16th Battalion, Royal Western Australia Regiment

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16th Battalion, Royal Western Australia Regiment
Cap badge of the Royal Western Australia Regiment
Active1914–1919
1921–1930
1936–1946
1952–1960
1966–current
Country Australia
BranchAustralian Army
TypeReserve infantry
RoleLight infantry
Part of13th Brigade
Garrison/HQKarrakatta
MarchMarch of the Cameron Men
EngagementsFirst World War

Second World War

  • New Britain Campaign
Insignia
Unit colour patch
Tartan"Cameron of Erracht". regiments.org. Archived from the original on 16 October 2007.

The 16th Battalion, Royal Western Australia Regiment (16 RWAR) is an

New Britain Campaign against the Japanese during the Second World War. In the post war years, the battalion became part of the Royal Western Australia Regiment and currently forms part of the 13th Brigade
.

History

First World War

The 16th Battalion was originally raised in September 1914 as part of the all volunteer

Gallipoli Campaign between April and December 1915.[1]

After returning to Egypt, in early 1916 the AIF underwent a period of expansion and reorganisation, during which the 16th Battalion was split to provide an experienced

Battle of Bullecourt, the German spring offensive, the Battle of Hamel and the Allied Hundred Days Offensive. During the war, the battalion's casualties amounted to 1,127 killed and 1,955 wounded. Three of its members received the Victoria Cross for their actions: Martin O'Meara, Thomas Axford and Dominic McCarthy.[1]

Thomas Axford, one of the 16th Battalion's three Victoria Cross recipients

Inter-war years

The battalion was disbanded at the end of the war, then re-raised as a Citizens Force unit after a reorganisation of Australia's part-time military forces in 1921 to perpetuate the numerical designations of the AIF,[3][4] forming part of the 13th Brigade and based in Western Australia.[5] It was amalgamated with the 11th Battalion in 1930,[6] after the suspension of the compulsory training scheme reduced the size of the part-time military force.[4] A new 16th Battalion was raised in 1936 as the "Cameron Highlanders of Western Australia",[5] as part of an expansion of the Militia following concerns about the strategic situation in Europe.[4][7]

Second World War

During the Second World War, this battalion was mobilised for war service and gazetted as an AIF battalion.

New Britain Campaign from November 1944 until the end of the war. The campaign was limited to containing the larger Japanese force, and the battalion's involvement was focused primarily around undertaking long range patrols. Only limited combat occurred before the end of the war, and the battalion's casualties were light, amounting to 10 killed and 14 wounded.[5]

After undertaking further garrison duties at

Puckapunyal, Victoria, in February.[5]

Since 1945

The part-time military forces were re-formed in 1948 following the conclusion of the demobilisation process,[8] at which time the battalion was re-raised as an amalgamated unit with the 28th Battalion. The two units remained linked until 1952 when they were split and re-raised in their own right as full battalions. This state of affairs continued until 1960 when a reorganisation saw the raising of larger State-based regiments that subsumed the old regionally-based regiments,[8] at which point the battalion was reduced to a company-level formation within the Pentropic 1st Battalion, Royal Western Australia Regiment (1 RWAR), forming 'B' Company.[6] In 1965, the Pentropic divisional structure was abolished and 1 RWAR was split to form two new battalions: 1 RWAR and 2 RWAR; the following year 1 RWAR was redesignated 16 RWAR.[9][10]

16 RWAR currently forms part of the 13th Brigade,

Iraq.[11]

Battle honours

Regimental march

Sussex by the Sea (1907) by English composer William Ward-Higgs was adopted as regimental march.[13][14]

References

Citations

  1. ^ a b "16th Battalion". First World War, 1914–1918 units. Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 8 February 2014.
  2. ^ Bean 1941, p. 42.
  3. ^ Grey 2008, p. 125.
  4. ^ a b c Shaw 2010, p. 9.
  5. ^ a b c d "16th Battalion (Cameron Highlanders of Western Australia)". Second World War, 1939–1945 units. Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 8 February 2014.
  6. ^ a b c d e f Festberg 1972, p. 77.
  7. ^ Keogh 1965, pp. 46–50.
  8. ^ a b Shaw 2010, p. 10.
  9. ^ Shaw 2010, p. 11.
  10. ^ "16th Battalion, The Royal Western Australia Regiment – History". Archived from the original on 26 February 2009. Retrieved 8 February 2014.
  11. ^ a b "16th Battalion, The Royal Western Australia Regiment". Australian Army. Archived from the original on 27 February 2012. Retrieved 8 February 2014.
  12. ^ "16th Battalion, The Royal Western Australia Regiment". Department of Defence. Archived from the original on 3 December 2008. Retrieved 8 February 2014.
  13. ^ "COLOR CEREMONY". The Daily News. Vol. XLIX, no. 17, 181. Western Australia. 30 May 1930. p. 6 (HOME FINAL EDITION). Retrieved 6 April 2023 – via National Library of Australia.
  14. Sunday Times (Perth)
    . No. 2878. Western Australia. 14 February 1954. p. 7. Retrieved 6 April 2023 – via National Library of Australia.

Bibliography

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