On 30 January 1942, the 7th Division left Egypt for Australia, sailing via Bombay, as the division was needed to fight against the Japanese. Kingsbury's battalion made landfall at Adelaide and continued to Melbourne by rail. The battalion arrived on 16 March, and was given a week's leave. After this, the battalion underwent training in Glen Innes, before camping in Yandina, Queensland. On 5 August, the battalion moved north to Brisbane, boarding a ship to Port Moresby to join the fighting in New Guinea, where a force of mostly Militia personnel were engaged in a desperate defensive action.