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World War I 1914 - 1918 Anders Dernback 2023-03-28
W O R L D W A R I
Military history of Australia during World War I Men in Melbourne collecting recruitment papers
Military history of Australia during World War I In Australia, the outbreak of World War I was greeted with considerable enthusiasm. Even before Britain declared war on Germany on 4 August 1914, the nation pledged its support alongside other states of the British Empire and almost immediately began preparations to send forces overseas to engage in the conflict. The first campaign that Australians were involved in was in German New Guinea after a hastily raised force known as the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force was dispatched in September 1914 from Australia and seized and held German possessions in the Pacific. At the same time another expeditionary force, initially consisting of 20,000 men and known as the First Australian Imperial Force (AIF), was raised for service overseas. The AIF departed Australia in November 1914 and, after several delays due to the presence of German naval vessels in the Indian Ocean, arrived in Egypt, where they were initially used to defend the Suez Canal. In early 1915, however, it was decided to carry out an amphibious landing on the Gallipoli peninsula with the goal of opening up a second front and securing the passage of the Dardanelles. The Australians and New Zealanders, grouped together as the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC), went ashore on 25 April 1915 and for the next eight months the Anzacs, alongside their British, French and other allies, fought a costly and ultimately unsuccessful campaign against the Turks. The force was evacuated from the peninsula in December 1915 and returned to Egypt, where the AIF was expanded. In early 1916 it was decided that the infantry divisions would be sent to France, where they took part in many of the major battles fought on the Western Front.
Military history of Australia during World War I Most of the light horse units remained in the Middle East until the end of the war, carrying out further operations against the Turks in Egypt and Palestine. Small numbers of Australians served in other theatres of war. Although the main focus of the Australian military's effort was the ground war, air and naval forces were also committed. Squadrons of the Australian Flying Corps served in the Middle East and on the Western Front while elements of the Royal Australian Navy carried out operations in the Atlantic, North Sea, Adriatic and Black Sea, as well as the Pacific and Indian Oceans. By the end of the war, Australians were far more circumspect. The nation's involvement cost more than 60,000 Australian lives and many more were left unable to work as a result of their injuries. The impact of the war was felt in many other areas as well. Financially it was very costly. The effect on the social and political landscape was considerable and threatened to cause serious divides in the nation's social fabric. Conscription was possibly the most contentious issue and ultimately, despite having conscription for home service, Australia was one of only three combatants not to use conscripts in the fighting. Nevertheless, for many Australians the nation's involvement in World War I and the Gallipoli campaign was seen as a symbol of its emergence as an international actor, while many of the notions of the Australian character and nationhood that exist today have their origins in the war, and Anzac Day is commemorated as a national holiday.
Military history of Australia during World War I On 30 July 1914, the British government informed the Australian government via an encoded telegram that a declaration of war was likely. The message came during the lead-up to the 1914 federal election, meaning parliament was not in session and key political figures were spread around the country campaigning. Prime Minister Joseph Cook spoke at Horsham, Victoria, on 31 July, telling an election meeting to "remember that when the Empire is at war, so is Australia at war
Military history of Australia during World War I Sir Joseph Cook, GCMG (7 December 1860 – 30 July 1947) was an Australian politician who was the sixth Prime Minister of Australia, in office from 1913 to 1914. He was the leader of the Liberal Party from 1913 to 1917, after earlier serving as the leader of the Anti- Socialist Party from 1908 to 1909. Cook was born in Silverdale, Staffordshire, England, and began working in the local coal mines at the age of nine. He emigrated to Australia in 1885, settling in Lithgow, New South Wales. He continued to work as a miner, becoming involved with the local labour movement as a union official. In 1891, Cook was elected to the New South Wales Legislative Assembly as a representative of the Labor Party, becoming one of its first members of parliament. He was elected party leader in 1893, but the following year left Labor due to a disagreement over party discipline. He was then invited to become a government minister under George Reid, and joined Reid's Free Trade Party.
Military history of Australia during World War I Alfred Deakin (3 August 1856 – 7 October 1919) was an Australian politician who was the second Prime Minister of Australia. He was a leader of the movement for Federation, which occurred in 1901. During his three terms as prime minister over the subsequent decade (1903–1904, 1905–1908, 1909–1910), he played a key role in establishing national institutions. Deakin was born in Melbourne to middle-class parents. He was elected to the Victorian Legislative Assembly in 1879, aged 23, additionally working as a barrister and journalist. He held ministerial office sporadically beginning in 1883, serving twice as Attorney-General of Victoria and aligning himself with liberal and radical reformers. In the 1890s Deakin became one of the leading figures in the movement for the federation of the Australian colonies. He was a delegate to the federal conventions and served on the committees that drafted the federal constitution.
