 The 6th Division had been formed in September 1939 as part of an expeditionary force , the Second Australian Imperial Force . Prime Minister Robert Menzies ordered that all commands in the division were to go to reservists rather than to regular officers , who had been publicly critical of the defence policies of right wing politicians . These policies favoured the Royal Australian Navy , which received the majority of defence spending in the interwar period . The result was that when war came , the Army 's equipment was of World War I vintage , and its factories were only capable of producing small arms . Fortunately , these World War I @-@ era small arms , the Lee – Enfield rifle and the Vickers machine gun , were solid and reliable weapons that would remain in service throughout the war ; they were augmented by the more recent Bren light machine gun . Most other equipment was obsolescent and would have to be replaced , but new factories were required to produce the latest items , such as 3 @-@ inch mortars , 25 @-@ pounders and motor vehicles , and War Cabinet approval for their construction was slow in coming . The 6th Division 's training in Palestine , while " vigorous and realistic " , was therefore hampered by shortages of equipment . These shortages were gradually remedied by deliveries from British sources . Similarly , No. 3 Squadron RAAF had to be sent to the Middle East without aircraft or equipment , which had to be supplied by the Royal Air Force , at the expense of its own squadrons . 
