The 2/43rd Battalion was an infantry battalion of the Australian Army. Raised in July 1940 in South Australia as part of the 24th Brigade, the battalion was initially part of the 8th Division, until the 24th Brigade was re-allocated to the 9th Division in late 1940. It was with this formation that the 2/43rd saw service in the Middle East in 1941–1942, taking part in the fighting at Tobruk and in the First and Second Battles of El Alamein. It also undertook garrison duties in Syria, before returning to Australia early in 1943 to fight against the Japanese in the Pacific.
In 1943–1944, after re-organisation and training to prepare for jungle warfare, the 2/43rd fought in New Guinea, as part of operations to capture Lae and secure the Huon Peninsula. After returning to Australia in early 1944, a long period of training followed on the Atherton Tablelands in Queensland, before the battalion undertook its final campaign of the war, taking part in Allied operations to re-take Borneo from the Japanese in June 1945. Following the end of the war, the battalion was disbanded in February 1946. One member of the battalion, Private Tom Starcevich, was awarded the Victoria Cross.
History
Formation and training The 2/43rd Battalion was raised at Woodside, South Australia, on 17 July 1940 from Second Australian Imperial Force (2nd AIF) volunteers. It was one of three infantry battalions assigned to the 24th Brigade – the other two being the 2/25th and 2/28th Battalions – which was initially assigned to the 8th Division. Like other Australian infantry battalions of the time, the 2/43rd had an authorised strength of around 900 personnel, and was organised into four rifle companies – designated 'A' through to 'D' – each consisting of three platoons; these were supported by a battalion headquarters and a headquarters company with six specialist platoons: signals, pioneer, anti-aircraft, transport, carriers and mortars.
Upon formation, the 2/15th was placed under the command of Lieutenant Colonel William Crellin, an Australian Staff Corps officer and Duntroon graduate of the Permanent Military Forces who arrived on promotion from major, having previously served in World War I with the 14th Battalion. The colours initially chosen for the battalion's unit colour patch (UCP) were chocolate and dark blue in an oval shape, inside a circle of grey. These were the same as those of the 43rd Battalion, a South Australian unit that was part of the First Australian Imperial Force during World War I. That unit had been re-raised in South Australia in 1921 as a Militia formation, eventually adopting the designation of the Hindmarsh Regiment. The 2/43rd's unit colour patch was later changed, following the unit's involvement in the fighting at Tobruk, when it adopted a T-shaped UCP consisting of red and white.
The battalion's personnel during the early stages of its existence were volunteers who enlisted within the 4th Military District, which encompassed South Australia and Broken Hill, New South Wales. Many of the commissioned officers and some of the non-commissioned officers had previous military experience in the Militia, while the bulk of the enlisted personnel had no prior military service. Rudimentary individual soldier training was conducted along with sports meets throughout August, followed by skill-at-arms training and range shoots in September, while key appointment holders were sent away on various promotion and other specialist training courses. In early October, the battalion was presented with its battle flag by veterans who had served in the 43rd Battalion during World War I, and a short time later it was announced that the 24th Brigade would be transferred to join the 9th Division in the Middle East. More intense training, including company and battalion-level field training was conducted in the weeks that followed. In late November, the 2/43rd received their Unit colour patches in preparation for deployment and the battalion marched through the centre of Adelaide. Finally, on 28 December 1940, the men entrained at Oakbank, and were transported by rail to Melbourne, where they embarked on the transport Mauretania.
North Africa and the Middle East Escorted by the cruiser HMAS Canberra, the Mauretania proceeded along the southern Australian coast as part of a convoy of four other troopships. Reaching Fremantle, Western Australia, on 3 January 1941, a brief shore leave was granted before the convoy set sail across the Indian Ocean. From there, the convoy berthed at Colombo in Ceylon, where further shore leave was granted while arrangements were made to transfer the battalion to another ship, the Nevasa, for the remainder of the journey to Port Tewfik in Egypt, where it disembarked on 2 February 1941. From there, the battalion moved by rail to Palestine, where the 9th Division was attempting to make good its equipment and training deficiencies while the more experienced divisions – the 6th and 7th Divisions – led the Australian Army's efforts in Libya and later Greece. The 2/43rd subsequently moved into camp at Khasa, linking up with another South Australian battalion, the 2/27th, which had prepared the camp for their arrival.
In early February, acclimatisation training was conducted until the battalion's heavy equipment arrived in camp, including Bren carriers and trucks, when section level and platoon tactical training began. This increased in complexity and progressed to company-level exercises, culminating in battalion offensive manoeuvres. Leave was granted for the soldiers to visit Jerusalem and Tel Aviv. This ceased mid-March, when the battalion was ordered to cross the Suez Canal and take up positions west of the port of Tobruk to complete training prior to relieving the 6th Division in the desert. As British troops advanced west, pushing the Italians back through Libya during Operation Compass, plans were made for the 9th Division to move forward. In the end, only part of the division advanced past Tobruk and, due to lack of transport, the 24th Brigade garrisoned the port itself. In early April the advance turned into a withdrawal as Axis forces, bolstered by the arrival of the Afrika Korps, which had landed around Tripoli, launched a determined counter-attack. The 9th Division, along with the Australian 18th Brigade, from the 7th Division, withdrew intact to Tobruk, and within a week the advancing Axis forces had placed the strategic port under siege. The 2/43rd would remain there, manning defences, mounting patrols and conducting raids, for the next six months.
