6th Division (Australia)

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[edit] History

January 22, 1941. Members of "C" Company, 2/11th Infantry Battalion, having penetrated the Italian outer defences at Tobruk and attacked anti-aircraft positions, assemble again on the escarpment at the south side of the harbour. (Photographer: Frank Hurley.)

The 6th Division of the Australian Army was a unit in the Second Australian Imperial Force (2nd AIF) during World War II. It served in the North African campaign, the Greek campaign and the New Guinea campaign, including the crucial battles of the Kokoda Track, among others.

(The 6th Division name was first used for a short-lived World War I unit, formed from First Australian Imperial Force troops in England, in 1917. The division was broken-up as replacements several months later, before it saw action.)

When World War II broke out, because all Militia (reserve) units (which were organised in five divisions) were barred from serving overseas, the 2nd AIF's 6th Division was formed with regular army units and new, all-volunteer infantry brigades, from September 28, 1939.

The 6th Division and the 7th Division were sent to Palestine, to complete their training before joining the British Expeditionary Force (BEF) in France. Together they formed the Australian I Corps. However, France fell to German forces in July 1940, before I Corps arrived.

[edit] Formation

The division was originally composed of the Australian 16th Brigade, Australian 17th Brigade and Australian 18th Brigade, but the diversion of the 18th Brigade to the United Kingdom in June 1940, meant that the Australian 19th Brigade, became its third infantry brigade.

Between early 1942 and late 1943 the composition of the 6th Division varied considerably due to the changing operational situation. During this time the 14th, 21st, 25th and 30th Brigades also came under the division's command for varying periods.

[edit] North Africa

The 6th Division first saw action in late 1940, against Italian forces in North Africa, in the advance to Benghazi

In June 1940, Italy declared war on the Allies and began to build up forces in Libya. In September 1940, the Italian 10th Army invaded Egypt, a British colony, threatening Alllied control of the Middle East and most particularly, the Suez Canal and international supply routes. British forces under General Sir Archibald Wavell expelled the Italians from Sidi Barrani and pursued them back towards the Libyan border. In December 1941, the 6th Division was moved forward from training camps around Alexandria to relieve British troops around Bardia and at the end of December they were ordered to prepare to attack.

On 3 January 1941, the first major Australian action of World War II took place, the Battle of Bardia. The 6th Division penetrated the defences of the Italian stronghold. Despite some heavy resistance the town fell to the Australians just two days later. The Australians captured Italian war materiel as well as thousands of Italian prisoners of war (POWs), many of whom were shipped to prison camps in Australia.

The fighting continued on until 5 January when the Italian position had been cut almost into two. The allies took nearly 40,000 Italian prisoners and considerable amounts of enemy weapons, supplies and equipment. The battle for Bardia cost 130 Australian lives with 320 men wounded.

On 22 January 1941, the Italian Tobruk fell to the AIF and 25,000 Italians became prisoners. During January and February 1941, the 6th Division, together with British units, pushed the Italian army back across Libya. The Italian 10th Army was destroyed.

In early April 1941, the 6th Division was withdrawn from North Africa to defend Greece and replaced by the Australian 9th Division , which took part in the epic Siege of Tobruk between April and November 1941 against Italian and German forces.

[edit] Greece and Crete

In March 1941, Prime Minister Robert Menzies, of Australia, with the concurrence of his Cabinet, agreed to the sending of Australian troops to Greece. Both Menzies and the I Corps commander, Lieutenant General Thomas Blamey, felt that the operation was risky and might end in disaster. But Menzies felt that Greece should be supported against German aggression and that the defence of Greece was a "great risk in a good cause".

In Greece, the Australians joined with a New Zealand and British force to defend the country against a threatened German invasion. Hitler was concerned that if Greece became a British ally then oilfields in Romania, on which Germany relied for her fuel, might be open to air attack from Greece. As the Germans were planning an invasion of Russia for June 1941, they could not allow such a threat to their essential oil supplies.

