| The 2/14th Battalion was
officially raised on 26 April 1940 and began to assemble for training,
at Puckapunyal in Victoria, on 11 May. It embarked, at Sydney, for
service in the Middle East on 19 October, and after stopping in India
between 4 and 19 November, arrived in Egypt on 25 November. After
disembarkation, the battalion moved straight to Palestine to complete
its training.
The 2/14th was the first battalion of
the 21st Brigade, part of the 7th Australian Division. In early April
1941, the 21st Brigade moved to Egypt to bolster the defences along the
Libyan frontier against an expected German attack and the 2/14th
occupied positions at Maaten Bagush and Mersa Matruh. The brigade
returned to Palestine in late May in preparation for its first campaign
– the invasion of Syria and Lebanon.
The 2/14th launched the 21st
Brigade’s operations in Lebanon, attacking the Vichy French frontier
outposts in the early hours of 8 June 1941. Initially, the 2/14th took
part in the drive along the coast and fought a major engagement along
the Zahrani River 12 June. It was later moved inland to Jezzine, to
reinforce the 2/31st Battalion that had been counter-attacked by the
Vichy French, and mounted an unsuccessful attack to capture several
precipitous features north-east of the town. The 2/14th’s last major
battle of the campaign was around Damour between 4 and 9 July. It
remained as part of the garrison in Syria and Lebanon until early
January 1942.
Sailing from Egypt on 30 January 1942,
the 2/14th disembarked at Adelaide on 24 March 1942. Its stay at home
was brief. On 13 August it arrived at Port Moresby in Papua, and by 16
August was advancing along the Kokoda Trail to confront the rapidly
advancing Japanese. The battalion’s first clash with its new enemy
took place at Isurava on 26 August. After holding there for three days
it was forced to withdraw. For his actions at Isurava, Private Bruce
Kingsbury was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross. The retreat back
along the Trail was characterised by bitter, desperate fighting, none
more so than that which occurred at Mission Ridge between 6 and 8
September. The 2/14th’s ordeal on the Trail ended with its relief at
Imita Ridge on 16 September. By this time the battalion was so weak that
it had been amalgamated with the 2/16th to form a composite battalion.
After a period of rest and retraining, the 2/14th, once again
functioning as a separate battalion, joined the operations at Gona on 26
November. Consisting of only three half-strength companies when it
entered the fighting, the 2/14th left Gona, on 8 January 1943, only 21
strong.
Arriving back in Australia in late
January 1943, the 2/14th was rebuilt and retrained before returning to
Papua in early August. It spent a month conducting advanced training
near Port Moresby before moving to New Guinea to play a minor role in
the operation to capture Lae in mid-September. The battalion’s main
area of operations for 1943, however, was the Ramu Valley and the
Finisterre Mountains. It led the 21st Brigade’s advance along the
valley, from Kiapit to Dumpu, between 29 September and 5 October, and
then spent the next five months engaged in patrol actions in the upper
reaches of the valley and into the Finsterres. The battalion returned to
Australia on 8 March.
The 2/14th’s last operation of the
war was the Balikpapan landings. It left Australia on 2 June 1945,
landed at Balikpapan on 1 July and fought its major action of the
campaign around Manggaar Airfield between 4 and 10 July. Between 1
October 1945 and 17 January 1946 the 2/14th formed part of occupation
forces in the Celebes and sailed for home for the last time on 22
January. It disbanded in Brisbane on 22 February 1946.
AWM text
Battle honours
Casualties
Decorations
- 1 VC
- 1 OBE
- 4 MC
- 3 DCM
- 19 MM
- 1 BEM
- 44 MID
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