 Ferguson ultimately proved to be an able commander . Thirty @-@ seven years old and a New Zealander by birth , he had been commissioned into the Australian 2 / 2nd Battalion with Green during the Second World War . Serving as an intelligence officer on the headquarters of the 16th Brigade during the Libyan campaign in 1941 , Ferguson had been awarded the Military Cross for his actions during fighting on the Kokoda Track in New Guinea in 1942 . Later , he had served as a liaison officer with the 6th Division , before finishing the war as a staff officer posted to the 7th Division headquarters on Morotai island , taking part in the amphibious landing at Balikpapan in 1945 . Ferguson volunteered to serve in the BCOF in Japan after the war and was posted to the 67th Battalion as a company commander , arriving in Kure in February 1946 . After leaving the battalion in 1948 to serve on the headquarters of BCOF for six months , he returned as battalion second @-@ in @-@ command . In 1949 the battalion had been renamed the 3rd Battalion , Australian Regiment , and was later granted the ' Royal ' prefix . He remained with the battalion after that time . The change of command was confirmed by the Commander @-@ in @-@ Chief BCOF , Lieutenant General Sir Horace Robertson , and Ferguson was promoted to lieutenant colonel on 10 November . He developed a good working relationship with Coad , who held him in high regard , and went on to command 3 RAR during its most demanding period in Korea . 