The battalion's most significant action around Tobruk came on 3 August, when 'A' and 'B' Companies attacked a German outpost on the right flank of the "Salient", designated "R7" by the Allied operational staff. The attack was part of an attempt to reduce the German-held Salient, which had developed in the line south-west of Bianca. In conjunction with the 2/43rd's attack, the 2/28th Battalion attacked the left flank around posts "S6" and "S7" from the north. Heavy fighting around R7 resulted in 100 Australian casualties, the majority being borne by 'B' Company, and the fighting ended in the Australian assault being repulsed followed by a temporary truce for both sides to collect casualties. During the truce, German sappers led the Australian stretcher bearers through the German-laid minefields. Finally, in October, the decision was made to withdraw the Australian garrison from Tobruk by sea. By this time, the 2/43rd was holding the Bardia Road sector, and after two successful raids on Italian positions, which resulted in around 75 Italian casualties, the battalion was withdrawn. As part of the evacuation, the 2/43rd was taken aboard the Australian destroyer HMAS Nizam and the Royal Navy's HMS Latona on 17 October 1941. The Australians were replaced by British troops from the 70th Division, with the 2/43rd handing over to troops from the Durham Light Infantry. Casualties for the battalion during the siege of Tobruk amounted to 38 killed in action, 13 died of wounds, 156 wounded, and four captured.
Following its evacuation from Tobruk, the 2/43rd was landed in Alexandria, after which it moved by buses to Amiriya and then by train, crossing the Suez at Kantara, and arriving in camp at Kilo 89 in Palestine on 20 October. There, the battalion was rested, and received several drafts of reinforcements, mainly consisting of volunteers from Western Australia. In mid-December, after the battalion had moved to Khassa, Crellin handed over command of the battalion to Lieutenant Colonel William Wain, a former Militia officer who had served with the 7th Battalion during World War I, and who came on promotion from the 2/16th Battalion, where he had served as battalion second-in-command. After a bitterly cold Christmas in Palestine, early in the new year, the 9th Division was ordered to move to Syria, where it was to join the Allied garrison that had been established there following the brief Syria–Lebanon campaign to counter a possible Axis attack on the Allied flank through the Caucasus Mountains. The 9th Division was assigned to guard the Tripoli area, in the northern sector of the Allied defence system. Under this plan, the 2/43rd was assigned winter quarters at Arbe, and it spent four months in the Lebanese mountains near Jebel Tourbol, before moving to Bechmezzine in May. Guard duties included manning checkpoints at the mouth of the Chekka Tunnel, while brigade-level exercises were conducted in the Syrian desert around Forgloss in early June. At the end of the month, the 9th Division received orders to move back to Egypt as the situation in North Africa became critical for the Allies, as the Afrika Korps advancing steadily in the Western Desert.
Committed to the fighting around El Alamein in early July, the 24th Brigade, having recently completed desert training, moved to Ruweisat Ridge, over south of El Alamein, situated on the coast. For the next four months, the 2/43rd formed part of the northern sector of Allied defences within what came to be known as the "Alamein box". Tasked with harassing Axis forces, the 2/43rd's first action came on the night of 7/8 July, when 'D' Company launched a very successful raid, which caught the German forces in the area by surprise and resulted in the destruction of many vehicles and artillery pieces, as well as the re-capture of a British Bren carrier that was driven away from German lines. On 17 July, the 2/43rd was involved in actions around Ruin Ridge, in conjunction with the 2/32nd Battalion's attack on a position known as Trig 22 on Makh Khad Ridge. Advancing astride the Qattara track, during the action the 2/43rd captured over 1,000 Italian prisoners, for the loss of 81 casualties, before withdrawing from Ruin Ridge. The 24th Brigade launched a follow-up attack on 22 July on Makh Khad Ridge and Ruin Ridge, in conjunction with an attack by the 26th Brigade on Tel Eisa; this attack saw the 2/43rd, having detached one company to support the 2/32nd, heavily committed once again. A further thrust was put in on 26/27 July, with the 2/43rd being tasked with a follow-up role, which was cancelled after attacks by the 2/28th and the British 69th Infantry Brigade failed; instead the battalion only played a supporting role during the attack, bringing up ammunition under fire with its carriers, and providing supporting fire to the 2/28th Battalion. In August and September, during a lull in the fighting, the battalion undertook patrols into no-man's land. Casualties during the first phase of the battalion's involvement in the fighting around El Alamein between early July and mid-October amounted to 36 killed in action, 12 died of wounds, two accidentally killed, 28 wounded and four captured.