World War 2, Europe England, Royal Australian Engineers, Forestry Company, 1941

The Australian Forestry Group UK was an element of the Second Australian Imperial Force raised for forestry duties. Its constituent units were established in 1940 and 1941 in response to a request from the British Government for foresters to work in France. After the fall of France, the three Australian forestry companies were sent to the United Kingdom. The group headquarters was raised in July 1941. The foresters worked in northern England and Scotland.
To maximise the Australian foresters' productivity, less skilled forestry workers from Honduras and Italian Prisoners Of War (POWs) were placed under their control to undertake unskilled work. As well as working with timber, the forestry companies also maintained their military skills and undertook military training for one day each week and a fortnight every six months. The companies were allocated roles in British counter-invasion plans
The Australian Forestry Group returned to Australia via the United States in 1943. The Australian soldiers were given the unique honour of marching in a ticker-tape parade, with fixed bayonets, down Broadway in New York on 1 October 1943, said to be the only occasion that armed foreign troops had marched through an American city since Independence.[9] Following their return to Australia in November, the forestry companies, undertook jungle warfare training at Canungra and received some new equipment and were later deployed to the Northern Territory and Papua New Guinea.
In PNG the Forestry Companies operated different machinery in several locations but continued to harvest logs and produce much needed sawn timber including durable material for wharfs and jetties. They worked alongside New Zealand and American forestry companies. Local people, as well as some Japanese POWs, provided labour
https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/F03414/
http://www.ntlexhibit.nt.gov.au/items/show/1129