Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

8th Garrison Battalion NSW (Coast Defence)

8th Garrison Battalion was raised in New South Wales and throughout the war was responsible for coastal defence in and around the Newcastle region. Thus, on 11 December 1941 8th Garrison Battalion was allocated to the Newcastle Covering Force. It remained part of the NCF as a singular unit until 2 February 1942 when it was transferred to the 32nd Infantry Brigade which also comprised the 4th and the 33rd Infantry Battalions. The 32nd Brigade took over command of the NCF until 15 April 1942 when it was converted and absorbed into the 10th Division. During this time it is unknown what happened to the 8 Garrison Battalion and consequently the unit’s disbandment date is also currently unknown.

Garrison Battalions were part of the Australian 'Army Reserve' within the CMF Militia structure for Homeland Defence with the role of manning fixed defences and vulnerable points. The personnel were Class B men, those between 48 and 55 who had seen war service before September 1939, therefore mostly WW1 veterans.

The first seven Garrison battalions were raised in October 1939. A total of 33 were raised across the States numbered 1-33 and where more than three battalions were raised, they were grouped in State-based Brigades, numbered in accordance with the relevant Military District Headquarters in which they were embedded; 1 Garrison Brigade in Queensland, 2 in New South Wales, 3 in Victoria, 4 in South Australia and 5 in Western Australia.  A number of Battalions were merged and others reduced to a single company which retained the original Battalion number.

Prisoner-of-War and Internment Camp units were part of the Garrison Battalion organisation but were on a special establishment where the need for prior war service was waived. AWAS (female) personnel were subsequently often posted in for clerical and administrative roles.

From early on some battalions had adopted a secondary title indicating their specific role, such as (Internal Security). In 1942 this was formalised and most battalions were given an appropriate secondary title.

Initially, all Garrison Battalions wore the same shoulder patch, a black square on a green square. Numerous requests were made by battalions to individualise their patches and in late 1942 the system was adopted of geometric shapes, green on black in a reversal of the original design, approval for which was dated 11 December 1942