• 56th Battalion AIF (New South Wales) [14th Infantry Brigade]
  Formed Egypt 14 February 1916 from the 4th Battalion AIF. 
  • 2nd Reinforcements departed Sydney Ceramic 14 April 1916, 
  • 3rd Reinforcements departed Sydney Barambah 23 June 1916, 
  • 4th Reinforcements departed Sydney Port Sydney 4 September 1916, 
  • 5th Reinforcements departed Sydney Aeneas 30 September 1916, 
  • 6th Reinforcements departed Sydney Ceramic 7 October 1916, 
  • 7th Reinforcements departed Sydney Ascanius 25 October 1916, 
  • 8th Reinforcements departed Sydney Suevic 11 November 1916, 
  • 9th Reinforcements departed Sydney Anchises 24 January 1917, 
  • 10th Reinforcements departed Sydney Euripides 31 October 1917.

• Battle Honours: Egypt 1916, Somme 1916-18, Bullecourt, Ypres 1917, Menin Road, Polygon Wood, Passchendaele, Ancre 1918, Villers-Bretonneux, Amiens, Albert 1918, Mont St Quentin, Hindenburg Line, St Quentin Canal, France and Flanders 1916-18

• Egypt, Western Front

by Ross Mallett (ADFA)

56th Battalion

The 56th Battalion was raised in Egypt on 14 February 1916 as part of the “doubling” of the AIF. Half of its recruits were Gallipoli veterans from the 4th Battalion, and the other half, fresh reinforcements from Australia. Reflecting the composition of the 4th, the 56th was predominantly composed of men from New South Wales. The battalion became part of the 14th Brigade of the 5th Australian Division.

Arriving in France on 30 June 1916, the battalion entered the frontline trenches for the first time on 12 July and fought its first major battle at Fromelles a week later. The battle was a disaster, resulting in heavy casualties across the division. Despite these losses the 5th Division continued to man the front in the Fromelles sector for a further two months.

After a freezing winter manning trenches in the Somme Valley, in early 1917 the 56th Battalion participated in the advance that followed the German retreat to the Hindenburg Line. It was spared the assault but did, however, defend gains made during the second battle of Bullecourt. Later in the year, the AIF’s focus of operations switched to the Ypres sector in Belgium. The 56th’s major battle here was at Polygon Wood on 26 September.

With the collapse of Russia in October 1917, a major German offensive on the Western Front was expected in early 1918. This came in late March and the 5th Division moved to defend the sector around Corbie. The 14th Brigade, took up positions to the north of Villers-Bretonneux and held these even when the village fell, threatening their flanks.

Once the German offensive had been defeated, the Allies launched their own offensive in August 1918. The 14th Brigade did not play a major role in these operations until late in the month, but its actions were critical to the capture of Péronne, which fell on 2 September. The 56th fought its last major battle of the war, St Quentin Canal, between 29 September and 2 October 1918. It was resting out of the line when the Armistice was declared on 11 November. Soon after, members of the battalion began to be returned to Australia for discharge. It ceased to exist as a separate entity on 10 April 1919, when the remnants of all of the 14th Brigade’s battalions were merged into a single unit. Text from AWM

• 529 killed, 1630 wounded (including gassed)

• Decorations

  • 2 DSO
  • 1 MBE
  • 21 MC and 1 bar
  • 20 DCM
  • 50 MM
  • 9 MSM
  • 25 MID
  • 8 foreign awards