2/2nd Machine Gun Battalion (Australia)

2/2nd Machine Gun Battalion
2/2nd Machine Gun Battalion personnel operating a captured Japanese machine gun on Tarakan in 1945
Active	1940–1946
Country	Australia
Branch	Australian Army
Type	Infantry
Role	Direct fire support
Size	~ 800–900 personnel
Part of	7th Division 9th Division
Engagements	World War II North African campaign New Guinea campaign Borneo campaign
Commanders
Notable commanders	David Whitehead
Insignia
Unit colour patch (1940–42)
(1942–46)

The 2/2nd Machine Gun Battalion was an infantry support unit of the all-volunteer Second Australian Imperial Force that was raised for service overseas during the Second World War. Formed in mid-1940 in Sydney, from personnel drawn from the states of Queensland and New South Wales, the battalion was allocated to the Australian 9th Division. After completing training in Australia, the battalion operated in the Middle East between early 1941 and early 1943, seeing action against German and Italian forces at the First and Second Battles of El Alamein, and undertaking garrison duties in Syria as part of the Allied garrison that was established there after the Syria–Lebanon campaign.

In early 1943, the 2/2nd was brought back to Australia to fight several campaigns against the Japanese. The first of these came in September 1943 when the battalion landed east of Lae in New Guinea and then took part in the advance to secure the town, which fell within a fortnight. This was followed by fighting on the Huon Peninsula, which saw the battalion undertake an amphibious landing at Scarlet Beach and then take part in actions around Finschhafen, Sattelberg and Sio until it was withdrawn back to Australia in early 1944. In mid-1945, the machine gunners from the 2/2nd supported landings on Tarakan, Labuan and Brunei Bay as part of Allied efforts to recapture Borneo. After the war, the battalion was disbanded in February 1946.