Commando News issue 15 2019

SIGNIFICANT COMMANDO DATES
APRIL to JULY
APRIL
1942
Detachment 1 st Independent Company under the command of Captain Roy Howard (later the first Qld
Cdo Assoc President), was moved to Kudjeru, in New Guinea, to guard against possible Japanese movement
south of Wau along the Bulldog Track. In the process they became the first Australian Army unit to cross
the Owen Stanley Range.
17 th of April 1942
2/5 Cdo Coy arrives in Port Moresby, New Guinea during an air raid.
19 th /20 th April 1942
Members of the 2/2 Cdo Coy were able to make contact with Darwin from the mountains of Timor for the first
time since beginning the guerrilla campaign, using a wireless transmitter nicknamed Winnie the War Winner.
April 1943
2/4 Cdo Coy reforms as the 2/4 Cdo Sqn at the Jungle Warfare School at Canungra, Qld after returning from
Portuguese Timor.
Special Operations Australia (SOA) was formed. To avoid confusion in the names between SOA & Special
Operations Europe (SOE), from May the cover name Special Reconnaissance Department (SRD) was used instead.
25 th of April 2001
4 RAR Cdo (4 Cdo) officially commences a six month operational deployment to East Timor as part of the
United Nations Transitional Administration East Timor (UNTAET). The Bn deploys to SECTOR WEST as the
Australian Battalion (AUSBAT) and monitors the Northern region against the West Timor border. This is the first
time Australian Commandos have deployed to Timor as a complete unit since the 2/2 & 2/4 Cdo Coys in 1942.
MAY
1941
No1 Independent Company was raised and trained at Wilsons Promontory Victoria, the home and birthplace
of Australian Commando.
May 1942
2/6 & 2/7 Cdo Coy’s formed at Wilsons Promontory, Victoria.
May 1943
53 men of 2/3 Cdo Sqn conducts an attack on Ambush Knoll in New Guinea against the Japanese Imperial
Army (JIA) and takes the position. The JIA attempts several counter attacks over several days, but are repelled
each time.
2/5 Cdo Coy reforms as the 2/5 Cdo Sqn of the 2/7 Cdo Regt at the Jungle Warfare School at Canungra, Qld
after returning from New Guinea.
2/7 Cdo Coy conducts combat operations in Bena Bena, New Guinea as part of Bena Force.
2/4 Cdo Sqn conducts combat operations against the Japanese on Tarakan Island off Borneo.
2/9 Cdo Sqn lands at Dove Bay, Wewak and established the beachhead.
3 rd of May 1945
2/4 Cdo Sqn squadron is involved in one of the last campaigns of WW2 when it landed on Tarakan Island
in May 1945 and took part in the Borneo campaign.
13 th - 19 th of May 1945
2/10 Cdo Sqn is surrounded by Japanese troops in the Wewak area and fights off numerous attacks.
COMMANDO NEWS ~ Edition 15 I 2019 7