2/19th Battalion (Australia)
The 2/19th Battalion was an infantry battalion of the Australian Army, which was raised for service during the Second World War as part of the Second Australian Imperial Force. After being formed in mid-1940, the battalion was allocated to the 22nd Brigade, which was part of the 8th Division. After completing training in Australia, in early 1941 the 2/19th deployed to Malaya, as part of the Australian force despatched to help bolster the British garrison there as tensions with Japan heightened. Following the commencement of hostilities against Japan, the 2/19th fought several actions in Johore, before withdrawing across the Causeway to Singapore. There, the battalion was involved in the Battle of Singapore in early February 1942, during which it suffered heavy casualties before being captured following the capitulation of the British garrison. The battalion's personnel subsequently spent the next three-and-a-half years as prisoners of war, before being released at the end of the conflict.
2/19th personnel with a bogged Bren Carrier, Malaya, 1941
The 2/19th Battalion marching down Castlereagh Street in Sydney on 15 September 1940
Troops from the 2/19th await embarkation from Sydney on 5 February 1941
The 8th Division was an infantry division of the Australian Army, formed during World War II as part of the all-volunteer Second Australian Imperial Force. The 8th Division was raised from volunteers for overseas service from July 1940 onwards. Consisting of three infantry brigades, the intention had been to deploy the division to the Middle East to join the other Australian divisions, but as war with Japan loomed in 1941, the division was divided into four separate forces, which were deployed in different parts of the Asia-Pacific region. All of these formations were destroyed as fighting forces by the end of February 1942 during the fighting for Singapore, and in Rabaul, Ambon, and Timor. Most members of the division became prisoners of war, waiting until the war ended in late 1945 to be liberated. One in three died in captivity.
Members of 'C' Company, 2/30th Battalion disembark at Singapore, from Johan Van Oldenbarnevelt (HMT FF), part of Convoy US11B, 15 August 1941.
The 2/19th Battalion marching down Castlereagh Street in central Sydney in September 1940
Gemencheh Bridge in 1945, where troops of the 2/30th Battalion, ambushed the Japanese 5th Division during the Battle of Gemas on 14 January 1942.
The Japanese landings on Singapore Island