The 2/16th Battalion (A.I.F.) Association Inc.

The 2/16th Australian Infantry Battalion had an outstanding record during the Second World War, both in the Middle Eastern theatre during 1941 and then the South-West Pacific from 1942 until 1945.

The unit first saw service during the Syrian Campaign of mid-1941, when it fought a series of engagements at Litani River, Sidon and Damour, thus removing Vichy French forces from the Middle East. Their foes included the renowned French Foreign Legion.

Early in 1942 the battalion returned home to man the so-called ‘Brisbane Line’ but in August, with sister battalions of the 21st Brigade, they were hurried to Papua and sent into the Owen Stanley Ranges to repel the Japanese drive towards the vital Port Moresby airfields.

What followed was weeks of fighting withdrawal along the Kokoda Track that were vital in delaying and finally turning back the Japanese advance.

After being withdrawn from the action and rested, the unit was again inserted into fierce battle at Gona Beach in December where, again, they suffered heavy losses.

In late 1943 the 2/16 th was sent into Ramu/Markham Valley Campaign against Japanese forces. The audacious heroism of the Battle for Shaggy Ridge and the Battalion’s part in that series of actions, has since become legend in Australian military history.

In the final phases of the war, in 1945 they were part of the major invasion of the oil town of Balikpapan on Borneo Island.

Originally raised from Western Australian volunteers, the battalion suffered heavy casualties and, through reinforcements, came to represent an Australia-wide cross-section of the typical citizen soldier.