Military history of Australia during World War I On the same day, Opposition Leader Andrew Fisher was speaking at Colac, Victoria, and promised that "Australians will stand beside our own to help and defend her to our last man and our last shilling". An emergency cabinet meeting – at which only five out of ten ministers were present – was convened in Melbourne on 3 August, with the government deciding that it would offer to send an expeditionary force of 20,000 men. The United Kingdom declared war on 4 August at 11 p.m. (5 August at 8 a.m. Melbourne time), and Australia and the other Dominions were considered to be "automatically" at war as well. At 12:45 p.m. on 5 August, Cook announced to the press in his office that "I have received the following despatch from the Imperial government: 'war has broken out in Germany’. Given the predominantly British heritage of most Australians at the time, there was considerable support from all corners of the country and large numbers of young Australian men reported to recruiting centres around the country to enlist in the following months. Within days, plans for an Australian expeditionary force were completed by Brigadier General William Throsby Bridges and his staff officer, Major Cyril Brudenell Bingham White. White proposed a force of 18,000 men (12,000 Australians and 6,000 New Zealanders). This proposal was approved by Prime Minister Cook but he increased the offer to the British of 20,000 men to serve in any destination desired by the Home Government. On 6 August 1914, London cabled its acceptance of the force and asked that it be sent as soon as possible. Recruiting offices opened on 10 August 1914 and by the end of 1914, 52,561 volunteers had been accepted, although strict physical fitness guidelines were put in place.
Military history of Australia during World War I In 1884, Germany had In 1884, Germany had colonised part of New Guinea and several nearby island groups. part of New Guinea and several nearby island groups. By the outbreak of the war, the Germans had been using the colony as a wireless radio base, and supporting the German East Asia Squadron which threatened merchant shipping in the region. As a consequence, Britain required the wireless installations to be destroyed. Shortly after the outbreak of war—following a request by the British government on 6 August 1914—the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force (AN&MEF) began forming. The objectives of the force were the German stations at Yap in the Caroline Islands, Nauru and at Rabaul, New Britain. The AN&MEF comprised one battalion of infantry (1,023 men) enlisted in Sydney, 500 naval reservists and ex-sailors organised into six companies who would serve as infantry and a further 500 men from the Kennedy Regiment, a Queensland militia battalion that had volunteered for overseas service and had been sent to garrison Thursday Island. colonised the north eastern the north eastern German New Guinea
Military history of Australia during World War I 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. Escorted by the cruiser Sydney and the battlecruiser Australia, the task force reached Rabaul on 11 September 1914 and found that the port was free of German forces. Sydney and the destroyer HMAS Warrego landed small parties of naval reservists at the settlements of Kabakaul and the German gubernatorial capital Herbertshöhe on Neu-Pommern, south-east of Rabaul. These parties were reinforced first by sailors from HMAS Warrego and HMAS Yarra and later by infantry from the transport HMAS Berrima. A small 25-man force of naval reservists was subsequently landed at Kabakaul Bay and continued inland to capture the radio station believed to be in operation at Bita Paka, 4 miles (7 km) to the south. The Australians were resisted by a mixed force of German reservists and Melanesian native police, who forced them to fight their way to the radio station.
Military history of Australia during World War I By nightfall, the radio station was reached and it was found to have been abandoned, the mast dropped but its instruments and machinery intact. During the Battle of Bita Paka six Australians were killed and five wounded, while the defenders lost one German non- commissioned officer (NCO) and about 30 Melanesians killed, and one German and ten Melanesians wounded. Later it was alleged that the heavy losses among the Melanesian troops was the result of the Australians bayoneting all those they had captured during the fighting. As a result of this engagement, Able Seaman W.G.V. Williams became the first Australian fatality of the war. The first Army fatality was a medical officer, Captain B. C. A. Pockley, who died the same day. The submarine AE1 with other Australian ships off Rossel Island on 9 September 1914. On 14 September it inexplicably disappeared during a patrol off Rabaul.
Military history of Australia during World War I A sergeant of the Coldstream Guards addressing through the ranks during the rehearsal for the Trooping the Colour ceremony. A non-commissioned officer (NCO) is a military officer who does not hold a commission. Non-commissioned officers usually earn their position of authority by promotion through the enlisted ranks. (Non-officers, which includes most or all enlisted personnel, are of lower rank than any officer.)
