Quote:
Originally Posted by Bob Moseley
Hi all - discussing with Tony today re. which unit I will dedicate the truck to, I thought it more appropriate to use my old unit of the 27th Battalion. Tony, you have done all the SA unit research, what do I need?
Bob
|
Bob
Good choice mate I was attached to 10th Battalion for 3 years and you were with the 27th Battalion both battalions were later amalgamated as the 10/27th Battallion. So in fact either Tac Plates would be OK to use as both served as part of the 7th and 9th Division in WW2 in the Western Desert before being recalled and sent to New Guinea to protect Australia from a Japanese invasion of Australia. Here is some further history of your 2/27th Battallion.
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 it 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 Lebanon 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.
Cheers
Tony
