Raised in April 1940 from volunteers for overseas service as part of the
Second Australian Imperial Force, the regiment's first commanding officer was Lieutenant Colonel
Thomas Eastick, who had formerly commanded the 13th Field Brigade. Upon formation, it initially consisted of a regimental headquarters and two
batteries: the 13th, which was formed in
South Australia, and the 14th, in
Western Australia. Later, a third battery – the 57th – was added. The majority of the new regiment's initial intake of personnel – particularly its officers – were drawn from the
Militia. In October, the regiment was assigned to the
9th Division. Initial training was split between
Woodside and
Northam Camps as the South Australian and Western Australian batteries remained in their respective states until November 1940 when the regiment was concentrated at
Fremantle and deployed to the
Middle East aboard the troopship
Stratheden. Arriving there in December, the regiment moved to Qastina in
Palestine, where it undertook training, albeit without any equipment or vehicles, which were in short supply in the theatre as the British sought to make up losses in home regiments following the
Fall of France. As such, it was not until April 1941 that the regiment received a supply of vehicles and its first artillery pieces. These came in the form of a mix of antiquated
18-pounders and
4.5-inch howitzers. These were replaced in July with twenty-four
25-pounders when the regiment moved to
Mersa Matruh, A move to
Syria followed in February and for a while the regiment was based around
Tripoli and then
Aleppo where they were assigned to support the
20th Brigade as they undertook garrison duties following the successful Allied campaign against the
Vichy French government. The regiment remained there until the middle part of 1942 when the regiment was committed to both the
First and
Second Battles of El Alamein. In early 1943, the regiment was withdrawn back to Australia along with the rest of the 9th Division as the Australian Army's focus shifted towards fighting against the Japanese in the Pacific. Embarking upon the Dutch troopship
Nieuw Amsterdam, on 18 February the men from the 14th Battery were landed in Fremantle for leave, while the rest of the regiment continued on to
Port Melbourne where they were transferred to a train on 25 February and moved by rail to
Adelaide for three weeks of leave. Training progressed well, but in September 1943, when the division left to take part in the
Landing at Lae and the
Huon Peninsula campaign, the 2/7th remained in the Australia. This was because it had deemed by Australian planners that artillery only had a limited role to play in jungle warfare and, consequently, when the 9th Division deployed it only took one field regiment with it: the
2/12th. As a result, the regiment spent a total of 22 months out of action on the Atherton Tablelands and it was not until late in the war, in mid-1945, that it was deployed on operations again. When it came, it was under
Operation Oboe, which saw them once again fire in support of the 9th Division. The day before the main landing at Lingkas on 1 May, the 57th Battery landed on Sadau Island, where they established themselves to fire on Lingkas to provide cover for engineers that were tasked with clearing the beach obstacles. For the operation, the regiment was equipped with twenty-four 25-pounder field guns. at "HMAS
Margy", Tarakan, June 1945 The following morning the battery fired in direct support of the seaborne assault; it was the first time ever that a unit of the
Royal Australian Artillery was ever employed in such a role. Small parties from the 2/7th also took over control of
naval gunfire support after the naval shore fire control parties were withdrawn at the end of the first month. Over the next three months they would fire over 37,000 rounds in support of the 26th Brigade's three infantry battalions; In order to maintain ammunition supplies, the regiment was resupplied by air from Morotai, while the captured Japanese gun was resupplied as rounds were found by the advancing troops. In total 851 rounds were fired from this gun. In order to ensure accuracy in the dense jungle, forward observers were detached forward with infantry patrols and even sent aloft on board small observation aircraft. The regiment's casualties during this time amounted to seven killed and 27 wounded. Following the conclusion of hostilities in August 1945, the regiment remained on Tarakan as the
demobilisation process, which had begun in early July, was ramped up. Slowly the regiment's size declined and by 30 November 28 officers and 324 other ranks had been repatriated to Australia. The following month the regiment turned in its guns and the last of its personnel left Tarakan on board
Stanford Victory. The regiment was finally disbanded on 30 January 1946. During the course of its service, the 2/7th lost 45 men killed in action or died on active service. The following decorations were awarded: three
Distinguished Service Orders, one
Military Cross, four
Military Medals and two
Mentions in Despatches. ==Commanding officers==