and higher formation headquarters, an AHQ Survey Company, an AHQ Cartographic Company, regional command field survey companies, a Survey Section 7th Military District (Darwin) and a Corps Survey Mobile Reproduction Section. Four militia Field Survey Companies RAE were established in the regional commands (1 Field Survey Coy RAE – Queensland, 2 Field Survey Coy RAE – New South Wales, 3 Field Survey Coy RAE – Victoria, 4 Field Survey Coy RAE – Western Australia) absorbing the Australian Survey Corps Sections and the Field Survey Units RAE (M) in the Commands. In early 1941, 2/1 Corps Field Survey Company RAE, sailed with the 2nd Australian Imperial Force, to provide survey and mapping to the Australian Corps in the Middle East theatre including Greece, Egypt, Cyrenaica and the border zones of Palestine, Syria, Trans-Jordan and Turkey. In response to the Japanese late-1941 and early-1942 offensives in South-East Asia and the Pacific the 2/1 Corps Field Survey Company RAE returned to Australia in early 1942 with a large part of I Aust Corps. Over the next four years fifteen survey units with various roles relating to production of topographic maps provided survey and mapping support to military operations in the South West Pacific Area theatre of the war including Northern Territory, Papua, New Guinea, New Britain, New Ireland, Bougainville, Dutch New Guinea, Borneo and the States of Australia in particular northern Australia. Women of the Australian Women's Army Service served in Survey units and formation headquarter sections in Australia and in New Guinea. In June 1943 all topographic survey related units were concentrated in the Australian Survey Corps being transferred from Royal Australian Engineers. Acknowledgement of the value of survey support organic to the combat forces increased as the war progressed. Early doctrine was that survey support was at Army Corps level, but additional support was added at Army and Force levels and by the end of the war survey sections of 5th Field Survey Company were assigned to both 7th Australian Infantry Division and 9th Australian Infantry Division for the large scale amphibious landings at Labuan and Balikpapan in Borneo. Later, the General Staff of Headquarters 1 Australian Corps said "...never in this war have Australian troops been so well provided with accurate maps, sketches and photo reproductions..." More than 1440 new maps of the theatres of war (Middle East 28, Australian mainland 708, New Guinea area 364, Borneo 147, Mindanao Philippines