Australian 2/22 Batallion / Lark Force.

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Australian 2/22nd Battalion

The 2/22nd Infantry Battalion, part of the 23rd Brigade of the 8th Division, was raised on 1 July 1940, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Howard Carr. The battalion was initially headquartered at Victoria Barracks in Melbourne but on 11 July moved to Trawool in central Victoria for training. On 24 September the 2/22nd began to move to Bonegilla, near Wodonga on the New South Wales–Victoria border. The battalion made the 235 km journey on foot and arrived on 4 October. Training soon resumed, occupying the battalion until it entrained for Sydney, ultimately bound for New Britain on 17 April 1941.
The 2/22nd arrived at Rabaul, the administrative centre of New Britain, on 26 April. It combined with the local unit of the New Guinea Volunteer Rifles, a coastal defence battery, an anti-aircraft battery, and elements of the 2/10th Field Ambulance and 17th Anti-tank Battery to form Lark Force. The force would later be supported by 24 Squadron, Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF). Its role was to protect the airfields at Lakunai and Vunakanau, and the seaplane base at Rabaul, as well as provide early warning of Japanese movements through the islands to Australia’s north. Like the other “bird forces’ deployed to Australia’s north, Lark Force was ill-equipped and likely to be overwhelmed by enemy attack. Nonetheless, the 2/22nd spent the next months constructing defences and training for operation in a tropical environment.
Japanese bombing of New Britain began in early January 1942, increasing in intensity as the month continued. By the morning of 22 January 24 Squadron was virtually destroyed and its three remaining aircraft were withdrawn. With no use for the airstrips, both were destroyed and Lark Force withdrew from Rabaul, waiting on the western shores of Blanche Bay for the inevitable Japanese landings.
These began at 1 am on 23 January. By 9 am, communication failures and the overwhelming Japanese strength – 5,000 troops compared to the 1,400 of Lark Force – destroyed the cohesion of the Australian defence. The Lark Force commander, Colonel John Scanlan, ordered a withdrawl on the morning of 23 January on the basis of “every man for himself”. Unprepared for retreat, chaos ensued and Lark Force disintegrated.
In ensuing days, 2/22nd parties, ranging from company-strength down to pairs and individuals, sought escape along New Britain’s north and south coasts. Some found small boats and got away under their own auspices; others were picked up by larger vessels operating from New Guinea. Around 400 members of Lark Force managed to return to Australia, 300 of which were members of the 2/22nd.
Approximately 160 Australians captured by the Japanese while trying to escape were massacred at Tol Plantation and another 836 were interned as prisoners of war. On 22 June 1942 a group of Australian prisoners and European civilians were loaded aboard the Montevideo Maru to be transported to Hainan Island. The ship was sunk on 1 July by the submarine USS Sturgeon off the Phillipines, killing all 1,053 prisoners and civilian internees. The Australian officers and a small number of civilians who were left behind at Rabual were subsequently shipped to Japan on the Natuno Maru, were they remained until liberated in September 1945.
The 2/22nd was never re-raised.

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There was talk about amalgamating the 3rd Militia battalion with the remnants of the 2/22 as Lt.Col. Cameron was given command of the 3rd to replace Lt.Col. Paul who, being a WW1 soldier, found he was unable to keep up going up the Kokoda Track, after his time with the 39th but the 3rd flatly rejected being called 3/22 so the 3rd was disbanded and members went to the 2/3 the 36th or scattered far and wide
the War Diary entry explaining the situation is for the 17/4/43
http://www.awm.gov.au/diaries/ww2/folder.asp?folder=494

Rod

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Thanks Rod,

Great info. I haven't looked into the war diaries that much.

Good to see you on the boards.

My dad was 2/8th 19th brigade 6th Div up to Tobruk where he forgot to duck (his words).

[Kyt]

This is a list that includes those of 2/22 who became POWs and their fates. Very sad reading:

SOLDIERS of LARK FORCE and CIVILIANS <br> COMMEMORATING those who Served; Who Died and those who Escaped from NEW BRITAIN - 1942.