 Together, these forces were placed under the command of Colonel William Holmes, an officer in the militia who was at the time commander of the 6th Brigade and secretary of the Sydney Water and Sewerage Board.The task force sailed from Sydney on 19 August 1914, and hove to off Port Moresby where they waited for their escorts to arrive.While they were at Port Moresby, Holmes decided to disembark the Queensland militia soldiers due to concerns about their preparedness for action.