Military history of Australia during World War I Following the capture of German possessions in the region, the AN&MEF provided occupation forces for the duration of the war. On 9 January 1915, Holmes handed over command of the AN&MEF to Brigadier General Sir Samuel Pethebridge, the former Secretary of the Department of Defence. Holmes returned to Australia and re-enlisted in the AIF, as did most of his men. They were replaced by the 3rd Battalion, known as the "Tropical Force" because it had been specially enlisted for service in the tropics. Pethebridge established the administrative structures that remained through the period of military occupation. Although required by international law to follow the German forms of government, the territory gradually acquired the appearance of a British colony. Military Administrator of German New Guinea from 1915 to 1918 - photo taken in Rabaul, New Britain. Brigadier General Sir Samuel Augustus Pethebridge, KCMG (3 August 1862 – 26 January 1918) was senior Australian public servant, serving as the Secretary of the Department of Defence in the period 1910–1918. He was acting Secretary for Sir Muirhead Collins (1906–1910). He was also a military administrator and an army officer.
Military history of Australia during World War I Soldiers of 11th Battalion, AIF, posing on the Great Pyramid of Giza on 10 January 1915, before the landing at Gallipoli At the start of the war, Australia's military forces were focused upon the militia and what Regular forces existed were mostly serving in the artillery or engineers and were assigned in most part to the task of coastal defence. Due to the provisions of the Defence Act 1903, which precluded sending conscripts overseas, upon the outbreak of war it was realised that a totally separate, all volunteer force would need to be raised. This force was known as the Australian Imperial Force (AIF). The AIF began forming shortly after the outbreak of war and was the brain child of Bridges and White.
Military history of Australia during World War I Upon formation, the AIF consisted of only one infantry division, the 1st Division, and the 1st Light Horse Brigade. The 1st Division was made up of the 1st Infantry Brigade under Colonel Henry MacLaurin; the 2nd, under Colonel James Whiteside McCay, an Australian politician and former Minister for Defence; and the 3rd, under Colonel Ewen Sinclair-Maclagan, a British regular officer seconded to the Australian Army before the war. The 1st Light Horse Brigade was commanded by Colonel Harry Chauvel, an Australian regular, while the divisional artillery was commanded by Colonel Talbot Hobbs. In the early stages of mobilisation the men of the AIF were selected under some of the toughest criteria of any army in World War I and it is believed that roughly 30 per cent of men that applied were rejected on medical grounds.
Military history of Australia during World War I Brigadier General Henry Normand MacLaurin (31 October 1878 – 27 April 1915) was an Australian barrister and an Australian Army colonel who served in the First World War. He was shot dead by a Turkish sniper at Gallipoli, and was posthumously promoted to brigadier general when all brigade commanders in the Australian Imperial Force were thus promoted. MacLaurin enlisted in the New South Wales Scottish Rifles while still at university and was commissioned as a second lieutenant in 1899. He was promoted to lieutenant in 1900, captain in 1903 and major in 1908. On 1 July 1913, he took command of the 26th Infantry Regiment. On 15 August 1914, MacLaurin joined the Australian Imperial Force as a full colonel and given command of the 1st Infantry Brigade. MacLaurin was in the act of warning soldiers to keep under cover when he too was shot dead.
Military history of Australia during World War I The British War Medal is a campaign medal of the United Kingdom which was awarded to officers and men of British and Imperial forces for service in the First World War. Two versions of the medal were produced. About 6.5 million were struck in silver and 110,000 in bronze, the latter awarded to, among others, the Chinese, Maltese and Indian Labour Corps. The British War Medal was instituted on 26 July 1919 for award to those who had rendered service between 5 August 1914, the day following the British declaration of war against the German Empire, and the armistice of 11 November 1918, both dates inclusive. The British War Medal was awarded to all officers and men of British and Imperial forces who had served for a prescribed period during any stage of the war, or who had died on active service before the completion of this period. The medal, struck by the Royal Mint, is a silver or bronze disk, 36 millimetres (1.4 in) in diameter, with a straight clasp suspender without swivel.
