 One of only two machine gun battalions available for the defending British and Commonwealth forces , as preparations were made to repulse the expected Japanese assault across the <unk> Strait , the battalion was split up to provide support to troops from the 22nd and 27th Australian Infantry Brigades and the 44th Indian Infantry Brigade around the western part of the island , where the Japanese assault was expected . On 7 February , due to concerns about the lack of defending infantry , about 90 machine gun reinforcements , who had been hastily formed into a sixth company — ' E ' — were detached at this time to form part of a 400 @-@ strong Special Reserve Battalion , initially under the command of an officer from the 2 / 19th Infantry Battalion and later taken over by Major Albert <unk> , formerly of the 2 / 4th Machine Gun Battalion . 
