Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

My great uncle Matt enlisted in the AMF (see below) at the age of 24 years and trained at the Chermside Army Camp 7th Brigade Park from September 1940 until July 1942 at which juncture he embarked on the troop carrier steamship Taroona from Townsville to Milne Bay, PNG.
He disembarked the Taroona at Milne Bay on 11 July 1942 (embarked 8 July 1942).
After three months serving as a sapper in the 24th Field Company, Royal Australian Engineers in the Battle of Milne Bay, he contracted malaria and returned to Brisbane on the Hospital Ship Manunda arriving 12 December 1942. After recovering and being returned to General Details Depot, he was discharged on compassionate grounds on 18 January 1943.

Notes:
During World War Two, the Australian Army fielded dual forces. There was the 2nd Australian Imperial Force (AIF) that comprised volunteers who could serve anywhere overseas. The Australian Military Forces (AMF) were the voluntary part-time militia that was the mainstay of the Interwar army. Constitutionally, the militia could only serve within Australian territory (including Papua & New Guinea). On 1 January 1940, conscription for all unmarried men aged 21 years or older into the AMF began. As a result, new militia training camps such as Chermside Army Camp were required. Chermside Camp operated from October 1940 to April 1946. It was the largest AMF camp built in Brisbane during the war.