Military history of Australia during World War I Major General John Keatly Forsyth, CMG (8 February 1867 – 12 November 1928) was a senior Australian Army officer in the First World War and after. John Keatly Forsyth was born in Brisbane, Queensland on 8 February 1867, the son of a builder. He was educated at Fortitude Valley State and the Normal School, Brisbane and became a clerk in a sawmill and later in a solicitor's office. Forsyth enlisted in the Queensland Mounted Rifles Regiment as a trooper in November 1885. On 15 August 1914 Forsyth joined the Australian Imperial Force as a temporary colonel. Appointed to command the 1st Division's mounted regiment, the 4th Light Horse Regiment. Forsyth became Commandant of the 4th Military District (South Australia) on 16 February 1917 and was promoted to brevet colonel on 24 September 1917. On 2 July 1918, he once again became Quartermaster General and a member of the Military Board.
Military history of Australia during World War I The Battle of Arras (also known as the Second Battle of Arras) was a British offensive on the Western Front during the First World War. From 9 April to 16 May 1917, British troops attacked German defences near the French city of Arras on the Western Front. The British achieved the longest advance since trench warfare had begun, surpassing the record set by the French Sixth Army on 1 July 1916. The British advance slowed in the next few days and the German defence recovered. The battle became a costly stalemate for both sides and by the end of the battle, the British Third Army and the First Army had suffered about 160,000 casualties and the German 6th Army about 125,000. The British effort was an assault on a relatively broad front between Vimy in the north-west and Bullecourt to the south-east. After a long preparatory bombardment, the Canadian Corps of the First Army in the north fought the Battle of Vimy Ridge, capturing the ridge. The town square, Arras, February 1919
Military history of Australia during World War I The light cruiser HMAS Sydney (1912) in 1915. In November 1914, it engaged and defeated the German cruiser Emden off the Cocos Islands. Gallipoli
Military history of Australia during World War I The 1st Division departed Australia from Albany, Western Australia on 1 November 1914 in convoy of 10 transports escorted by several British, Australian and Japanese warships. Initially bound for British- controlled Egypt, with a stopover in Ceylon, the convoy had been delayed several times due to fears of interception by German warships in the area. These fears later proved valid when the German cruiser Emden was sighted off Cocos Island. As the convoy steered to avoid the threat, the Australian cruiser HMAS Sydney, engaged the Emden with her heavier guns and after an engagement that lasted only twenty-five minutes, the Sydney emerged victorious. The threat of the German Squadron neutralised, the convoy was able to continue its voyage unmolested. Upon their arrival in Egypt in November, the 1st Division moved to Camp Mena, near Cairo, where they were used to defend the Suez Canal against Turkey who had declared war on 29 October. During this time, the Australians commenced a period of training to prepare them for combat on the Western Front as it was still expected that they would be sent to England for deployment in the European theatre. As they waited, however, the Australian and New Zealand forces in Egypt at the time were formed into the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps (ANZAC) under the command of British Army Lieutenant General William Birdwood, and consisting of the Australian 1st Division and the composite New Zealand and Australian Division (NZ&A).
Military history of Australia during World War I Overcrowding and shortages of equipment in England meant that it was decided to keep the Anzacs in Egypt during the European winter, during which time they would undertake further training in order to prepare them for their eventual use in the trenches in France. Despite this, however, the training that the Australians and New Zealanders received in this time could be considered only very rudimentary in nature, and despite popular opinion at the time, it did little to prepare them for what was to come. In the background, though, moves were being made to commit the Australians and New Zealanders elsewhere. Later in November, Winston Churchill, in his capacity as First Lord of the Admiralty, put forward his first plans for a naval attack on the Dardanelles. A plan for an attack and invasion of the Gallipoli peninsula was eventually approved by the British cabinet in January 1915. It was decided that the Australian and New Zealand troops would take part in the operation, although they were outnumbered by the British, Indian and French contingents, a fact which is often overlooked today by many Australians and New Zealanders. Australian troops at Mena Camp, Egypt, December 1914, looking towards the Pyramids. Many Australian units brought kangaroos and other Australian animals with them to Egypt, and some were given to the Cairo Zoological Gardens when the units went to Gallipoli.
Military history of Australia during World War I Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill[a] (30 November 1874 – 24 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from 1951 to 1955. Apart from two years between 1922 and 1924, he was a Member of Parliament (MP) from 1900 to 1964 and represented a total of five constituencies. Ideologically an economic liberal and imperialist, he was for most of his career a member of the Conservative Party, which he led from 1940 to 1955. He was a member of the Liberal Party from 1904 to 1924. Churchill commanding the 6th Battalion, the Royal Scots Fusiliers, 1916. His second-in- command, Archibald Sinclair, is seated on the left.
