Please Select...

• The Kokoda Trail
• Wartime Sketch Map
• The Pacific War 1942
• New Guinea Forces
  • Japanese South Seas Islands Force
  • Australian New Guinea Army Unit
  • PNG Wartime Carriers
  • The Commandos
  • Coastwatchers
  • US South West Pacific Force
  • Australian Imperial Force
  • Australian Militia
  • New Guinea Volunteer Rifles
  • Papuan Infantry Battalion
• Naval Battles
• The Kokoda Campaign
• Major Battles of the Kokoda Campaign
• Commanders
• Heroes
• Diggers
• Kokoda Citations
• Kokoda Casualties
• Bomana War Cemetry
• Kokoda Campaign Bibliography
• Homefront

The Papuan Infantry Battalion (PIB) was an infantry battalion of the Australian Army formed on 27 May 1940 in the territory of Papua, during World War II, in order to fight the Japanese.

The unit was slow in forming, with its first members posted in March 1941. By 1942 consisted of only three companies and were all understrength and poorly equipped. PIB was soon sent forward in June 1942 to patrol the northern coast of Papua and were dispersed over a wide area, led by Australian officers and NCOs. The small parties were the first to make contact with the Imperial Japanese forces upon landing in Papua. The battalion would ultimately serve in many of the allied campaigns in New Guinea, with its soldiers becoming noted for their ferocity and tenacity against the Japanese during the Kokoda Trail campaign, Salamaua-Lae campaign, Ramu Valley-Finisterre Range campaign, Bougainville campaign and Aitape-Wewak campaign.

The PIB had an establishment of about 77 Europeans and 550 native soldiers.

The Papuan Infantry Battalion (PIB) along with the 1st and 2nd New Guinea Infantry Battalion were amalgamated to form the Pacific Islands Regiment in November 1944. The 3rd and 4th New Guinea Infantry Battalion joined the regiment in 1945, although 4NGIB was soon disbanded, whilst the 5th New Guinea Infantry Battalion – although authorised – was never raised.

The first Australian Army unit to make contact with the Japanese on mainland New Guinea was a platoon from the Papuan Infantry Battalion (PIB), made up of indigenous soldiers, under an Australian officer, Lieutenant John Chalk.

On July 22, Chalk reported the arrival of the Japanese, by sending a runner to his immediate superior; he received a handwritten note later that day, stating simply: "You will engage the enemy." That night, Chalk and his 40-strong unit made a lightning ambush on Japanese forces from a hill overlooking the Gona–Sangara road, before retreating into the jungle.

The battalion was disbanded in August 1946.

Pacific Islands Regiment

The Pacific Islands Regiment was formed in November 1944 from an amalgamation of the Papuan Infantry Battalion (PIB) and the 1st and 2nd New Guinea Infantry Battalions (NGIB).

Recruiting for the PIB began in June 1940, with the first 63 recruits consisting of current and former members of the Royal Papuan Constabulary. This connection with the Royal Papuan Constabulary means that the PIB and the Pacific Islands Regiment can claim a lineage stretching back to 19th-century Armed Native Constabulary, which helped to police the Protectorate of British New Guinea.

All members of the PIB were volunteers. When the Japanese invaded Papua in July 1942 there were 300 indigenous Papuans serving in the battalion. By the time it was incorporated within the Pacific Islands Regiment in 1944 it had a strength of 700 men.

In the early stages of the Kokoda campaign the PIB fought alongside the Australian 39th Battalion as part of Maroubra Force. The PIB’s first engagement with the enemy occurred near Awala on 23 July 1942 when it participated in an ambush of Japanese troops advancing towards Kokoda. When the Australian 7th Division reinforced Maroubra Force, the PIB was organised into stretcher teams and assigned the vital task of carrying the sick and wounded back along the track to safety.

After Kokoda, the PIB took part in the advance to Salamaua, before fighting in New Guinea on the Huon peninsula, along the Markham, Ramu, and Sepik rivers, and on Bougainville.

In late 1943 New Guinea Force Headquarters, noting the success of the PIB, decided to create another battalion of indigenous soldiers. Made up largely of recruits enlisted at Malahang, near Lae, the NGIB was formed in March 1944 in the lower Markham valley. Indigenous New Guineans who had been in the PIB also joined the new battalion. A second NGIB was raised later in the same year. The 1st NGIB served on Bougainville and New Britain, and the 2nd NGIB fought alongside the Australian 6th Division in the Aitape–Wewak campaign.

A third NGIB was forming when the Pacific war ended, and a fourth was being planned. By the time it was disbanded in 1946 approximately 3,500 Papuans and New Guineans had served in the battalions of the Pacific Islands Regiment (PIR).

The PIR reformed in 1951 and consisted of two battalions, one stationed in Papua and the other in New Guinea. The PIR was formally controlled from Australia until Papua New Guinea’s independence in 1975. It was renamed the Royal Pacific Islands Regiment in 1985.

Sources:

To Find a Path 'The Life and Times of the Royal Pacific Islands Regiment' by James Sinclair
Australian War Memorial