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Category:1st AIF/1st
Div/3rd Bde |
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This
page is dedicated to the men who fell with the 11th, including Cpl
Charles Morgan who fell at Pozieres but is remembered with this
Memorial Headstone at Fremantle Cemetery, Fremantle WA
photo: Sandra Playle
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Battle Honours:
Landing at Anzac, Anzac,
Defence of Anzac, Suvla, Sari Bair, Gallipoli 1915, Egypt 1915-16,
Somme 1916-18, Pozieres, Bullecourt, Ypres 1917, Menin Road, Broodeseinde,
Polygon Wood, Poelcappelle, Passchendaele, Lys, Hazebrouck,
Amiens, Albert 1918, Hindenburg Line, Epehy, France and Flanders 1916-18
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Egypt, Gallipoli, Western Front
History of 11th Battalion
In 1903 the Perth Rifle Volunteers were renamed
the 11th Australian Infantry Regiment. At this stage the only permanent
soldiers in Australia were Engineers, Coastal Defence Gunners and a
handful of Staff Officers.
On the outbreak of WWI, Australia had a militia
of about 100 000 people. The Defence Act 1903 stipulated that the
Australian Militia Forces were only to be employed in the Defence of
Australia. Hence the Australian Imperial Forces (AIF) was raised for
service overseas. This is commonly referred to as the 1st AIF. The term
of enlistment was for "the duration of hostilities plus 6
months".
The 11th Australian Infantry Battalion AIF was
raised at Black Boy Hill Camp on 17 August 1914 and recruited from the
militia units. The now famous picture of the 11th Bn AIF at the pyramids
in Egypt in 1915 is shown throughout military history displays and books
the world over. The picture was taken just before the landing at Anzac
Cove. Not many of the soldiers in this picture survived the 8 month
campaign.
The 11 Bn on the Pyramids in
Egypt prior to the landing at Anzac Cove, Gallipoli.
After the Campaign on the Gallipoli Peninsula,
the 11th Battalion AIF went on to serve with distinction in France and
Belgium from 1916-18. They returned to Australia at the end of the war
and disbanded on the 5 February 1919. The Battalion was awarded a Kings
Colour for it's service during the war which was held in the of custody the
Militia 2/11th Battalion.
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11th Battalion
The 11th Battalion was among the first
infantry units raised for the AIF during the First World War. It was the
first battalion recruited in Western Australia, and with the 9th, 10th
and 12th Battalions it formed the 3rd Brigade.
The battalion was raised within weeks
of the declaration of war in August 1914 and embarked for overseas after
just two weeks of preliminary training. It arrived in Egypt to continue
its training in early December. The 3rd Brigade was the covering force
for the ANZAC landing on 25 April 1915 and so was the first ashore at
around 4:30 am. Ten days after the landing, a company from the 11th
Battalion mounted the AIF’s first raid of the war against Turkish
positions at Gaba Tepe. Subsequently, the battalion was heavily involved
in defending the front line of the ANZAC beachhead. In August, it made
preparatory attacks at the southern end of the ANZAC position before the
battle of Lone Pine. The 11th Battalion continued to serve at ANZAC
until the evacuation in December.
After the withdrawal from Gallipoli,
the 11th Battalion returned to Egypt. It was split to help form the 51st
Battalion, and then bought up to strength with reinforcements.
In March 1916, the battalion sailed
for France and the Western Front. From then until 1918, the battalion
took part in bloody trench warfare. Its first major action in France was
at Pozières in the Somme valley in July. After Pozières, the battalion
manned trenches near Ypres in Flanders before returning to the Somme
valley for winter.
In 1917 the battalion took part in the
brief advance that followed the German Army’s retreat to the
Hindenburg Line. During a German counterattack at Louverval, France, in
April 1917 Lieutenant Charles Pope was killed performing the deed for
which he would be awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross. The battalion
subsequently returned to Belgium to participate in the offensive that
became known as the Third Battle of Ypres.
The battalion helped to stop the
German spring offensive in March and April 1918, and later that year
participated in the great Allied offensive launched east of Amiens on 8
August 1918. This advance by British and empire troops was the greatest
success in a single day on the Western Front, one that German General
Erich Ludendorff described as “the black day of the German Army in
this war”
The 11th Battalion continued
operations until late September 1918. At 11 am on 11 November 1918, the
guns fell silent. This armistice was followed by a peace treaty, signed
at Versailles on 28 June 1919.
In November 1918 members of the AIF
began to return to Australia. In February 1919, the 11th and 12th
Battalions were amalgamated due to steadily declining numbers in both
battalions. They remained so linked until their last members returned
home for demobilisation and discharge. Text from AWM
- 1115 killed, 2249 wounded
(including gassed)
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Decorations
- 1 VC
- 1 CB
- 2 CMG
- 7 DSO
- 1 OBE
- 30 MC, 1 bar
- 25 DCM, 1 bar
- 96 MM, 2 bars
- 3 MSM
- 85 MID
- 7 foreign awards
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