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2nd / 16th Australian Infantry BattalionPrint Page Print this page

28-November-2015
28-November-2015

Photographs supplied by Ian Bevege

The plaque commemorates those who served with the 2nd / 16th Australian Infantry Battalion during World War Two.

The plaque location is indicated by the red poppy in the second image. 

Attached to the 21st Brigade that was assigned to the 7th Division, the Battlaion was raised in 1940 as part of the Second Australian Imperial Force from volunteers drawn mainly from the state of Western Australia. After training in Australia, the battalion was deployed to the Middle East where it undertook defensive duties along the Egyptian–Libyan border in early 1941 before taking part in the Syria-Lebanon campaign , fighting against Vichy French forces in June and July.

At the conclusion of the campaign, the Battalion remained in Lebanon, contributing to the Allied occupation force there, before returning to Australia in early 1942 following Japan's entry into the war. In August 1942, they were committed to the fighting along the Kokoda Track and then later fought around Buna and Gona. After a period of rest and reorganisation in Australia, the Battalion fought around Lae and then took part in the Finisterre Range campaign in 1943–44. Its final campaign of the war came in Borneo in July 1945. At the end of the war, the Battalion was disbanded in January 1946.

Location

Address:Fairbairn & Limestone Avenues, Eastern Precinct, Australian War Memorial , Campbell, 2612
State:ACT
Area:AUS
GPS Coordinates:Lat: -35.281234
Long: 149.148994
Note: GPS Coordinates are approximate.
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Details

Monument Type:Plaque
Monument Theme:Conflict
Sub-Theme:WW2
Approx. Event Start Date:1940
Approx. Event End Date:January-1946

Dedication

Actual Monument Dedication Date:Tuesday 18th October, 2011
Front Inscription

2 / 16th Australian Infantry Battalion
21st Brigade, 7th Division, AIF
1940 - 1945

North Africa 1941  Syria  1941  Syrian Frontier
The Litani  Sidon  Wadi Zeini  Damour

South-West Pacific 1942 - 1945  Kokoda Trail
Isurava  Eora Creek - Templeton`s Crossing 
Efogi - Menari  Ioribaiwa  Buna-Gona  Gona
Liberation of Australian New Guinea
Ramu Valley  Shaggy Ridge  Borneo  Balikpapan

Dedicated to the men who gave their lives on active service and to all who served in the Battalion

Lest We Forget

Source: MA
Monument details supplied by Monument Australia - www.monumentaustralia.org.au