2 / 5th Commando Squadron ( Australia ) The 2 / 5th Commando Squadron was one of twelve independent companies and or commando squadrons of the Australian Army formed for service during World War II . Initially formed in 1942 as the 2 / 5th Independent Company , the 2 / 5th served in New Guinea , taking part in a major commando raid on Salamaua in June 1942 . It was later withdrawn from New Guinea and reformed as the 2 / 5th Cavalry ( Commando ) Squadron , as part of the 2 / 7th Cavalry ( Commando ) Regiment which saw service in Borneo in 1945 . It was disbanded in early 1946 . History . Formation 1942 . In February 1941 , Lieutenant - Colonel J . C . Mawhood , a British officer , arrived in Australia and established No . 7 Infantry Training Centre at Wilsons Promontory , Victoria , Australia . As a part of its wartime expansion , the Australian Army had originally intended to field four Independent Companies , trained to a high standard in irregular warfare for use in the sabotage and reconnaissance roles . The terrain surrounding the centre consisted of a number of high rugged mountains , swift streams and swamps and it was felt that this was ideal for training soldiers in the art of irregular warfare . The health and training of the trainees was affected by the long periods of wet weather , however , despite the hardships experienced by the trainees by October 1941 , three companies ( 1st , 2nd and 3rd Independent Companies ) had already been trained . Following Japan ' s entry into the war , the training centre re - opened as the Guerilla Warfare School . In January 1942 , volunteers from all branches of the Army were called for and began assembling at the school , where they were put through a rigorous six week course . In March 1942 , once sufficient numbers had completed the course , the 2 / 5th Independent Company was formed . At the time , the company consisted of 17 officers and 256 other ranks and was commanded by a major . It was divided into a company headquarters , with attached engineer , signals , transport and medical sections and three infantry platoons , each under a captain , each consisting of three sections that were under the command of a lieutenant . Deployment to New Guinea 1942 – 43 . On 13 April 1942 the Company departed Townsville , Queensland on the SS " Taroona " commanded by Major T . P . Kneen and was " very heavily armed " . They arrived in Port Moresby , New Guinea on the 17th , during an air raid . They were deployed on 24 May to Wau , in a valley high inland from Lae and Salamaua . They were part of Kanga Force commanded by the controversial Colonel N . L . Fleay , that consisted of the 2 / 5th , the New Guinea Volunteer Rifles ( NGVR ) and a platoon from 1st Independent Company and were to observe the Japanese at Lae and Salamaua . They were the first Allied force in World War II to be flown into action as a complete unit . Despite appalling conditions , enduring soaking rain , pests , diseases , lack of supplies food and medication , they harassed the Japanese in the area from the Markham to the Bitol rivers for one year . On 29 June 1942 , the Company launched a raid on a Japanese aerodrome in Salamaua , the first Allied attack on Japanese land forces anywhere . They were led by Major Paul Kneen and Captain Norman Winning , after initial careful reconnaissance by Sergeant Jim McAdam ' s NGVR scouts . Captain Winning planned the assault with Captain Umphelby of the NGVR . The raid was estimated to have killed over 120 Japanese with only three Australians wounded . A simultaneous attack on Heath ' s Plantation was not as successful as the element of surprise had been lost , and Major Kneen was killed in action . Following the raid , the Japanese sent patrols of up to 90 men into the foothills , destroying the camp at Butu . They also sent reinforcements from their garrison at Lae to Kela village . In an October raid on Mubo , to prevent the Japanese attacking Wau , Lieutenant Bill Drysdale was wounded by a booby trap . The Japanese defenders came out to meet the raid , driving the outnumbered Australians back . Sergeant William ( Bill ) O ' Neill was said to have killed 16 Japanese with sub - machine - gun fire while covering the Australian withdrawal . The Japanese were later estimated to have lost 50 killed , including the company commander . Soon after , the unit moved to the nearby Markham valley on long range patrols . In January 1943 , the 2 / 5th with the 2 / 7th flew to Wau airfield under enemy attack . They went straight into action leaving the ' plane under fire , and repelled the Japanese invasion . Finally in February 1943 , exhausted from starvation , illness and injury , and beset by atrocious weather , they were withdrawn for rest , leaving by native canoe and by foot across the range , and returned to Port Moresby . Many who returned had been posted " Missing in action " . Reorganisation 1943 . The 2 / 5th departed New Guinea for Australia on the " Duntroon " on 13 May 1943 . It was sent to the Jungle Warfare Centre at Canungra , Queensland to refit and regroup . In August it moved to Wongabel on the Atherton Tablelands where it was reformed as the 2 / 5th Cavalry ( Commando ) Squadron . Following a reorganisation of the Australian Army ' s independent companies , the 2 / 5th was incorporated with the 2 / 3 and 2 / 6 Independent Companies into the 2 / 7th Cavalry ( Commando ) Regiment , which was attached to the 7th Division and was to act as the administrative headquarters to the squadron during the next phase of the conflict . Later , the designation of " cavalry " was dropped and the unit simply referred to as 2 / 5th Commando Squadron . Throughout the remainder of 1943 and all of 1944 the 2 / 5th trained with the rest of the 7th Division , conducting a number of complex brigade and divisional level exercises , but it did not go into action again until almost the end of the war . Borneo campaign 1945 . The final campaign that the 2 / 5th Commando Squadron took part in came in mid - 1945 , when as a part of the 2 / 7th Cavalry ( Commando ) Regiment , attached to the Australian 7th Division , when it participated in the Borneo campaign as part of the " Oboe " operations . The squadron landed on Green Beach on Balikpapan on the first day of the battle and moved up the Vasey highway into the nearby hills , occupying first Lady Shofield ’ s and then Jade and Jelly hills . By 7 July , it had occupied the Sepinggang airfield . It then moved into the hills between the airfield and Batakan Besar . On 25 July , the squadron was transferred to support the 25th Brigade in its advance along Milford Highway . Patrols continued up until the end of the war , when it was then used to conduct mobbing up operations around the island . Disbandment 1946 . At the end of December the 2 / 5th left Borneo for Australia , and in early 1946 , in Chermside camp , Brisbane , the squadron was disbanded . During the course of the war , the 2 / 5th lost 24 men killed . For their actions during the New Guinea and Borneo campaigns , Sergeants Malcolm Bishop ( later Colonel ) and Bill O ' Neill were awarded Military Medal s for rescuing the badly injured Lieutenant Drysdale under heavy fire during the raid on Mubu . Other MM recipients were Sergeant Walter Hulcup , and Privates Charles Beitz and Thomas Robertson , while Lieutenant ( later Captain ) William Chaffey received the American Bronze Star , and Sergeants R . C . McLaughlin and William O ' Neill the Distinguished Conduct Medal .