The 6th Division arrived in Greece in early April 1941 and on 6 April the Germans began their invasion of Greece. Despite their efforts, the Allied force, together with Greek units, was unable to halt the rapid German advance down central Greece towards Athens. During the campaign, Brig. George Vasey's 19th Brigade (minus the 2/11th Battalion) was defeated by the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler brigade, at the Battle of Vevi. The 2/4th and 2/8th Battalions became the only Australian Army units to face elite Waffen SS soldiers in combat.The Allies were outflanked by the Germans, and were driven off the Greek mainland. The 19th Brigade Group then took part in the Battle of Crete. More than 3,000 members of the division could not be evacuated, and were taken prisoner in the Greek campaign, including Crete. A great deal of equipment was also lost. Almost immediately, however, the 17th Brigade was detached to take part in the bloody but successful attack on Vichy French forces in the Syria-Lebanon campaign.

Greece and Crete were costly operations for Australia. About 39 per cent of the Australia troops in Greece on 6 April 1941 were either killed, wounded or became prisoners of war. More than 450,000 Greeks died during the next four years of German occupation, nearly 25,000 of them executed for assisting the allies.

After the news of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941 and the perceived threat to Australia, the 2/5th Battalion left the Middle East on 10 March 1942 to defend Australia. However, on the return voyage, they were diverted to defend Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) from the Japanese from mid March through to early July 1942.

[edit] The Pacific War

Major General H. C. H. Robertson accepts the sword of Japanese Lieutenant General Hatazo Adachi following the Japanese surrender.

After war with Japan broke out, the 16th Brigade and 17th Brigade were at first sent to garrison Ceylon, which was under threat of invasion. In late 1942 the 16th Brigade and other elements of the division were sent to New Guinea, initially to reinforce and relieve Militia (reserve) and 7th Division units on the Kokoda Track.

[edit] The Kokoda Track campaign or Kokoda Trail campaign

The campaign consisted of a series of battles fought from July 1942 to January 1943 between Japanese and Allied — primarily Australian — forces in what was then the Australian territory of New Guinea.

The Kokoda Track itself is single-file track starting just outside Port Moresby on the Coral Sea and (depending on definition) runs 60–100 kilometres through the Owen Stanley Ranges to Kokoda and the coastal lowlands beyond by the Solomon Sea. The track crosses some of the most rugged and isolated terrain in the world, reaches 2,250 metres at Mount Bellamy, and combines hot humid days with intensely cold nights, torrential rainfall and endemic tropical diseases such as malaria. The track is passable only on foot; this had extreme repercussions for logistics, the size of forces and the type of warfare that could be conducted.^[1]

With other Australian and US forces, the 16th Brigade and associated units re-took the north coast of New Guinea in the Battle of Buna-Gona.

[edit] Battle of Buna-Gona

The Battle of Buna–Gona was a battle in the New Guinea campaign, a major part of the Pacific campaign of World War II. On November 16, 1942, Australian and United States forces began to attack the main Japanese beachheads in New Guinea, at Buna, Sanananda and Gona. By January 22, 1943, after prolonged heavy fighting in trying conditions, the Allied forces had overcome the defenders.

Allied intelligence in the lead-up to the battle was deficient in two key areas. While it was estimated that there were no more than 1,500–2,000 Japanese troops at the beachheads, the Allies actually faced more than 6,000 soldiers from the Imperial Japanese Army (IJA) and marines from the Special Naval Landing Forces (SNLF). The Allies also believed that widespread swampland would render the construction of strongpoints impossible. But the Japanese were able to build fortified positions above ground and to conceal them with felled trees and tall tropical grass, making them virtually invisible to attackers. These could generate devastating interlocking fields of fire, supported by many snipers hidden in tall trees. The Allies initially lacked tanks, artillery, and air support, and Japanese positions had to be taken one by one, using grenades and small arms. The U.S. 32nd Infantry Division, an inexperienced National Guard formation, commanded by Major General Edwin F. Harding launched the initial attack on Buna. The Australian 7th Division (minus one brigade) under Major General George Vasey, and the U.S. 126th Infantry Regiment (detached from the 32nd Division) was to attack Gona. The Gona push was reinforced by the remnants of Maroubra Force, in the shape of the battered 30th Brigade, a Militia unit which included the "ragged bloody heroes" of the Kokoda Track, the 39th (Militia) Battalion. The Australian 16th Brigade, detached from the 6th Division, would push towards Sanananda.

