page_title: Second Australian Imperial Force in the United Kingdom
section_title: Arrival in the UK
hierarchical_section_title: Second Australian Imperial Force in the United Kingdom / Combat forces / Arrival in the UK
caption_attribution_description: English: The arrival of the 2nd AIF in England. A large group of Australian soldiers waiting on a wharf and listening to a band playing. These troops were transported to England aboard the converted liner Queen Mary, which was too large to tie up to the docks at Gourock. Instead, Queen Mary anchored off shore in the Clyde Estuary and the Australian troops were brought to shore in smaller vessels, one of which, a ferry named Queen Mary II, is visible background right.
context_page_description: Elements of the Second Australian Imperial Force were located in the United Kingdom throughout World War II. For most of the war these comprised only a small number of liaison officers. However, between June and December 1940 around 8,000 Australian soldiers organised into two infantry brigades and supporting units were stationed in the country. Several small engineer units were also sent to the UK, and up to 600 forestry troops were active there between July 1940 and mid-1943. A prisoner of war repatriation unit arrived in the UK in August 1944, and over 5,600 released AIF prisoners eventually passed through the country. Following the war small numbers of Australian soldiers formed part of a military cricket team which toured England, and the Army contributed most members of the Australian contingent to the June 1946 victory parade in London.
  Although the UK had accommodated the main rear base for the First Australian Imperial Force during most of World War I, the deployment during 1940 was the only time significant numbers of Australian combat soldiers were stationed in the country during World War II.
context_section_description: In November 1939, the Australian War Cabinet agreed to a request from the British Government for the 6th Division, the AIF's first combat formation, to be sent from Australia to the Middle East to complete its training. If the security situation in the Middle East permitted, it was intended to transfer the AIF to either the UK or France once its training was complete to receive its equipment. When fully trained and equipped, the AIF was to become part of the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in France.
  The first of the division's three brigades to deploy, the 16th, sailed from Fremantle, Western Australia on 20 January 1940 and arrived in Egypt on 12 February. In late April, the British Government became concerned that Italy was about to enter the war alongside Germany following the successful German invasion of Norway. At this time, the two convoys transporting the 6th Division's other brigades to the Middle East were en route. Convoy US 2, which was transporting the 17th Brigade, was in the Indian Ocean and Convoy US 3 was off the Australian coast. Convoy US 3 was carrying 8,000 Australian soldiers assigned to the 18th Brigade and other units as well as 6,000 New Zealanders.
  On 1 May, Anthony Eden, the British Secretary of State for Dominion Affairs, sent the Australian Government a cable proposing that both convoys be diverted to the UK. Eden justified his proposal on the grounds of the undesirability of sending convoys past Italian naval bases in the Red Sea due to the risk of attack, and the possibility of it becoming difficult to send supplies from the UK to equip units in the Middle East. In response, the Australian Government directed that Convoy US 2 be held at Colombo and US 3 at Fremantle until it received advice on the war situation from the British and Australian Chiefs of Staff. The government had a strong preference for the AIF to be concentrated in a single location, so it could fight under Australian command. The Australian Chiefs of Staff initially supported the proposal to send both convoys to the UK on the grounds that it would result in the brigades being deployed to the main theatre of war, would ease the problems associated with equipping these units and would encourage volunteers for another AIF division which was being formed at the time. However, on 4 May the British Chiefs of Staff recommended that both convoys proceed to the Middle East. The Australian Chiefs of Staff subsequently endorsed this position. As a result, on 8 May the Australian Government directed the convoys to continue to the Middle East. Convoy US 2 arrived in Egypt on 18 May.
  Convoy US 3's destination changed following the German invasion of France on 10 May 1940, which further increased the probability that Italy would enter the war. On 15 May, the British Government proposed again that Convoy US 3 be diverted to the UK. The Australian Chiefs of Staff endorsed this proposal, but the War Cabinet remained reluctant to split the AIF. Instead, the War Cabinet asked whether the troops could be sent to either South Africa or North-West India to complete their training before joining the 6th Division in Egypt. Several ministers believed that the British Government was seeking to divide the AIF into separate elements which would operate under direct British command. After being advised by the British Government that accommodation and equipment for the troops were not likely to be available in India or South Africa, the War Cabinet agreed on 19 May for Convoy US 3 to proceed to the UK. At this time the Allied forces in France were rapidly retreating. The New Zealand Government had agreed in April for its soldiers on Convoy US 3 to be sent to the UK in the event that the ships were unable to enter the Red Sea.
  On 4 June, the Chief of the Australian General Staff, General Brudenell White, recommended to the War Cabinet that the 6th Division be immediately transferred from the Middle East to Marseilles in France to complete its preparations for combat before entering the fighting there. Most elements of the BEF were being evacuated from 
caption: Australian soldiers shortly after disembarking at Gourock in June 1940
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