The 26th Australian Infantry Battalion was formed in north Queensland in July 1939, made up of part-time soldiers of the Citizen Military Forces, also known as the Militia. The new battalion was headquartered at Hughenden with companies based at Julia Creek, Winton and Longreach. On the declaration of war in September 1939 the Battalion was called up for full-time training at Townsville, then Miowera and Sellheim, before being deployed to Fort Kissing Point at Townsville, to deter unrest by Italian cane farmers should Italy enter the war on Germany’s side. In May 1942, after Japan’s entry in the war, the troops of 26 Battalion carried out reconnaissance patrols in the Townsville district before being stationed at Kuranda where they were engaged in training until mid-1943.

In late May 1943 three company’s of 26 Battalion embarked from Cairns to take up garrison duties on Horn Island and the surrounding islands in the Torres Strait. The fourth company—A-Coy—was detached to Dutch New Guinea to become part of Merauke Force. Little evidence remains of the wartime presence of the troops of the Horn Island mobile force, but at King Point in a small concrete ammunition store dug into the side of a hill by the coast, two inscriptions survive—'E Peel 15/8/43' and 'EW Plumb 15/8/43'. Both were privates from D-Company, 26 Battalion. Nearby, other evidence of the Battalion defences include weapons pits and foxholes overlooking the coast.