18th Australian Field Ambulance

Personnel from 18th Field Ambulance building wards of the Air Evacuation Hospital at Nadzab Airstrip. AWM photo 076627

Brief History

Formed at Ingleburn in September 1941 to service the 28th Infantry Brigade Group, they moved first to Narellan. Mobilised in December, they moved to Appin with their 'A' Company at West Wollongong and 'B' Company at Sutherland. In January 1942 the companies swapped locations, before 'A' Company returned to Appin in February. Training continued until October when they moved to Narellan and in December they rejoined the 28th Brigade in Rutherford. In June 1943 they were left the 28th Brigade and moved to Kairi in Queensland. In July 'A' Company took over the hospital at Wondecla and in August they all undertook amphibious training at Cairns.

In November 1943 the 18th Australian Field Ambulance move to Oro Bay in New Guinea to service the base troops. Then in March 1944 'A' Company moved to the Lae, with the rest of the unit at Simemi. 'A' Company continued to operate the Medical Staging Post at Lae, in addition to the air evacuation posts at Lae, Nadzab and Dumpu while the rest of the unit moved to Finschhafen where they ran the Medical Dressing Station at Siki Grove and the Advanced Dressing Station at Kiligia. In June the HQ unit had moved to Lae and 'B' Company moved to Madang in July. The unit was concentrated at Lae in July 1945 where they remained until the war ended.

Unit Personnel

• Percival Norman (Percy) Buckingham 24 Aug - 14 Oct 1945

Patients

• Thomas Malarkey 15-17 Feb 1945

Individual Honours

• 4 x Mentioned in Despatches

Notes

Content has come from The Unit Guide - Volume 4 - The Australian Army 1939-1945, page 4.073 - Graham R McKenzie-Smith - Big Sky Publishing - 2018