The 2/1st Machine Gun Battalion was a battalion of the Australian Army that was raised for service during World War II as part of the 6th Division. When it was formed on 14 December 1939, its component companies were spread across several Australian states, but it was later concentrated at Ingleburn, New South Wales, where it completed basic training in the early months of the war. In mid-1940, the battalion embarked for overseas, bound initially for the Middle East, but following the Fall of France it was diverted to the United Kingdom. Along with a larger contingent of Australians, it helped to bolster the island's garrison, undertaking defensive duties during a period when it was expected that the Germans might launch a cross-Channel invasion.
The battalion was transferred to the Middle East in late 1940, after the threat of invasion had passed. It underwent further training in Egypt, before taking part in fighting against the Germans in Greece and on Crete in mid-1941. Having lost most of its equipment and suffering heavy casualties, the 2/1st was rebuilt in Palestine before undertaking garrison duties in Syria in 1941–1942. The battalion was withdrawn to Australia as a result of Japan's entry into the war in December 1941. During 1943, the 2/1st fought a defensive role in the New Guinea campaign. Following its withdrawal to Australia in early 1944, the battalion was re-organised on the Atherton Tablelands and reassigned to the 7th Division. It was committed to its final campaign in mid-1945, during the Borneo campaign. After the war, the battalion was disbanded in early 1946. One of its mascots, Horrie the Wog Dog, became the subject of a book by Ion Idriess.
History
Formation
The 2/1st Machine Gun Battalion was formed on 14 December 1939, as part of the Second Australian Imperial Force (2nd AIF). It was raised following a reorganisation of the 6th Division's infantry battalions, which saw the removal of the machine gun platoons that had previously existed within each battalion and their centralisation in a single unit. Three other machine gun battalions were subsequently raised as part of the 2nd AIF during the war to support its four infantry divisions. Developed by the British Army, the concept within the Australian Army had its genesis during the Gallipoli Campaign in 1915, when the machine guns assigned to the infantry battalions – initially two and then, later, four – had been grouped together and co-ordinated at brigade level to help compensate for the lack of artillery support. Over the course of the war on the Western Front, the concept had evolved through the establishment of machine gun companies in 1916 to the establishment of machine gun battalions in 1918. Similar formations had also been established amongst the Australian Light Horse units serving in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign. During the inter-war years, the machine gun battalions had been deemed unnecessary. When the Army was reorganised in 1921, they were not re-raised, but in 1937, when the Army looked to expand as fears of war in Europe loomed, four such units were raised within the part-time Militia by converting light horse units and motorising them. When the Second World War broke out, the decision was made to raise several machine gun battalions within the 2nd AIF, one allocated to each division.
Under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Claude Prior, the 2/1st Machine Gun Battalion was formed with four machine gun companies, a headquarters company – consisting of an anti-aircraft platoon, a signals platoon and a transport platoon – and a battalion headquarters. Australian machine gun battalions were established with an authorised strength of around 800 to 900 personnel, and like the others, the 2/1st was a motorised infantry unit with both wheeled motor vehicles and tracked carriers. Equipped with 48 Vickers medium machine guns, the battalion's four machine gun companies – designated 'A' to 'D' and each consisting of three four-gun platoons – were initially formed separately, with 'A' Company forming at Ingleburn, in New South Wales, 'B' Company forming at Puckapunyal, in Victoria, 'C' in South Australia, and 'D' at Rutherford, in New South Wales. At the end of the month, 'B' and 'C' Companies concentrated at Rutherford, before moving to Ingleburn with 'D' Company in January 1940. An intense period of training followed, with range shoots at Liverpool, and field exercises in the Green Hills and Wallacia areas, the latter being conducted in conjunction with the infantry battalions of the 18th Brigade. This period concluded in early May 1940, when the battalion was moved by train to Darling Harbour and embarked upon the Queen Mary.