Military history of Australia during World War I The Gallipoli campaign[a] was a military campaign in the First World War that took place on the Gallipoli peninsula (Gelibolu in modern Turkey), from 19 February 1915 to 9 January 1916. The Entente powers, Britain, France and the Russian Empire, sought to weaken the Ottoman Empire, one of the Central Powers, by taking control of the Ottoman straits. This would expose the Ottoman capital at Constantinople to bombardment by Allied battleships and cut it off from the Asian part of the empire. With Turkey defeated, the Suez Canal would be safe and a year-round Allied supply route could be opened through the Black Sea to warm-water ports in Russia. The attempt by the Allied fleet to force a passage through the Dardanelles in February 1915 failed and was followed by an amphibious landing on the Gallipoli peninsula in April 1915. In January 1916, after eight months' fighting, with approximately 250,000 casualties on each side, the land campaign was abandoned and the invasion force withdrawn. It was a costly campaign for the Entente powers and the Ottoman Empire as well as for the sponsors of the expedition, especially the First Lord of the Admiralty (1911–1915), Winston Churchill. The campaign was considered a great Ottoman victory.
Military history of Australia during World War I also known as the Strait of Gallipoli from the Gallipoli peninsula or from Classical Antiquity as the Hellespont Classical Greek: Ἑλλήσποντος, romanized: Hellēspontos, lit.'Sea of Helle'), is a narrow, natural strait and internationally significant waterway in northwestern Turkey that forms part of the continental boundary between Asia and Europe and separates Asian Turkey from European Turkey. Together with the Bosporus, the Dardanelles forms the Turkish Straits.
Military history of Australia during World War I Anzac Cove is a small cove on the Gallipoli peninsula in Turkey. It became famous as the site of World War I landing of the ANZACs (Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) on 25 April 1915.
Military history of Australia during World War I North Beach with "sphinx" rock in the background.
Military history of Australia during World War I Gallipoli Landing at Gallipoli in April 1915
Military history of Australia during World War I 1915 Landing of French troops in Moudros (Lemnos island) during the Gallipoli Campaign
Military history of Australia during World War I A map of the territorial expansion of the Ottoman Empire from 1307 to 1683.
Military history of Australia during World War I Ottoman territories acquired between 1481 and 1683 (See: list of territories) The Ottoman Empire,[k] historically and colloquially the Turkish Empire,[24] was an empire that controlled much of Southeast Europe, Western Asia, and Northern Africa between the 14th and early 20th centuries.
Military history of Australia during World War I The Ottoman Empire entered World War I on the side of the Central Powers and was ultimately defeated. The Ottoman participation in the war began with the combined German- Ottoman surprise attack on the Black Sea coast of the Russian Empire on 29 October 1914. Following the attack, the Russian Empire (2 November 1914) and its allies France (5 November 1914) and the British Empire (5 November 1914) declared war on the Ottoman Empire (also on 5 November 1914, the British government changed the status of the Khedivate of Egypt and Cyprus, which were de jure Ottoman territories prior to the war, as British protectorates.) The Ottomans successfully defended the Dardanelles strait during the Gallipoli campaign (1915–1916) and achieved initial victories against British forces in the first two years of the Mesopotamian campaign, such as the Siege of Kut (1915–1916) but the Arab Revolt (1916–1918) turned the tide against the Ottomans in the Middle East. Admiral Wilhelm Souchon, who commanded the Black Sea raid on 29 October 1914, and his officers in Ottoman naval uniforms
Military history of Australia during World War I The Arab Revolt) was a military uprising ofArab forces against the Ottoman Empire in the Middle Eastern theatre of World War I. On the basis of the McMahon–Hussein Correspondence, an agreement between the British government and Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca, the revolt was officially initiated at Mecca on June 10, 1916. The aim of the revolt was to create a single unified and independent Arab state stretching from Aleppo in Syria to Aden in Yemen, which the British had promised to recognize. Result Arab victory Armistice of Mudros Treaty of Sèvres Soldiers in the Arab Army during the Arab Revolt of 1916-1918, carrying the Arab Flag of the Arab Revolt and pictured in the Hejaz.
Military history of Australia during World War I The 1920 Treaty of Sèvres was a draft treaty between the Ottoman Empire and the Principal Allied Powers. It was ultimately shelved because of Turkish non- ratification and was replaced by the Treaty of Lausanne.