During 1943, the division was converted to a Jungle Division and the 17th Brigade and other elements of the division took part in the Salamaua-Lae campaign.

[edit] Salamura-Lau Campaign

The Salamaua–Lae campaign was a series of actions in the New Guinea campaign of World War II. Australian and United States forces sought to capture two major Japanese bases, one in the town of Lae, and another one at Salamaua. The campaign to take the Salamaua and Lae area began with the Australian attack on Japanese positions near Mubo, on April 22, 1943. The campaign ended with the fall of Lae on September 16, 1943.

The Salamaua-Lae area. Salamaua is on the small peninsula just right of centre and Lae is near the mouth of the Markham River (upper right).

Between April 22 and May 29, 1943, the Australian 2/7th Infantry Battalion, at the end of a long and tenuous supply line, attacked the southern extremity of Japanese lines, the Mubo area, at features known to the Allies as "The Pimple" and "Green Hill". While the 2/7th made little progress, they provided a diversion for the 2/3rd Indepent Company, which advanced in an arc and raided Japanese positions at Bobdubi Ridge, inflicting severe losses. In May, the 2/7th repelled a number of strong Japanese counterattacks.

At the same time as the first battle at Mubo, the Australian 24th Infantry Battalion attacked to the near south-west of Salamaua, in the Bobdubi Range, between April 22 and May 29. This allowed other units to secure the crossing over the Francisco River, on the track to Salamaua.

The Japanese Eighteenth Army commander, Lieutenant General Hatazô Adachi, sent the 66th Regiment from Finschhafen to reinforce the Okabe Detachment and launch an offensive. The 1,500 strong 66th attacked at Lababia Ridge, on June 20-June 23. The battle has been described as one of the Australian Army's "classic engagements" of World War II.[1] The ridge's only defenders were "D" Company of the 2/6th Battalion. The Australians relied on well-established and linked defensive positions, featuring extensive, cleared free-fire zones. These assets and the determination of "D" Company defeated the Japanese envelopment tactics.

[edit] Operation Cartwheel

Further information: Operation Cartwheel

Between June 30 and August 19, the Australian 15th Infantry Brigade cleared Bobdubi Ridge. The operation was opened with an assault by the inexperienced 58/59th Infantry Battalion, and included hand-to-hand combat.

At the same time as the second Australian assault on Bobdubi, On June 30-July 4, the U.S. 162nd Regimental Combat Team (RCT) made an unopposed amphibious landing at Nassau Bay and established a beachhead there.

July 29, 1943. Commandos from the Australian 2/3rd Independent Company take up position in weapon pits during at attack on Timbered Knoll, north of Orodubi, between Mubo and Salamaua. (A still from the film Assault on Salamaua by Damien Parer)

A week after the Bobdubi attack and Nassau Bay landing, the Australian 17th Brigade launched another assault on Japanese positions at Mubo. With the Allies making ground closer to Salamaua, the Japanese withdrew to avoid encirclement.

Meanwhile the main body off the 162nd RCT following a flanking route along the coast, before encountering fierce resistance at Roosevelt Ridge — named after its commander, Lieutenant Colonel Archibald Roosevelt — between July 21 and August 14.

Between July 16 and August 19, the 42nd and 2/5th Infantry Battalions gained a foothold on Mt Tambu. They held on despite fierce Japanese counter-attacks. The battle turned when they were assisted by the 162nd RCT.

On August 23, Savige and the 3rd Division handed over the Salamaua operation to the Australian 5th Division under Major General Edward Milford. After Allied landings near Lae in the first week of September, Japanese forces withdrew to the north, and the 5th Division occupied Salamaua on September 11.

The 6th Division was reunited as a formation in its last major action, the Aitape-Wewak campaign of 1945.

