New Guinea General Details Depot
From Our Contribution
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Brief History
This unit first came into being as the 8th Military District General Details & Training Depot in January 1942 at Port Moresby. Its role was to hold and distribute all the men that were excess to their unit's War Establishment, as well as reinforcements arriving from Australia or returning from hospitals or courses. In March it was renamed the 8th Military District Base Depot & Training Centre. Further re-organised in May 1942, it became the New Guinea Force Reinforcement Depot when a new training centre was established.
At the peak of the Kokoda campaign in September 1942 the unit moved to a base near Sogeri, and in October it was renamed New Guinea Force General Reinforcements before moving to Murray Barracks in Port Moresby. In September 1943 they handed over the role of reinforcement management to become the New Guinea Force General Details Depot and moved to Donadabu in October with a detachment of two sections sent to Milne Bay in November. In April 1944 a section from Milne Bay moved to Lae, and in May 1944 the other section returned to Port Moresby. The parent unit then moved to Lae in June, leaving a section behind in Port Moresby to operate as a transit depot. In August 1944 a section moved to Madang, and in October another to Torokina. By war's end there were detachments at Nadzab, Finschhafen, Salamaua, Aitape, Wewak and Moem.
Passing through
- David Gibson 5 - 24 Jan 1943
- Frederick Joseph Powell 27 Nov 1943 - 18 Jan 1944
- John Blair 23 - 26 May 1944
- Mervyn Roy Drummond 1 Jan - 24 Feb 1945
- Roy Kershaw 3 - 11 May 1945
Notes
Content has come from The Unit Guide - Volume 6 - The Australian Army 1939-1945, pages 6.426 & 6.427 - Graham R McKenzie-Smith - Big Sky Publishing - 2018