44th Battalion (Australia)
44th Battalion | |
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First World War
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Insignia | |
Unit colour patch |
The 44th Battalion was an infantry unit of the Australian Army. Originally formed in 1916 for overseas service during World War I, the battalion fought in the trenches along the Western Front in France and Belgium between late 1916 and 1918, before disbanding at the conclusion of hostilities. During the inter-war years, the 44th became part of the part-time Citizens Force, based in Western Australia. During World War II, it undertook garrison duties in Australia but was not deployed overseas to fight. In the post-World War II period the 44th was amalgamated with the 11th Battalion, before being subsumed into the Royal Western Australia Regiment in 1960.
History
World War I
Raised at
Their first taste of combat on the Western Front came on 13 March 1917, when half the battalion was committed to a major raid, which ultimately proved unsuccessful. For the next two years, the 44th Battalion fought in the trenches along the
After the German offensive was blunted, a lull period followed during which the Allies slowly sought to gain the initiative, undertaking several "
Inter-war years and World War II
Following the end of the war, the 44th Battalion was eventually disbanded as part of the demobilisation of the AIF. In 1921, Australia's part-time military force was reorganised to perpetuate the numerical designations and divisional structure of the AIF,
At the outbreak of World War II, the provisions of the Defence Act initially precluded Militia units from being sent overseas to fight. As a result, the 44th Battalion remained in Australia to undertake garrison duty, and even though it was later gazetted as an AIF unit after the majority of its personnel volunteered to do so, it was never deployed overseas. In early 1942, the 44th Battalion was detached from the 13th Brigade and assigned to the Special Mobile Force that was formed to respond in the event of a Japanese raid against installations in Western Australia. In June 1944, the battalion was disbanded, though, as the Japanese threat had passed and the Australian military sought to redress an manpower shortage in other areas.[14] After the war, the battalion was not re-raised in its own right, although it was formed as an amalgamated unit known as the "11th/44th Battalion (The City of Perth Regiment)".[15] This unit remained in existence until 1960, when a reorganisation of the Citizens Military Force led to the creation of six multi-battalion state-based regiments,[16] and the 11th/44th became subsumed into the Royal Western Australia Regiment.[17]
Battle honours
The 44th Battalion was awarded the following battle honours:
- South Africa 1899–1902 (inherited from predecessor units);[11]
- First World War:
References
- Citations
- ^ a b c d e f g h "44th Battalion". First World War, 1914–1918 units. Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 30 March 2014.
- ^ Grey 2008, pp. 99–100.
- ^ Kuring 2004, p. 47.
- ^ a b "44th Battalion". Digger History. Retrieved 15 March 2014.
- ^ Palazzo 2002, p. 21.
- ^ Grey 2008, p. 105.
- ^ Bean 1941, p. 950.
- ^ "Colonel James Purcell Clark". People. Australian War Memorial. Retrieved 31 March 2014.
- ^ Coulthard-Clark 1998, p. 139.
- ^ Andrews & Jordan 1991, p. 8.
- ^ a b c d e Festberg 1972, p. 102.
- ^ Grey 2008, p. 125.
- ^ "Australian Infantry Unit Colour Patches 1921–1949". Digger History. Archived from the original on 15 November 2010. Retrieved 14 March 2014.
- ^ a b "WA Infantry History". Royal Western Australia Regiment Association. Archived from the original on 26 February 2014. Retrieved 21 February 2014.
- ^ Festberg 1972, p. 71.
- ^ Shaw 2010, p. 10.
- ^ Festberg 1972, p. 32.
- Bibliography
- ISSN 1327-0141.
- OCLC 220623454.
- Coulthard-Clark, Chris (1998). Where Australians Fought: The Encyclopaedia of Australia's Battles (1st ed.). St Leonards, New South Wales: Allen and Unwin. ISBN 978-1-86448-611-7.
- Festberg, Alfred (1972). The Lineage of the Australian Army. Melbourne, Victoria: Allara Publishing. ISBN 978-0-85887-024-6.
- ISBN 978-0-521-69791-0.
- Kuring, Ian (2004). Redcoats to Cams: A History of Australian Infantry 1788–2001. Loftus, New South Wales: Australian Military History Publications. ISBN 1-876439-99-8.
- Palazzo, Albert (2002). Defenders of Australia: The 3rd Australian Division 1916–1991. Loftus, New South Wales: Australian Military Historical Publications. ISBN 1-876439-03-3.
- Shaw, Peter (2010). "The Evolution of the Infantry State Regiment System in the Army Reserve". Sabretache. LI (4 (December)). Garran, Australian Capital Territory: Military Historical Society of Australia: 5–12. ISSN 0048-8933.
Further reading
- Longmore, Cyril (1921). Eggs-a-Cook! The Story of the Forty-Fourth: War As the Digger Saw It. Perth, Western Australia: Colortype Press. OCLC 220179181.