7th Machine Gun Battalion (Australia)

7th Machine Gun Battalion
Active 1942–44
Country Australia
Branch Australian Army
Type Infantry
Role Direct and indirect fire support
Size ~ 900 personnel
Part of 17th Brigade
Engagements

World War II

Insignia
Unit Colour Patch

The 7th Machine Gun Battalion was a battalion of the Australian Army that was raised for service during World War II. A Militia unit, it was formed in 1942 under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Terry Farrell through the amalgamation of the machine gun companies of six infantry battalions: the 3rd, 36th, 39th, 49th, 53rd and 55th.[1] Equipped with Vickers medium machine guns, it subsequently deployed to New Guinea where they were assigned in support of the 7th Brigade, taking part in the Battle of Wau – with two companies being attached to the 7th from the 2/1st Machine Gun Battalion[2] – being flown in to provide protection to the airfield there in late January and early February 1943.[3] It later served around Milne Bay, before the battalion was disbanded in 1944.[4]

References

Citations
  1. ↑ Harris.
  2. ↑ Australian War Memorial.
  3. ↑ McCarthy 1959, p. 558.
  4. ↑ Campbell 2013.
Bibliography
  • "2/1st Machine Gun Battalion". Second World War, 1939–1945 units. Australian War Memorial. Archived from the original on 3 February 2014. Retrieved 30 January 2014.
  • Campbell, John (2013). New Guinea Machine Gunners: A History of 7th Machine Gun Battalion AIF 1942–1944. Jannali, New South Wales. ISBN 9780987238726.
  • Harris, Ted. "Patches of the Infantry, Pioneers, Parachute, Machine Gun Battalions and BCOF". Digger History. Archived from the original on 12 July 2007. Retrieved 1 May 2016.
  • McCarthy, Dudley (1959). South–West Pacific Area – First Year: Kokoda to Wau. Australia in the War of 1939–1945. Series 1 – Army. 5. Canberra: Australian War Memorial. OCLC 186193870.
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