2/1st Australian Infantry Battalion

The 2/1st Battalion was raised in Sydney in 1939 and formed part of the 16th Brigade, 6th Division.  The battalion served in Egypt, Libya and at Tobruk before joining the 2/11th Battalion in the ill-fated campaign in Greece and Crete where the battalions were forced to surrender and many became prisoners of war.  The battalion was re-formed in Palestine, and then manned defences in northern Syria before the 6th Division returned to Australia to join the Pacific Campaign.  In the South-West Pacific theatre, the 2/1st Battalion fought in two campaigns: on the Kokoda trail, where many of the battalion were killed, wounded or evacuated due to illness, and in the Aitape-Wewak region