Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force
The Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force (AN&MEF) was a small volunteer force of approximately 2,000 men, raised in Australia shortly after the outbreak of World War I to seize and destroy German wireless stations in German New Guinea in the south-west Pacific. The German wireless installations were ordered to be destroyed because they were used by Vizeadmiral (Vice Admiral) Maximilian von Spee's East Asia Squadron of the Imperial German Navy, which threatened merchant shipping in the region. Following the capture of German possessions in the region, the AN&MEF provided occupation forces for the duration of the war. New Zealand provided a similar force for the occupation of German Samoa. History Formation The Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force (AN&MEF) began forming following a request by the British government on 6 August 1914. The objectives of the force were the German stations at Yap in the Caroline Islands, Nauru and at Rabaul, New Britain. The force was assembled under the guidance of Colonel James Legge, and was separate from the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) forming under Major General William Bridges. The AN&MEF comprised one battalion of infantry of 1,000 men enlisted in Sydney, plus 500 naval reservists and ex-sailors who would serve as infantry. The 1st Battalion, AN&MEF was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Russell Watson, while the naval reservists were formed into six companies under Commander Joseph Beresford. Also included were two machine gun sections, a signals section and a medical detachment. Another battalion of militia from the Queensland-based Kennedy Regiment, which had been hurriedly dispatched to garrison Thursday Island, also contributed 500 volunteers to the force. Recruitment began on 11 August, with the very few of the infantry having had previous military experience. Under the overall command of Colonel William Holmes, the AN&MEF departed Sydney on 19 August aboard HMAS Berrima and halted at Palm Island off Townsville until the New Zealand force, escorted by the battlecruiser , cruiser , and the French cruiser Montcalm, occupied Samoa on 30 August. The AN&MEF then moved to Port Moresby where it met the Queensland contingent aboard the transport TSS Kanowna. The force then sailed for German New Guinea on 7 September but the Kanowna was left behind when her stokers refused to work. The soldiers from the Kennedy Regiment were also left in Port Moresby as Holmes felt that they were not trained or equipped well enough to be committed to the fighting that was expected. Landing at Rabaul Off the eastern tip of New Guinea, the Berrima rendezvoused with Australia and the light cruiser plus some destroyers. Melbourne had been detached to destroy the wireless station on Nauru. The task force reached Rabaul on 11 September, finding the port free of German forces. Sydney and the destroyer landed small parties of naval reservists at the settlements of Kabakaul and the German gubernatorial capital Herbertshöhe (now Kokopo) on Neu-Pommern (now New Britain), south-east of Rabaul. These parties were reinforced firstly by sailors from Warrego and later by infantry from Berrima. A