Military history of Australia during World War I Gallipoli Australia: 7,594 killed 18,500 wounded
Military history of Australia during World War I Gallipoli casualties (not including illness Countries Ottoman Empire United Kingdom France Australia New Zealand British India Newfoundland Total (Allies) Dead Wounded Missing or POW Total 56,643 34,072 9,798 8,709 2,721 1,358 97,007 78,520 17,371 19,441 4,752 3,421 93 123,598 11,178 7,654 — — — — — 7,654 164,828 120,246 27,169 28,150 7,473 4,779 49 142 56,707 187,959 Casualty figures for the campaign vary between sources but in 2001, Edward J. Erickson wrote that in the Gallipoli Campaign over 100,000 men were killed, including 56,000–68,000 Ottoman and around 53,000 British and French soldiers. Using the Ottoman Archives, Erickson estimated that Ottoman casualties in the Gallipoli Campaign were 56,643 men died from all causes, 97,007 troops were wounded or injured and 11,178 men went missing or were captured. In 2001, Carlyon gave figures of 43,000 British killed or missing, including 8,709 Australians.
Military history of Australia during World War I Late afternoon in July at the Lone Pine Cemetery, Anzac, Gallipoli, Turkey. Lone Pine Cemetery is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemetery dating from World War I in the former Anzac sector of the Gallipoli Peninsula, Turkey and the location of the Lone Pine Memorial, one of five memorials on the peninsula which commemorate servicemen of the former British Empire killed in the campaign but who have no known grave. The battles at Gallipoli, some of whose participating soldiers are buried at this cemetery.
The Battle of Magdhaba took place on 23 December 1916 during the Defence of Egypt section of the Sinai and Palestine Campaign in the First World War. The attack by the Anzac Mounted Division took place against an entrenched Ottoman Army garrison to the south and east of Bir Lahfan in the Sinai desert, some 18–25 miles (29–40 km) inland from the Mediterranean coast. This Egyptian Expeditionary Force (EEF) victory against the Ottoman Empire garrison also secured the town of El Arish after the Ottoman garrison withdrew. Battle of Magdhaba Camel corps at Magdhaba by Harold Septimus Power, 1925 (photo)
Military history of Australia during World War I In March 1916, the infantry units of the AIF were transferred from Egypt to Europe for service on the Western Front. Initially they were organised into I Anzac Corps and II Anzac Corps alongside the New Zealand Division. The 2nd Division was the first to arrive in France, followed by the 1st Division, while the 4th and 5th left Egypt later in June 1916. The 3rd Division was the last to arrive, having been formed in Australia in March 1916, and moving to England for training in July 1916, before being sent to France in December 1916. For the next two and a half years the constant rotations in and out of the line were punctuated by a number of major battles, during which the Australians earned for themselves a formidable reputation. On 1 November 1917 the Australian divisions were re- grouped together to form the Australian Corps. They were not the first Australians to serve on the Western Front. An Australian Voluntary Hospital had been formed in England in August 1914 from Australian expatriates. All medical practitioners in the unit were Australians and although women were not allowed to serve as doctors, Australian nurses were accepted.
Military history of Australia during World War I On 7 April 1916, I Anzac Corps took up positions in a quiet sector south of Armentières, known as the Nursery. The Australians were spared from participating in the disastrous first day on the Somme. In March 1917 two 'flying columns' from the 2nd and 5th Divisions pursued the German back to the Hindenburg Line, capturing the town of Bapaume. The Battle of Messines (7–14 June 1917) was an attack by the British Second Army. On 21 March 1918, having been buoyed by the capitulation of Bolshevik Russia, the German Army launched their Spring Offensive.
Military history of Australia during World War I The German spring offensive, or Kaiserschlacht ("Kaiser's Battle"), also known as the Ludendorff offensive, was a series of German attacks along the Western Front during the First World War, beginning on 21 March 1918. Following American entry into the war in April 1917, the Germans decided that their only remaining chance of victory was to defeat the Allies before the United States could ship soldiers across the Atlantic and fully deploy its resources. The German Army had gained a temporary advantage in numbers as nearly 50 divisions had been freed by the Russian defeat and withdrawal from the war with the Treaty of Brest-Litovsk.
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Military history of Australia during World War I The Australian Flying Corps (AFC) was formed in March 1914 and it was soon deployed to German New Guinea, with one BE2c aircraft and crew dispatched with the AN&MEF, although the colonies surrendered before the plane was even unpacked. The first operational flights did not occur until 27 May 1915, when the Mesopotamian Half Flight was called upon to assist the Indian Army in protecting British oil interests in what is now Iraq. The Corps later saw action in Egypt, Palestine and on the Western Front throughout the remainder of the war. Organised into four operational squadrons in France and the Middle East and another four training squadrons in England, the AFC remained part of the AIF. Australian Flying Corps
