2/14th Battalion (Australia)

2/14th Battalion
2/14th Battalion personnel training on the Atherton Tablelands, September 1944
Active	1940–1946
Country	Australia
Branch	Australian Army
Type	Infantry
Size	~800–900 personnel[Note 1]
Part of	21st Brigade, 7th Division
Engagements	World War II Syria–Lebanon campaign New Guinea campaign Finisterre Range campaign Battle of Balikpapan (1945)
Commanders
Notable commanders	Ralph Honner
Insignia
Unit colour patch

The 2/14th Battalion was an infantry battalion of the Australian Army that served during World War II. Part of the 21st Brigade, 7th Division, the battalion was raised from Second Australian Imperial Force volunteers drawn mainly from the state of Victoria. After completing training in Australia in 1940, the battalion deployed to the Middle East where it was stationed in Egypt and Palestine before it saw action against the Vichy French in Syria in June and July 1941, in a short lived campaign. Garrison duties in Lebanon followed before the battalion was withdrawn to Australia in early 1942 as Australian forces were concentrated in the Pacific to respond to the threat posed by Japan's entry into the war.

After a short period of re-training in Australia to prepare for jungle warfare, the battalion was deployed to New Guinea in August 1942 as the Australians sent reinforcements to the Kokoda Track to fight against Japanese forces that had been advancing towards Port Moresby. After the Japanese were forced to exhaust their supplies they began to fall back towards their beachheads on the north coast. The 2/14th was part of the Australian advance that then saw further action around Gona. In September 1943, after a period of re-organisation in Australia, the battalion took part in the advance on Lae as the Allies went on the offensive in New Guinea, before taking part in the fighting in the Markham and Ramu Valleys of the Finisterre Range campaign. The battalion's final involvement in the war came in the landing on Balikpapan in 1945. The 2/14th was disbanded after the war, in early 1946.

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