Formation The 2/9th Cavalry (Commando) Regiment was formed in July 1940 at
Seymour, Victoria as part of the
Second Australian Imperial Force of the
Australian Army. Initially, it was designated the "8th Division Cavalry Regiment"; however, it was redesignated as the "9th Division Cavalry Regiment" in February 1941 when the
8th Division was sent to
Malaya without its armoured elements, which were subsequently transferred to the
9th Division.
Service in the Middle East Under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Hector Bastin, training was completed at the Armoured Vehicles Fighting School, before along with the rest of the 9th Division, the regiment was sent to the
Middle East, arriving in
Egypt in April 1941. Equipped with
Vickers light tanks and
Bren carriers, the regiment then saw action in
Syria where it supported the
7th Division. During this time the regiment's squadrons were detached at brigade level with 'A' Squadron being placed under the operational command of the
21st Brigade near Saida, while 'C' Squadron was allocated to the
25th Brigade, utilising a number of captured Vichy French
Renault R35 tanks. As a part of this there was no need for divisional cavalry regiments; however, it was decided that the independent companies should be grouped together under a regimental structure, and in response the divisional cavalry regiments were broken up and their headquarters elements were used to administer the commando squadrons. Three such units were formed at this time, with the 9th Division Cavalry Regiment adopting the title of the "2/9th Cavalry (Commando) Regiment" in January 1944. The subordinate squadrons that were attached to it were the
2/4th,
2/11th and
2/12th Commando Squadrons. The 2/11th was attached to the
24th Brigade and landed on
Labuan Island off the northwest coast of Borneo. After clearing the island, they were transferred to the mainland and helped clear the Klias Peninsula. The 2/12th, however, was initially held back in divisional reserve, and as such did not take part in the main fighting on Labuan Island. As the Japanese resistance on the island was coming to an end and the focus of Australian operations moved towards the mainland of Borneo, the squadron was finally committed to operations when it was given the task of carrying out mopping up operations on the island. ==Commanding officers==