Battalion Colours
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The 2/26 Battalion was formed at Grovely, Brisbane in November 1940.
The 2/26 Battalion was the only Infantry Battalion raised in Queensland during World War II.
The 2/26 Battalion, together with the 2/29th and 2/30th Battalions, formed part of the 27th Brigade of the 8th Division.
The 2/26th Battalion trained at Grovely and Redbank in Queeensland before detraining to Bathurst, New South Wales, where they continued training between February and July 1941.
The 2/26th Battalion, together with the 1st Reinforcements, left Melbourne on board the "Marnix Van St Aldergond" on 30th July 1941. They arrived in Singapore on 15th August 1941.
The 2/26 Battalion trained in the jungles of Malaya, mapping a great amount of the territory.
September and October 1941, saw the arrival of the Battalions first Reinforcements from Australia.
The first 2 recorded deaths in the Battalion were both caused by drowning. Pte. D. Sloan at Redbank; Cpl. W. Eames in Malaya.
The 2/26 Battalion as part of the 8th Division, participated in a fierce campaign of fighting down the Malay Peninsular, between December 1941 and February 1942.
The last Reinforcements from Australia arrived aboard the "Acquitania", which left Sydney on 10 January 1941. Many of these Reinforcements had been poorly trained, but they stepped off the ship straight into the heart of battle.
1/3 of Australians killed in the 3 1/2 years of fighting in the Pacific area occurred during the 8 weeks of the Malay/Singapore Campaign. The 2/26 Battalion lost 88 members either killed in action or dying of wounds, with another 29 reported as missing.
During this period, the Military Cross was awarded to Lt. Col. Ron Magarry. Cpl Charles Parker was awarded the Distinguished Conduct Medal, and Ptes. Allan Blake, Frank Rixon; Sgts. Eugene Sullivan; Arthur Lum Wan;S/Sgt Bertram Hopkinson; Col. Arthur Boyes; Padre Patrick Walsh and A/CPL Ralph Blake were Mentioned in Dispatches. These men were all members of the 2/26 Battalion.
Post War, Captain Reg Swartz (also of the 2/26 Battalion) was awarded an M.B.E.