The 31st/51st Battalion was an infantry battalion of the Australian Army, which served during World War II. Raised for service as part of the Militia in 1943 through the amalgamation of two previously existing battalions, the 31st/51st Battalion undertook garrison duties in Dutch New Guinea in 1943–44 before taking part in the Bougainville Campaign in 1944–45. Following the end of the war, the battalion served in the Pacific overseeing the transfer of Japanese prisoners of war and re-establishing law and order until mid-1946 when it returned to Australia and was disbanded. History Formation The 31st/51st Battalion was formed on 12 April 1943 at Yatlee, near Cairns, Queensland, by the amalgamation of two previously existing Queensland-based Militia infantry battalions: the 31st and 51st Battalions. Upon establishment, the battalion adopted the territorial title of the "Kennedy/Far North Queensland Regiment", in order to perpetuate the designations of its two predecessor units. Although the battalion officially adopted the brown and yellow rectangular Unit Colour Patch of the 31st Battalion, members of the new battalion that had previously served with the 51st were authorised to wear its brown over light blue circular colour patch. Reinforcements to the unit were allocated the colour patch based upon the territorial area from which they had been recruited. The amalgamation came about due to a shortage of manpower in the Australian economy which had occurred as a result of an over mobilisation of Australia's military forces in the early years of the war. In an attempt to rectify this situation, the Australian government made the decision to release Militia personnel who had previously been employed in "essential industries" back into the civilian workforce. As a result of this, both the 31st and 51st Battalions, which had large numbers of personnel drawn from the agricultural sector, were well below their authorised establishments, and so it was decided that they would be merged to form a complete battalion. Merauke Assigned to the 11th Brigade, 4th Division, in May the newly formed battalion undertook amphibious training and intensive physical activities such as route marches around Yorkeys Knob, Queensland, in preparation for deployment overseas. In June–July 1943, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Geoffrey Brock, the battalion was deployed to Merauke, in Dutch New Guinea as part of Merauke Force. They departed from Cairns on board the TSS Canberra on 20 June, arriving at Thursday Island on 24 June. From there they were