THE LONG CARRY. A HISTORY OF 2nd 1st AUSTRALIAN MACHINE GUN BATTALION 1939-46

The 2/1st Australian Machine Gun Battalion was formed on 14 December 1939 as part of the 6th Division. In May 1940 the 2/1st sailed with the 18th Brigade to the Middle East but the convoy was diverted to Britain to help bolster defences. The convoy reached Gourock in Scotland in mid-June. The Australians remained in Britain for several months, while the battle of Britain played out about their heads. In November the battalion sailed from Colchester for the Middle East, arriving in Egypt at the end of December.

At the start of 1941 the battalion moved into camp at Ikingi Maryutand undertook desert training. In early April it left Ikingi for Greece to support the 6th Division. A few days after arriving in Athens the 2/1st headed for Gerania in the north to support different units manning the Aliakmon line: The machine-gunners fought alongside the infantry for the rest of the campaign and evacuated between the end of April and the beginning of May.

The men in the Georgioupolis area were stationed along the beach and on to Retimo. When the Germans began their attack on Crete on 20 May the Australians reorganised their defences and the machine-gunners grouped around Canea and Retimo. Bitter fighting ensued as more and more German paratroopers landed on the island. By 30 May the Germans occupied the island; defenders were either evacuated, escaped, or became prisoners.

The 2/1st suffered considerably during the ill-fated Greek and Crete campaigns. Of 104 casualties, 77 were captured, two of whom escaped and one died in Germany.

At the end of January 1942 the battalion returned to Gaza. With Japan entering the war the battalion left for Australia on 10 March,

At the beginning of May the battalion travelled to Ingleburn in Sydney and undertook jungle training in Queensland the following month. B Company was sent to Port Moresby in November and Oro Bay, via Milne Bay, in December. Located east of Buna, on Papua’s north coast, Oro Bay was an American base for the advance on Buna. The company had anticipated going into action but this was not to be and its platoons were distributed around the bay and Eroro Mission. In December A Company had also arrived in Port Moresby and in January 1943 joined B Company at Oro Bay. The rest of the battalion remained in Australia.

A and B Companies returned to Moresby in April and temporarily became attached to the 7th Machine Gun Battalion. On 18 April A company joined the fighting around Wau and later travelled to Bulolo and then Nassau Bay in August to support the 3rd Division’s operations against Salamaua. It returned to Moresby in November, rejoining with B Company. The rest of the 2/1st arrived in Moresby in May and took over defensive positions.

In February 1944 the battalion returned to Australia. Devised towards the end of the war the OBOE operations aimed to reoccupy areas of the Netherlands East Indies with amphibious landings on Borneo. The 7th Division, including the 2/1st Machine Gun Battalion, landed at Balikpapan on 1 July, the first day of the battle. The battalion saw action during the landing and along the Vasey and Milford Highways.