| The headquarters of the
2/27 Battalion opened for the first time at Woodside in South Australia
on 7 May 1940. On 19 October the battalion left Woodside, by train, for
Melbourne where ti sailed for overseas on 21 October. After a brief stop
in India en-route, the 2/27th disembarked in Egypt on 24 November and
moved straight to Palestine to complete its training.
As part of the 21st Brigade of the 7th
Australian Division, the 2/27th’s first operational assignment of war
was to bolster the defences along the Egypt–Libya frontier against an
expected German attack. It occupied positions at Maaten Bagush and
Matruh throughout much of April and May 1941, before returning to
Palestine in preparation for its first offensive operation – the
invasion of Syria and Lebanon, which began on 8 June.
The 2/27th was employed in the drive
north along the Lebanon coast but most of its operations were
outflanking moves in the hills that edged the coastal plain. Its major
actions were at Adloun on 11 June, Miyeoumiye on 13–14 June and around
El Boum, as part of the battle of Damour, between 6 and 9 July. After
the armistice of 12 July, the 2/27th remained in Lebabnon as part of the
Allied garrison until 11 January 1942.
After sailing from Egypt on 30 January
1942, the 2/27th disembarked in Adelaide on 24 March. The battalion’s
stay in Australia, however, was brief. On 14 August it arrived at Port
Moresby in Papua, and by 6 September it was in position at Mission Ridge
on the Kokoda Trail preparing to meet the relentless advance of the
Japanese. The battalion held on to its positions for two days before
being forced to pull out by a Japanese outflanking move that cut the
Trail behind it. A grim 2 week withdrawal through the jungle, with
little food, followed. Sick and exhausted, the 2/27th rejoined the main
Australian force at Jawarere, 40 kilometres east of Port Moresby, on 22
September.
After a period of rest and retraining
the 2/27th returned to action at Gona on 28 November. It suffered
heavily in series of rushed and ill-conceived attacks and was further
assailed by the ravages of tropical disease. By the time it was relived
on 6 January 1943, it was only 70 strong.
The 2/27th returned to Australian in
mid-January but was back in Papua by early August. It spent a month
training near Port Moresby before being flown to Kaipit in New Guinea to
take part in the advance along the Ramu Valley. Leaving Kaipit on 29
September, the 21st Brigade reached Dumpu on 4 October and then began
pushing up into the Finisterre Ranges. The 2/27th occupied several key
features during these operations and bore the brunt of the one major
counterattack launched by the Japanese on 12 October. Thereafter, the
2/27th’s operations were prinicipally patrol actions. It began
returning to Port Moresby on 3 January 1944, and arrived back in
Australia on 1 March
The 2/27th left Australia for its last
operation of the war on 3 June 1945. The battalion landed at Balikpapan
on 1 July and after the attacks of that day, conducted with relatively
light casualties, its operations were confined mainly to small-scale
patrolling until the end of the war on 15 August. From mid-October to
late January 1946 the 2/27th formed part of the occupation force in the
Celebes. It sailed for home for the last time on 4 February, arrived at
Brisbane on 14 February, and was disbanded there on 18 March. AWM
text
Battle honours
Casualties
Decorations
- 2 DSO' 3 MC and one bar
- 1 DCM
- 17 MM
- 49 MID
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