involved in the attack on the St Quentin Canal. This proved to be their last involvement in the war as they were out of the line when the Armistice occurred on 11 November. The 31st Battalion, AIF, was disbanded in March 1919 while in France awaiting repatriation to Australia. Inter war years In April 1921, the AIF was officially disbanded and the following month the militia was reformed to perpetuate the designations and battle honours of the AIF. Consequently, the Kennedy Regiment was redesignated as the 31st Battalion (Kennedy Regiment). Upon reforming, the battalion drew personnel from a number of units, including the 31st and 49th Infantry Regiments, the 27th Light Horse, the 21st Australian Army Service Corps Company and the 7th Field Ambulance. During the interwar years the battalion's area of responsibility and organisation underwent a number of changes, but it was at this time that it became part of the 11th Brigade, which was headquartered around Brisbane, Queensland, and formed part of the 1st Military District. In 1927, territorial designations were introduced and the 31st Battalion adopted the title of the "Kennedy Regiment". The battalion's motto – Semper Paratus Defendere – was also authorised at this time. At the outset, in 1921 the Citizen Forces units were maintained through a mixture of voluntary and compulsory service, but in late 1929, the scheme was suspended by the Scullin Labor government, and replaced by an all-volunteer "Militia" scheme. Due to the impact of the Great Depression and a general complacency towards matters relating to defence little was spent on the military during the 1930s and there were only a limited number of volunteers. As a result, by 1939, many of the battalion's subunits had been disbanded, although the unit managed to maintain its status as a battalion even though many other units were merged or disbanded in this time. World War II Upon the outbreak of World War II in September 1939, the 31st Battalion had subunits based all around northern Queensland including Townsville, Ayr, Home Hill, Bowen, Proserpine, Charters Towers and Ingham. As had been the case during World War I, it was decided to raise a separate force for overseas service, this time called the Second Australian Imperial Force and again many members of the battalion volunteered, while others continued to serve on a part-time basis. In this time, as part of the 2nd AIF, the 2/31st Battalion