South West Pacific 1942-1945
The ill fated attempt by the Allies to support Russia by supplying their beleaguered colleague through the ice-free ports in the Crimea, was the first engagement of the Australian and New Zealand troops raised for the first World War. This attempt to attack a well led enemy fanatically defending their own soil with the best available contemporary weapons and tactics resulted in a blood bath now regarded as the birth of the Australian and New Zealand nations.
The Honour “South West Pacific 1942-1945” is a theatre Battle Honour. It notes that the Regiment took part in campaigns and battles that halted the Japanese armed forces before their land forces reached the Australian Mainland, then forced them back until the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki forced Japan to surrender. The Regiment was involved in two major campaigns the Liberation of Australian New Guinea and the Assault on Borneo. The Regiment used its Matilda tanks in the jungle terrain of New Guinea, tanks that by then had proven to be inadequate in open warfare, providing the infantry with invaluable close fire support. In the Borneo assault, a campaign that was cut short by the Japanese surrender, the Matildas again proved their worth as infantry support in close jungle country; the tank crews fighting the terrain just as hard as the valiant and determined enemy. Following the hyperlinks will take you to descriptions of the campaigns and the individual battles.John Howells 2001
Liberation of Australian New Guinea Borneo Location Map
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