 After the capture of Sio, on 21 January 1944 the 9th Division handed over to the 5th Division.The 5th Division was a Militia formation and its take over was part of the wider Australian plan to re-allocate the veteran divisions of the 2nd AIF to more intense operations elsewhere, namely the Philippines, while using the less experienced Militia formations to undertake the lower intensity work required to mop-up isolated pockets of Japanese resistance.In the event, the 9th Division was precluded from taking part in the fighting in the Philippines due to inter-Allied politics, and it was subsequently employed in Borneo in 1945.