8th Australian Mechanical Equipment Company

13 Dec 1945 Wau-Labu, New Guinea. Blakes Bridge, a new suspension bridge built by the 8th Aust Mechanical Equipment Company over the Snake River. AWM photo 099380

12 Jan 1946. Wau-Labu Road. Camp of the 8th Mechanical Equipment Coy RAE, at Mumerg, 55 miles (92 km) from Labu overlooking the Snake River. AWM Photo 099590

Brief History

Formed at Ingleburn in New South Wales in December 1941 as the 9th Australian Field Company it was attached to the 9th Australian Infantry Brigade which at that time as responsible for defending the north Sydney beaches. The unit also had a section at Wollongong, while the main unit moved to St Ives in January 1942. Between March and June 1942 they were relocated to Wallgrove, but in June they returned to St Ives from where they continued to work on improving the forward positions. During October they underwent bridging training.

With rapid advances in New Guinea, Lilliput Force was established and sent to Port Moresby with the objective of quickly developing and then defending Buna as a major port. 9th Australian Field Company was included , and they left Sydney in January 1943, but on arrival in Port Moresby they were instead sent to Bulldog to assist in constructing a road to Wau. In March they started at 8 Mile Camp, moving to Johnstone's Gap Camp in May, and to Edie Creek in August finishing the road to the standard of a Jeep track by September. The early capture of Lae reduced the need to upgrade the track further. The unit remained at Edie Creek to maintain the road until December 1943 when they relocated to Gabensis to work on the new road connecting Wau with Lae. In September with this road complete the unit moved to Lae to undertake road works within the Lae base area.

In November 1944 the 9th Australian Field Company moved to Jacquinot Bay to establish a base area, but having already been in New Guinea for 22 months they were relieved and sent back to the Royal Australian Engineers Training Centre at Kapooka for rest, retraining and reassignment. With more machinery becoming available several of the Field Companies were converted to mechanical equipment companies, with 9t Australian Field Company becoming 8th Australian Mechanical Equipment Company in April 1945. Following training in their new role the unit moved to Parramatta in July and when the war ended in August, they were in transit to Lae in new Guinea. On arrival they were put to work on the Wau - Labu road until 1946

Unit Personnel

• William Albert Nicholls

Notes

Content has come from The Unit Guide - Volume 3 - The Australian Army 1939-1945, page 3.449 - Graham R McKenzie-Smith - Big Sky Publishing - 2018