Honner Force was the name given to an ad hoc composite
Australian Army
The Australian Army is the principal land warfare force of Australia, a part of the Australian Defence Force (ADF) along with the Royal Australian Navy and the Royal Australian Air Force. The Army is commanded by the Chief of Army (CA), wh ...
force of approximately 500 men under the command of Lieutenant Colonel
Ralph Honner, which served in the
New Guinea campaign in 1942 in
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
.
It was formed on 11 September 1942, under 7th Australian Division Operational Instruction Number 10 and drew manpower from the
36th,
55th Battalion and
49th Battalions, which each provided approximately a
company, plus a detachment from
2/6th Independent Company. The force was sent out by the
New Guinea Force
New Guinea Force was a military command unit for Australian, United States and native troops from the Territories of Papua and New Guinea serving in the New Guinea campaign during World War II. Formed in April 1942, when the Australian First Arm ...
via Laloki–Goldie River to cut the enemy line of communications between Menari and Nauro. Consisting mainly of eighteen- and nineteen-year-old
militiamen
A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...
who were barely trained and ill-equipped, Honner Force found it difficult to traverse the muddy tracks and dense jungle, however, by 19 September they had reached the vicinity of Omaramara. The majority of the men were exhausted from the march, and the aerial re-supply that had been planned for them did not eventuate. As such they were unable to move beyond the limits of which ground supply could reach them. As the strategic situation around Kokoda had stabilised by then, it was decided that the force was in no condition to conduct offensive operations and they were subsequently disbanded shortly after with the men returning to their parent units without having seen action.
[AWM 52: 8/3/88, entry for 11 Sept 1942; Trigellis-Smith 1992, p. 72.]
Notes
References
* AWM52: 8/3/75/2 - 36th Australian Infantry Battalion War Diary, May–September 1942
* AWM52: 8/3/88/6 - 49th Australian Infantry Battalion War Diary, April–September 1942
* AWM52: 8/3/91/7 - 55th Australian Infantry Battalion War Diary, September–December 1942
* Trigellis-Smith, Syd. (1992). ''The Purple Devils: A History of the 2/6th Australian Commando Squadron''. Published by the 2/6th Commando Squadron Association: Melbourne. {{ISBN, 0-646-07125-4
Military units and formations of Australia in World War II
Ad hoc units and formations of Australia
Military units and formations established in 1942
Military units and formations disestablished in 1942