Rubuta ci gaba ga wannan sakin layi - Shiga jirgin ruwa zuwa Singapore a ranar 2 ga Fabrairun 1941 daga Darling Harbour a kan jirgin ruwa mai suna "Queen Mary", rundunar ta isa tashar jiragen ruwa a Singapore. Bayan isowa, an tura 2/20th ta jirgin kasa zuwa Bagan Pinang kuma daga can suka yi tafiya zuwa Port Dickson, a kudu maso yammacin Malaya inda suka ci gaba da horo. A farkon watan Agusta, Laftanar Kanar Charles Assheton ya zama kwamandan kwamandan, kuma an sake tura rundunar zuwa Mersing, don gina tsaro a can. Bayan saukar jiragen ruwa a ranar 8 ga Disamba, 1941
, daga baya bataliya ta shiga cikin yaƙi da Jafananci a matsayin wani ɓangare na kamfen ɗin Malayan. Farkon hare-haren na harin na Japan ya fadi ne a kan sojojin Burtaniya da na Indiya a arewacin kasar, kuma da farko rukunin Australiya, waɗanda ke zaune a kudu kusa da Johore, ba su ga yaƙi da yawa ba. A ranar 7 ga watan Janairun 1942, an raba Kamfanin C don zama wani ɓangare na rukunin musamman don jinkirta ci gaban Jafananci a Endau a gabar arewa, yana rikici da Jafananci a lokuta da yawa kafin ya janye zuwa babban matsayi na tsaro a Mersing a ranar 26 ga Janairu. A halin yanzu, ragowar bataliya a Mersing suma sun yi karo da Jafananci a lokuta da yawa, kuma an yi musu ruwan bama-bamai. Bayan da Kamfanin C ya sake shiga, 2/20th Battalion ya janye zuwa tsibirin Singapore a ranar 31 ga Janairu, inda ya dauki matsayi a gefen arewacin sashin brigade. A cikin makon da ya biyo bayan janyewa daga Malaya, rundunar ta karbi karin mutane kimanin 80, wadanda ba su da kwarewa sosai da aka tura su daga Australia ba tare da la'akari da shirye-shiryen su ba, don su yi hasara ga asarar da suka gabata.