61st Battalion was raised in Brisbane and became part of 7th Brigade. World War II During the early part of World War II, the 7th Brigade was a Militia unit made up of several infantry battalions—the 9th, 15th, 25th, 49th and 61st Battalions—which were assigned to the brigade at various times. At the beginning of the war the brigade was primarily responsible for the defence of South East Queensland, with battalions located at Chermside, Cabarlah and Maryborough. On 13 December 1941, the brigade received order to partially mobilise; the following day the order for full mobilisation was issued. The brigade then only had 1,393 men in all ranks. Because of the issue of the mobilisation order, by 27 December, this had increased to 4,449 men of all ranks. The Australian Army transitioned from the four battalion brigade structure to the three battalion structure favoured by the British during 1940–1941. As a result, the 15th and 47th Battalions were reallocated to the 29th Brigade in February and May 1942, and as a result by May 1942, the 7th Brigade consisted only of the 9th, 25th and 61st Battalions. At this time it relocated to Townsville to act as the city's covering force along with the 11th Brigade and the 29th Brigade. On 9 July 1942, the first elements of the brigade departed Townsville for Milne Bay, arriving there on 11 July embarked in the Dutch ship . In August, the brigade took part in the Battle of Milne Bay along with elements of the 7th Division, during which the Australians struck a considerable blow to Japanese intentions in the Pacific, inflicting upon them their first major defeat on land of the war, turning back an attempted landing to secure the strategically important airfields that the Allies had built in the region. Following the battle, the brigade maintained a garrison around Milne Bay until March 1943 when they were moved back to Port Moresby. They were reassigned to the 11th Division at this time, and assumed the role of New Guinea Force's reserve brigade. In April, the brigade moved to Donadabu, occupying a position around Sogeri Plateau, where they undertook further training and remained poised to reinforce troops around Wau of Lae, if necessary. In the end, the brigade was not employed in further combat at this time, and following the capture of Lae, in November 1943 the brigade was returned to