5th Australian Army Troops Company

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Brief History

Formed on a reduced scale in late 1939 this unit was mobilised at Coburg, Victoria in December 1941. They worked on major construction and maintenance projects across the Melbourne metropolitan area. In August 1942 they moved to Goondiwindi in Queensland, and in September to Warwick.

In March 1943 the unit moved to Milne Bay in New Guinea where they carried ou construction work o the developing forward base. In July 1943 they were slated to return to Australia for a reat, but were retained in New Guinea before moving to Torokina in September 1944 on Bougainville to prepare a base for the Australian troops taking over from static US Troops beign released for action to the north. One platoon set up a sawmill, while the rest worked on construction projects and provided essential services. They were relieved in May 1945. When hostilities ceased, they were allocated to 2nd Prisoner of War Reception Group, moving to Singapore to recover Australian and Briish POWs. They returned to Australia in early 1946.

Unit Personnel

• Eric Raymond Willison 21 Ug - 24 Oct 1945

Notes

Content has come from The Unit Guide - Volume 3 - The Australian Army 1939-1945, page 3.489 - Graham R McKenzie-Smith - Big Sky Publishing - 2018