Torres Strait Light Infantry Battalion The Torres Strait Light Infantry Battalion was an infantry battalion of the Australian Army during the Second World War . Initially raised as a company - sized unit in 1941 , it was expanded to a full battalion in 1942 and was unique in that almost all of its enlisted men were Torres Strait Islanders , making the battalion the only Indigenous Australian battalion ever formed by the Australian Army . The battalion was used mainly in the garrison role , defending the islands of the Torres Strait , although in 1943 a detachment was sent to patrol Dutch New Guinea . Following the end of the war , the battalion was disbanded in 1946 . History . The Torres Strait Light Infantry Battalion was initially formed as an independent infantry company of just over 100 men in May 1941 , after the Australian government became concerned about the possibility of conflict in the Pacific and sought to free up other units for service elsewhere . In June 1942 , following Japan ' s entry into the war the previous December , the decision was made to expand the unit and an appeal for further volunteers was sent out . The response from the Islanders was considerable , with 830 Torres Strait Islander men joining the ranks throughout the course of the war — almost every man eligible — a total equal to about one fifth of the population of the Torres Strait at the time . In addition , a further 40 Torres Strait Malays and Aboriginals were also recruited . On 1 March 1943 , the unit was officially established as a full battalion under the command of Major John Uther ( Jock ) Swain , with an authorised strength of 17 officers and 470 men . After receiving full infantry training to the same standard as units of the 2nd AIF , the battalion carried out exercises with the 26th Battalion and the 5th Machine Gun Battalion on Prince of Wales Island . It was organised into four rifle companies , designated ' A ' to ' D ' , and spread out across the Torres Strait , including Horn Island and Thursday Island , where it formed part of Torres Strait Force and served as an integral part of the Islands ' defences against Japanese air raids . Later , due to the overwhelming number of recruits , a pioneer company consisting of 160 men was also formed . Between October to December 1943 , a detachment from the battalion was sent to Dutch New Guinea , where they carried out patrol operations in search of Japanese occupation . On 23 December , they were involved in a skirmish with a group of Japanese , during which one member of the battalion was killed and six wounded . Due to the racial policies in place at the time , all officers and senior non - commissioned officers were white Australians , while the Torres Strait Islanders originally only received one third of the pay of white soldiers of equal rank . In response to this and other concerns , ' A ' , ' B ' and ' C ' Companies of the battalion briefly went on strike in late December 1943 . In February 1944 the Army agreed to increase the soldiers ' pay to two - thirds of that of white soldiers , while the indigenous soldiers finally received full back pay for their war service in 1986 . Despite the discriminatory pay scales the Islanders generally appreciated the Army ' s culture , as its discipline and hierarchy allowed them to be treated with respect by white soldiers . The unit was unique , being the only Indigenous Australian battalion ever formed by the Australian Army , and although a number of small irregular units of Aborigines were formed to provide surveillance of isolated parts of the northern Australian coast , the majority of Indigenous Australians that enlisted during the war served in integrated units , with the exigencies of wartime emergency resulting in significant changes both to official policy and social attitudes on the service of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders in the military . The Torres Strait Island Light Infantry Battalion represented a significant contribution to the Australian war effort in terms of population , with the majority of able bodied Torres Strait Islander males of military age serving during the war . The battalion was disbanded in 1946 , following the end of hostilities . 36 members of the battalion were killed or died on active service . ' C ' Company of the 51st Battalion , Far North Queensland Regiment ( 51 FNQR ) was established in the Torres Strait in 1987 as a Regional Force Surveillance Unit ( RFSU ) responsible for sovereignty patrols in the Torres Strait and providing security to the remote parts of Northern Australia . Today , a number descendents of men who served in the Torres Strait Light Infantry serve within 51 FNQR .