[edit] Aitape-Wewak Campaign

The Aitape-Wewak campaign took place in northern New Guinea between November 1944 and August 1945. Aitape had been occupied by the Japanese in 1942 and then recaptured by an American landing on 22 April 1944, it was developed as a base area to support the continuing drive towards the Philippines. In order to free American troops for the Philippine operations, defence of the area was passed to Australian forces. Troops of the 3rd Base Sub Area and the 6th Division began progressively relieving the Americans from early October 1944.

[edit] Edward Kenna VC

On 15 May 1945 near Wewak, New Guinea, when fire from a Japanese bunker was holding up the company's advance, Private Kenna stood up in full view of the enemy less than 50 yards (46 m) away and engaged the bunker, firing his Bren gun from the hip. The enemy returned the fire and bullets actually passed between Private Kenna's arms and body. He remained completely exposed and went on firing until his magazine was exhausted, when he continued with a rifle. As a result of his gallantry the bunker was taken without further loss. Three weeks later he was shot in the mouth and spent more than a year in hospital before being discharged from the AIF in December 1946. The following year he married Marjorie Rushberry, who had nursed him at Heidleberg Military Hospital.

Like the rest of the 2nd AIF, the division was disbanded after the war ended in 1945.

[edit] Structure

Infantry units (and state of origin)

• 16th Australian Infantry Brigade, New South Wales (NSW)
  • 2/1st Australian Infantry Battalion
  • 2/2nd Australian Infantry Battalion
  • 2/3rd Australian Infantry Battalion
  • 2/4th Australian Infantry Battalion (to 19th Brigade in 1940)

• 17th Australian Infantry Brigade, Victoria (Vic.)
  • 2/5th Australian Infantry Battalion
  • 2/6th Australian Infantry Battalion
  • 2/7th Australian Infantry Battalion
  • 2/8th Australian Infantry Battalion (to 19th Brigade in 1940)

• 18th Australian Infantry Brigade (to 7th Division in 1940)

• 19th Australian Infantry Brigade (formed from other 6th Div. brigades, 1940)
  • 2/4th Australian Infantry Battalion, NSW)
  • 2/8th Australian Infantry Battalion, Vic.
  • 2/11th Australian Infantry Battalion, Western Australia

• Artillery regiments
  • 2/1st Field Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery (RAA), NSW
  • 2/2nd Field Regiment, RAA, Vic.
  • 2/3rd Field Regiment, RAA, NSW/SA/WA/Northern Territory (NT)
  • 2/5th Field Regiment, RAA, Queensland (Qld)/Tasmania (Tas.) (Became 2/1st Anti-Tank Regiment, 1940.)

• Other units
  • 2/1st Australian Machine-Gun Regiment
  • 2/1st Australian Pioneer Battalion
  • 6th Australian Divisional Cavalry
  • Engineer companies
    • 2/1st Field Company, Royal Australian Engineers (RAE) (NSW)
    • 2/2nd Field Company, RAE (Vic.)
    • 2/3rd Field Company, RAE (Tas./WA/SA)
    • 2/1st Field Park Company, RAE (Qld)

[edit] Commanders

Lt. Gen. Thomas Blamey (13 October 1939 - 3 April 1940)
Maj. Gen. Iven Mackay (4 April 1940 - 13 August 1941)
Maj. Gen. Edmund Herring (14 August 1941 - 30 April 1942)
Maj. Gen. Allan Boase (1 May 1942 - 13 September 1942)
Maj. Gen. George Vasey (14 September 1942 - 14 March 1943)
Maj. Gen. Jack Stevens (15 March 1943 - 26 July 1945)
Maj. Gen. Horace Robertson (26 July 1945 - 30 November 1945).

[edit] See also

• Second Australian Imperial Force
• http://www.diggerhistory.info/pages-conflicts-periods/ww2/pages-2aif-cmf/6-div-aif.htm
• http://www.ww2australia.gov.au/scrapiron/bardia.html

[edit] References

1. ^ Pérusse, Yvon (July 1993). Bushwalking in Papua New Guinea, 2, Lonely Planet, p. 98. ISBN 0-86442-052-8. 

• Aitape-Wewak Campaign. Australia Military Units. Australian War Memorial. Retrieved on 2007-06-01.