The 2/25th Battalion was an infantry battalion of the Australian Army which served during the Second World War. Raised in 1940, from volunteers drawn primarily from the state of Queensland, after completing its training the battalion undertook garrison duties in Darwin before deploying to the Middle East in mid-1941, as part of the 24th Brigade. There, it took part in more garrison duties in the Western Desert and in Palestine before it was reassigned from the 9th Division to the 7th Division and subsequently committed to the Syria–Lebanon campaign against the Vichy French. In early 1942, the 2/25th was returned to Australia to fight against the Japanese. Following this it took part in the fighting in New Guinea, undertaking two deployments there, firstly in 1942–1943 during which it took part the fighting along the Kokoda Track and around Buna–Gona, and then again in 1943–1944 when it helped to secure Lae before advancing into Finisterre Ranges. The battalion's final involvement in the war came in mid-1945, when it took part in the Borneo campaign, landing at Balikpapan. The battalion was disbanded in early 1946. History Formation Raised in Brisbane, Queensland on 1 July 1940 as part of the Second Australian Imperial Force (2nd AIF), the 2/25th Battalion formed at Grovely in the western outskirts of the city with its first personnel marching into the unit a fortnight later. Its first commanding officer was Lieutenant Colonel Norman Marshall, a veteran of the First World War who had served in the Militia prior to joining the 2/25th. Marshall oversaw the establishment of the battalion, which was achieved by bringing together a small number of Regular officers, volunteers from the Militia and men with no previous military experience who had enlisted following the outbreak of the war. The majority of the former militiamen were drawn from the Cavalry Brigade in Queensland and the 25th, 42nd and the 61st Battalions. The colours chosen for the battalion's unit colour patch (UCP) were the same as those of the 25th Battalion, a unit which had served during the First World War before being raised as a Militia formation in 1921. These colours were black over light blue, in a diamond shape, although a border of gray in a circle shape was added to the UCP to distinguish the battalion from its Militia counterpart. Consisting of a battalion headquarters, four rifle companies designated 'A' to 'D' and one