The origin of this belief appears to be censorship of the part played by the 7th Division in the fierce fighting in the 1941 Syria-Lebanon campaign.

Approval for the formation of the new division was granted on 28 February 1940 and on 4 April its first commanding officer, Major General John Lavarack, was appointed.

[7] On arrival in the Middle East the division undertook training in Palestine and Egypt before the 18th Brigade was sent to capture an Italian position at Giarabub.

[14] The initial phase of the attack came to an end on 15 June when the Vichy French launched a counterattack, striking at Merdjayoun and recapturing it and Fort Khiam.

The 18th Brigade rejoined the division in September, taking up defensive positions around Aleppo, to defend against a possible invasion by German forces through Turkey.

Lieutenant Arthur Roden Cutler, of the 2/5th Field Regiment, received the decoration for his exploits in June at Merdjayoun and in early July in the Damour area where he was seriously wounded.

[9] In December 1941, as Japanese forces advanced rapidly in Southeast Asia, it was decided that the 6th and 7th Divisions were needed to defend Australia.

On 30 January elements of the division embarked upon transport ships, including the USS Mount Vernon (AP-22) at Suez to begin the journey back to Australia[22] as part of Operation Stepsister.

[28] The 21st Brigade, under Brigadier Arnold Potts, was dispatched to Port Moresby, from where they would advance to help reinforce the units of the Militia, including the 39th Battalion, which were fighting a rearguard action on the Kokoda Track.

The fighting came to be known as the Battle of Milne Bay, and was the first outright defeat of Japanese land forces in World War II.

[9] The 21st Brigade returned for the Battle of Buna–Gona in late 1942, in which Australian and US forces suffered very high casualties, while capturing the main Japanese beachheads on the north coast of Papua.

[9] On 19 December 1942 QX5730 Sergeant Lionel Martindale Oxlade 2/7 Australian Division Cavalry Regiment was awarded an immediate Military Medal for having throughout the day and night shown qualities of courage and leadership which were an inspiration to his men.

Beginning at Nadzab, where Private Richard Kelliher earned a VC,[41] they successfully advanced to Lae simultaneous with the 9th Division, which fell on 16 September.

[43] The Japanese positions on Kankiryo and around Shaggy Ridge threatened the security of the airfields that had been established around Dumpu and, as a result, the decision was made for the 7th Division to capture them.

By February, following an attack on Crater Hill, the main Japanese positions had been captured and shortly afterwards, elements of the 7th Division began to return to Australia.

[53][54][55] As a show of gratitude to the assistance provided by locals, a memorial school was built at Situm by the Australian 7th Division AIF Association in 1964.

[56] In early 1944, the 7th Division returned to Australia in stages and, following a six-week period of leave, it toured the country conducting welcome home marches in a number of state capitals including Perth, Adelaide, Sydney and Melbourne.

Following its initial success on the first day, the 21st Brigade began the advance east, capturing an airfield at Seppinggang and crossing the Batakan Ketjil river where they came up against a strong Japanese force on 3 July.

They were subsequently engaged by Japanese coastal defence artillery near the Manggar Besar river; they were unable to overcome this until 9 July.

[9] Following the end of hostilities, the division remained in Borneo undertaking a variety of tasks including guarding Japanese prisoners and restoring law and order.

[66] As the demobilisation process began, members of the division were slowly repatriated to Australia or transferred to other units for further service.