About This Unit
12/50 Battalion AMF
The antecedent Battalions of this unit were the Tasmanian 12th and the South Australian (Broken Hill) 50th Battalions. The 50th was 'moved' to Victoria in the interwar re-organisation of the Militia and was effectively 'orphaned' from its roots and the men who had made its reputation in the Great War.
In December 1936 the linking of the 12th and the 50th Infantry Battalions took place, the 12th/50th Infantry Battalion was a Militia unit that served from the start of World War Two until 2 May 1945 when it became the 12th/40th Infantry Battalion. During its service in Australia, the 12th/50th Infantry Battalion had largely beeng a part of York Force - a group of Militia units used for the defence of Cape York Peninsula in Queensland.
Just prior to 2 May 1945, however, the 50th Infantry Battalion was unlinked from the 12th Infantry Battalion and disbanded. The 12th was then paired with its historic sister Battalion, the Tasmanian 40th Infantry Battalion and the two were was then linked together with the 12th to form the 12th/40th Infantry Battalion which saw out the rest of World War Two doing various home defence duties.