2/26th Australian Infantry Battalion

The 2/26th Infantry Battalion formed in November 1940 as part of the Second Australian Imperial Force (AIF). Recruits came from Queensland and northern New South Wales and their weekly cross-country training runs earned the unit its nickname ‘the gallopers’. The 2/26th joined the 2/29th and 2/30th battalions and as part of 27th Brigade, 8th Division deployed to Singapore in August 1941. The 27th Brigade joined Indian and British troops in defensive operations in Malaya but were soon forced to withdraw to Singapore where Allied forces finally surrendered in February 1942. Members of the 2/26th became POWs and for the next three-and-a-half years were used as forced labour.