2nd / 16th Australian Infantry BattalionPrint Page

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.

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