About Opentopia
Opentopia Directory Encyclopedia Tools

Australian 6th Division

Encyclopedia : A : AU : AUS : Australian 6th Division

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.

Contents

History

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

Greece and the Middle East

In 1941, the division took part in the ill-fated Allied expedition to defend Greece from a German invasion. During the campaign, the division saw action against the Leibstandarte SS Adolf Hitler (which was a motorised infantry brigade at the time), becoming the only Australian Army unit to face elite Waffen SS soldiers in combat. However the Allies were outnumbered 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.

The 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. 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.

During 1943, the division was converted to a Jungle Division and 17th Brigade and other elements of the division took part in the Wau, Mubo, Markham Valley and Salamaua campaigns.

The 6th Division was reunited as a formation in its last major action, the Aitape to Wewak campaigns of 1944. Private Ted Kenna was awarded the Victoria Cross for his bravery at Wewak.

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

Structure

Infantry units (and state of origin)

  • 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.)
    • 


    Commanders
    
Maj. 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. 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).
    


    See also
    

    


    




     



    

    From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
    All text is available under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License See Wikipedia Copyrights for details.
    






    


    


    
Search Titles

    


    


    

    0123456789
    ABCDEFGHIJ
    KLMNOPQRST
    UVWXYZ?
    




    

    

    
E-mail this article to:
    

    
Personal Message: