents of Papua New Guinea who were authorised by the Australian government to raise a local volunteer rifle brigade.
context_page_description: The New Guinea Volunteer Rifles was an infantry battalion of the Australian Army. It was initially raised as a unit of the Militia from white Australian and European expatriates in New Guinea upon the outbreak of the Second World War in 1939, before being activated for full-time service following the Japanese landings in early 1942. NGVR personnel then helped rescue survivors of Lark Force from Rabaul in February and March 1942. Between March and May, the NGVR monitored the Japanese bases which had been established in the Huon Gulf region, being the only Allied force in the area until the arrival of Kanga Force at Wau in May. The battalion subsequently established observation posts overlooking the main approaches and reported on Japanese movements.
  Later, it inflicted significant casualties on the Japanese in a series of raids, and led them to believe that they faced a much larger opposing force. On 29 June, the NGVR and the newly arrived 2/5th Independent Company carried out a highly successful attack on the Japanese garrison in Salamaua, killing at least 113 men.
context_section_description: On 21 December 1939, Major Ross Field, a former officer in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) and Director of Public Works at Rabaul, took over command of the unit. A headquarters was subsequently established at Rabaul, while sub-units were located at Wau, Salamaua, Lae and Madang. In the event of war the NGVR would be dispersed at strategic points on the mainland and the islands of the territory. If mobilised, the NGVR would come under the operational command of the 8th Military District which was in the process of being raised under the command of Major General Basil Morris. One of the unit's first tasks was to provide an armed escort for enemy aliens, mostly Germans and Austrians, who were being deported to Australia by ship to be interned. Contingents departed on 29 September 1939, 9 November 1939 and 31 May 1940, with each escort party consisting of a non-commissioned officer and six private soldiers. Meanwhile, on 12 December the compulsory evacuation of all European women and children in Papua and New Guinea was ordered. In June 1940 the NGVR's establishment was increased to 23 officers and 482 other ranks, although this proved difficult to achieve due to the demands of recruitment for overseas service with the Second Australian Imperial Force, which resulted in a large turn-over of men. At this time contingency plans for the defence of Papua and New Guinea envisioned the deployment of Australian forces to Rabaul and Port Moresby, while the defence of Lae and Salamaua would be left to the NGVR.
  The atmosphere in the battalion in the early days was one of enthusiasm, with many of the older members taking a leading role. In April and June two regular instructors from the Australian Instructional Corps were sent to Rabaul in order to improve the standard of training in the unit. By July 1940 it was spread thin, with an authorized strength of 226 men based at Rabaul, 151 at Wau, 85 at Bulolo, 39 at Salamaua and 19 at Madang, for a total establishment of 520. As the war with Germany and Italy continued in Europe, North Africa and the Middle East, Australian fears of Japanese intentions in Pacific grew. Yet with the bulk of Australian military and naval forces in the Middle East, defensive preparations remained limited. Two brigades from the 8th Division were subsequently dispatched to Singapore and then Malaya in February 1941, while a Militia battalion would be stationed between Port Moresby and Thursday Island, an AIF battalion would garrison Rabaul on New Britain, and the 8th Division's third brigade – less the battalion at Rabaul – would be dispersed piecemeal in Timor and Ambon. In July 1941 the 1st Independent Company was deployed to Kavieng on New Ireland in order to protect the airfield, while sections were sent to Namatanai in central New Ireland, Vila in the New Hebrides, Tulagi on Guadalcanal, Buka Passage in Bougainville, and Lorengau on Manus Island to act as observers. In early 1941 volcanic activity in the Rabaul area forced the government to move its administration to Lae, and NGVR's headquarters also moved at this time.
caption: NGVR officers, 1940
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