page_title: 2/16th Battalion (Australia)
section_title: New Guinea Campaigns
hierarchical_section_title: 2/16th Battalion (Australia) / History / New Guinea Campaigns
caption_attribution_description: English: Shaggy Ridge, New Guinea. December 27, 1943. Troops of the 2/16th Australian Infantry Battalion, watch aircraft bombarding The Pimple prior to their attack on Japanese positions. The personnel pictured include: Pte J. B. Knight, Pte O.J. Mortimer, Pte W. Rees, Pte W. E. Brandis, Pte E. J. Gooding, Capt. V. E. C. Anderson, Lt J. Lee, Sgt E. S. Holland.
context_page_description: The 2/16th Battalion was an infantry battalion of the Australian Army, serving during World War II. Attached to the 21st Brigade that was assigned to the 7th Division, the 2/16th was raised in 1940 as part of the Second Australian Imperial Force from volunteers drawn mainly from the state of Western Australia. After training in Australia, the battalion was deployed to the Middle East where it undertook defensive duties along the Egyptian–Libyan border in early 1941 before taking part in the Syria–Lebanon campaign, fighting against Vichy French forces in June and July. At the conclusion of the campaign, the 2/16th remained in Lebanon, contributing to the Allied occupation force there, before returning to Australia in early 1942 following Japan's entry into the war. In August 1942, they were committed to the fighting along the Kokoda Track and then later fought around Buna and Gona. After a period of rest and reorganisation in Australia, the battalion fought around Lae and then took part in the Finisterre Range campaign in 1943–44. Its final campaign of the war came in Borneo in July 1945. At the end of the war, the 2/16th were disbanded in January 1946.
context_section_description: By early 1942, the Japanese had entered the war, and the Australian government decided to bring some of its troops from the Middle East back to Australia to bolster its defences. The 2/16th embarked at the end of January 1942, and returned to Australia, landing at Adelaide in March 1942 after a brief stopover in Fremantle. A period of reorganisation followed as they were prepared for the hardships of jungle warfare, during which time Potts handed over command of the battalion to Lieutenant Colonel Albert Caro; however, the situation in the Pacific at the time was desperate for the Australians, following Japanese victories in Malaya, Singapore, Rabaul and Ambon, and fighting on the Kokoda Track, and so the 2nd AIF troops returning from the Middle East had very little time to prepare for their next campaign. The 2/16th arrived in New Guinea, landing in Port Moresby in mid-August 1942. Later that month it was committed to the battle, and joined the fighting retreat down the Kokoda Track, being rushed into the line around Alola to fill a gap after the 53rd Battalion fell back from Isurava. At the Battle of Mission Ridge in early September it suffered heavy casualties after being encircled by the Japanese and conducting a fighting withdrawal to Imita Ridge. Following its relief in the middle of September, the battalion's surviving members were joined with those from the 2/14th Battalion to form a composite unit temporarily, as the battalion suffered so many casualties in the retreat that it was down to an effective strength of about 200 men; the 2/14th had also suffered heavily.
  As the tide of the campaign along the Kokoda Track turned towards the Australians, the Japanese withdrew north towards their beachheads around Buna and Gona, with the Australians in pursuit. A brief period of rest and reorganisation followed for the 2/16th during this time, as they were re-constituted before being committed to the Battle of Buna–Gona in November 1942. Despite the arrival of reinforcements, the battalion could only provide two or its four rifle companies to the fighting, and by early January it was withdrawn, with a strength of only 56 men.
  The battalion was subsequently rebuilt on the Atherton Tablelands. During this time, the battalion received over 600 reinforcements from the 16th Motor Regiment; it also received a new commanding officer in Lieutenant Colonel Frank Sublet, who would subsequently command the battalion for the remainder of the war. In August 1943, the battalion deployed to New Guinea again for its second campaign against the Japanese. Staging out of Port Moresby, in early September the 7th Division was flown into Nadzab, and the 2/16th supported operations to capture Lae. After this, it was air transported to Kaiapit, where from late September it took part in the advance up the Markham Valley towards Dumpu. As the division pushed through the Ramu Valley and then moved into the Finisterre Range, the 2/16th undertook a series of patrols and advances, but experienced only minor actions. These culminated in a significant action around Shaggy Ridge on 27–28 December, when it conducted an assault on a position dubbed "The Pimple". In January 1944, at the conclusion of the campaign, the battalion was withdrawn to Port Moresby, and returned to Australia in late March.
caption: Troops of the 2/16th Infantry Battalion watch aircraft bombing Japanese positions prior to their attack on "The Pimple", Shaggy Ridge, New Guinea.
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