About This Unit
22 Brigade Headquarters (2nd AIF WW2) 8th Division 1940-42
The 8th Division formed as the last of four Divisions of the 2nd AIF. Unlike the other three, the 8th Division was despached not to the Middle East but to Australia's northern periphery including Malaya /Singapore and the islands of Timor, Ambon and New Britain.
The three Brigades of the 8th Division were:
22nd (aka EastForce) comprising the 2nd/18th Battalion, 2nd/19th Battalion, and the 2nd/20th Battalion. and the 22 Anti Tank Company (which did not deploy to Malaya) all from NSW.
23rd (Darwin and from which were derived Sparrow (2nd/40th Battalion), Gull (2nd/21st Battalion) and Lark (2nd/22nd Battalion) Forces, assigned respectively to the islands listed above), and
27th Brigade comprising the 2nd/26th Battalion (Qld), 2nd/29th Battalion (Vic) and the 2nd/30th Battalion (NSW).