Commando Magazine edition 3 2020

The 2 nd /8 th Independent Com -
pany (2/8 Ind Coy) was one of
12 Independent Company’s/
Cav (Com mando) Squadrons raised by
the Australian Army during the Second
World War. Raised in July 1942 as the
2/8 Ind Coy, the 2/8 Ind Coy spent the
early years of the war performing
garrison duties in the Northern Territory.
In July 1944, the 2/8 Ind Coy sailed to
Lae, in New Guinea from where they
launched a clandestine reconnaissance
operation on the island of New Britain. Later, attached to
the II Corps, it participated in the Bougainville campaign,
during which it was in action continuously for a period of
nine months right up until the Japanese surrendered in
August 1945. Following the end of hostilities, the 2/8 Ind
Coy returned to Australia, and was disbanded at Liver -
pool, New South Wales in early January 1946.
Formation & Home Duties
The 2/8 Ind Coy was formed at Wilsons Promontory, in
Victoria in July 1942. Consisting of 17 officers and 256
other ranks, the company was organised into a Head
Quarters, three Commando Platoons, with attached
signals, medical and engineering sections. It undertook
training at the Guerrilla Warfare School that had been set
up at Wilsons Prom, before being sent to Northern
Australia to serve in a garrison role. During this time the
company was stationed at Yandina, Queensland, and then
later at the Adelaide River, in the Northern Territory. In
1943, as part of a re-organisation of the Independent
Company concept, the 2/8 Ind Coy was renamed the
2 nd /8 th Cavalry (Commando) Squadron which was later
shortened to the 2/8 th Commando Squadron (2/8 Cdo
Sqn). Despite this re-organisation, however, while other
Commando Squadrons were amalgamated together into
a regimental structure, the 2/8 Cdo Sqn remained inde -
pendent and when they finally deployed overseas in mid-
1944 to New Guinea, they were sent as an independent
unit attached to the Australian II Corps 1 .
New Britain Campaign
The squadron embarked from Townsville, Queensland,
on 22 July 1944 and sailed to Lae, via Milne Bay, on board
the SS Ormiston. While they were there, they received an
intake of 70 experienced men from some of the other
Commando Squadrons as reinforcements. Following this,
the squadron undertook a period of jungle warfare train -
ing. After a few months, in mid-September, a small
THE DOUBLE WHITES
2 nd /8 th Independent Company/Commando Squadron, 1942-1946
1
The II Corps was an Australian Army corps, one of three that were raised
by the Army during the Second World War. Formed in mid-1942 as part
of defensive measures to protect the eastern coast of Australia from
invasion, the corps was initially composed mainly of home defence
troops drawn from the Militia. For a brief period in 1942, a US Infantry
Division was also assigned to the Corps prior to its dispatch to fight the
Japanese in New Guinea.
The White Double Diamonds of the
2 nd /8 th Independent Company/Cav
Commando Squadron
detach ment of the 2/8 Cdo Sqn
participated in a small-scale recon nais -
sance operation at Jacquinot Bay on
the island of New Britain, to collect
intelligence in preparation for an assault
by the 5 th Division, 2 AIF. As part of this
operation, elements from 'C' Troop and
a small detach ment from 'B' Troop,
from the 2/8 Cdo Sqn, provided the
protection force for the reconnaissance
party that was put ashore from the
corvette HMAS Kiama, setting up a
position on the beach and conducting a number of patrols
further inland. This operation was a success and later, in
November, the 5 th Australian Division 2 , conducted an
amphibious landing in the area unopposed.
Bougainville Campaign
In October, the 2/8 Cdo Sqn was transported on the
troopship Aconagua to Torokina, which was the main
Australian base on Bougainville, where it joined the rest of
II Corps, who were concentrating in the area for the
upcoming Bougainville campaign. As the campaign
progressed the squadron conducted patrols from Toro -
kina to Kuraio Mission and Amun in the Northern sector
on a weekly basis throughout November and into
December, before handing over responsibility of the area
to the 11 th Brigade and being transferred to the Southern
sector. This was where the main battle for Bougainville
was being fought, and as the 3 rd Australian Division 3
advanced along the coast towards the Japanese base at
Buin, the 2/8 Cdo Sqn was tasked to provide flank
protection for the division. As a part of this, they con -
ducted a number of reconnaissance patrols, often moving
part of the way by barge, as well as conducting ambushes
in order to keep the enemy off balance.
This lasted for almost nine months from December
1944 right up to the end of the war in August 1945, during
which time the 2/8 Cdo Sqn was in action almost
continuously. It was a long and hard campaign, and to a
2
The 5 th Division was re-raised as a Militia formation during the Second
World War, and was mobilised for the defence of North Queensland in
1942, when it was believed that the area was a prime site for an invasion
by Japanese forces. Most of the division was concentrated in the Towns -
ville area, although the 11 th Brigade was detached for the defence of
Cairns and Cape York. In 1943, the division took part in the final stages
of the Salamaua–Lae campaign, in New Guinea, and then later in 1944
captured Madang during the Huon Peninsula campaign. In 1944-1945,
the division was committed to the New Britain campaign, before being
relieved in July 1945. The division was disbanded in September 1945
following the end of the war.
3
The 3 rd Division was mobilised for war during WW2 in December 1941
and initially undertook defensive duties in Australia before being
deployed to New Guinea in 1943 where they took part in the Salamaua–
Lae campaign against the Japanese in 1943-1944, before returning to
Australia for rest and reorganisation. In late 1944 they were sent to
Bougainville to take part in their final campaign of the war. There they
undertook a series of advances across the island before the war came to
an end in August 1945.
COMMANDO ~ The Magazine of the Australian Commando Association ~ Edition 3 I 2020 49