General News
1 August, 2026
Veterans Voices: 2/4th Commando Squadron
Frederick Monteith Lyons was born in Merri-bek (formerly Moreland), a local government area of Melbourne, on January 17, 1924. He enlisted on April 1, 1942, in the Australian Army.
Frederick Monteith Lyons was born in Merri-bek (formerly Moreland), a local government area of Melbourne, on January 17, 1924.
He enlisted on April 1, 1942, in the Australian Army.
Lyons was amongst a group of volunteers completing a training course conducted by the Commando Training Battalions at Canungra for service with Australian Independent Companies.
After many applications and knockbacks, Lyons wrote to the officer-in-charge of the Independent Company Training Centre at Canungra, and he was accepted for specialist training to learn the art of jungle warfare.
In November 1942, the Army established the Land Headquarters Training Centre at Canungra in south-east Queensland.
The Centre consisted of a Reinforcement Training Centre, an Independent Company Training Centre (formerly at Wilson's Promontory in Victoria), and a Tactical School, to meet the needs of combat in the demanding environment of Papua New Guinea.
By May 1943, at the height of its activity, there were 2,000 reinforcements organised into eight training companies from which 500 soldiers a week graduated for service in New Guinea.
Training was physically demanding, and instructors were drawn from men with recent combat experience in either the Middle East, South-West Pacific, or both.
The Centre was closed in 1946 and reopened in 1954 to meet the Army’s training needs for the Malayan Emergency, then became the major training venue for the Army as it prepared for active service in Vietnam.
Lyons fought in Borneo in the 2/4th Commando Squadron.
Upon his return to Australia, he became a dairy farmer on a soldier’s settlement block at Drung, and was a very active member of the RSL since joining at the age of 19.
He was president of the Horsham RSL in 1970 and a member of the welfare sub-committee, where he worked tirelessly to support the welfare of servicemen and their families.
Lyons was instrumental in the establishment of the Drung Soldier Settlement Memorial and the Commemorative Cenotaph at Sawyer Park.
He was also a life member of the Horsham Rifle Club.
Frederick Lyons passed away on May 4, 2013, aged 89.
His name appears on the President's Board Honour Roll at Horsham RSL in the family lounge.
The 2/4th Commando Squadron was one of 12 independent companies and commando squadrons raised by the Australian Army during the Second World War.
Established in August 1941, it was disbanded soon after due to conceptual problems, but was quickly reformed following Japan's entry into the war in December 1941.
After a period of about six months performing garrison duties in northern Australia, the 2/4th was deployed to Portuguese Timor to reinforce the other Australian units already waging a guerrilla war on the island.
After a brief campaign, the 2/4th was returned to Australia, and from there it went on to serve in New Guinea in 1943, taking part in the Salamaua-Lae Campaign attached to the 9th Division.
The Salamaua-Lae Campaign (April - September 1943) was part of a wider offensive aimed at eliminating the Japanese presence on the New Guinea side of Vitiaz Strait.
With the Imperial Japanese Army controlling the towns of Lae and Salamaua, it was able to maintain control of shipping in and around the north coast of New Guinea and the island of New Britain.
It had the potential to launch another attempt to capture Port Moresby.
To protect their base, the Japanese set up strong defensive positions in the hills and also advanced inland to Mubo.
It took months for the Allied forces to advance from Wau to Salamaua across what became known as the “Bloody Ridges”.
During August and early September, the Japanese in the Salamaua region fought to hold the advancing Allies.
The Japanese Army Command ordered troops to abandon Salamaua, and they withdrew to the north, sending between 5,000 and 6,000 troops to Lae by barge.
The Allied Forces captured Salamaua on 11 September 1943.
It was recalled by Sergeant Stanley Benson, 42nd Battalion, what the troops found:
“Not one building in Salamaua had been missed by bombs.
A few on the isthmus still stood, with walls blown out, roofs holed by strafing, but there was nothing to inspire pride of possession.
Only yards separated the holes where bombs had landed, and it was a wonder that any of the buildings managed to remain upright.
Everywhere the stink of the enemy dead hung in the air.”
The fighting between April and September cost 343 Australians, 81 US, and 2,722 Japanese lives.
Despite initial plans, the Allies chose not to develop a base at Salamaua as by the time the troops arrived, it was little more than a town in ruins.
The advance in Salamaua drew Japanese troops away from Lae at a crucial time in the campaign.
Later, the squadron was involved in one of the last campaigns of the war when it landed on Tarakan Island in May 1945 and took part in the Borneo Campaign.
The Allies launched a three-pronged attack on Borneo, first at Tarakan and then six weeks later at Brunei Bay.
These landings were conducted by the 9th Australian Division at Tarakan, which was to be captured in three weeks, but the Japanese held on for two months.
There were nearly 900 Australian casualties, including 225 killed.
Thirty thousand took part in the landings at Brunei Bay on June 10 & 16, 1945.
The town and airfield of Labuan were captured on the first day, but strong Japanese resistance on the island continued until June 21.
There were 350 Australian casualties, including 114 killed in the campaign.
The third Borneo operation was a major combined land, air, and sea operation at Balikpapan on July 1, the largest ever amphibious assault involving Australian forces.
Balikpapan was one of the world’s richest oil centres and a major supplier of oil to the Japanese war machine.
The Japanese had been pushed off the coast area by July 9, and three weeks after the landing, they abandoned their positions and withdrew to the rugged hills of the island.
Of the 850 Australian casualties, 229 men were killed.
Following the end of hostilities, the 2/4th returned to Australia and was disbanded at Ingleburn, New South Wales, on January 8, 1946.
During its service, the 2/4th lost 68 men, and five members were awarded the Military Medal, while 15 were mentionedin Dispatches.
Frederick Lyons’ Commando Badge is on display at the Horsham RSL in the Pool Room.