 The Australian Army 's Commander in Chief , General Sir Thomas Blamey , was appointed Commander , Allied Land Forces , SWPA . His headquarters was the existing General Headquarters ( Australia ) , and became known as LHQ . An Australian commander was chosen as most of the land forces were Australian . In April 1942 , there were 38 @,@ 000 American ground troops in SWPA and 369 @,@ 000 Australian . LHQ controlled five major commands : Lieutenant General Sir John Lavarack 's First Army , based in Queensland ; Lieutenant General Sir Iven Mackay 's Second Army in Victoria ; Lieutenant General Gordon Bennett 's III Corps in Western Australia ; the Northern Territory Force under Major General Edmund Herring ; and New Guinea Force under Major General Basil Morris . Between them they controlled ten Australian and two American divisions . In August 1944 , the Australian Army had a strength of 463 @,@ 000 men and women , and there were 173 @,@ 000 US Army ground personnel in SWPA . By late 1944 , there were eighteen American divisions in SWPA , while the Australian Army had just seven . 
