47th Battalion (Australia)
47th Battalion (Australia) | |
---|---|
Active | 1916–1918 1921–1946 1948–1960 |
Country | Australia |
Branch | Australian Army |
Type | Infantry |
Size | ~800–1,000 officers and men[Note 1] |
Part of | 12th Brigade, 4th Division 29th Brigade, 3rd Division |
Colours | Brown over dark blue |
Engagements | First World War
Second World War |
Insignia | |
Unit colour patch |
The 47th Battalion was an
History
First World War
Originally raised in
During this time, the battalion fought in a number of significant battles, including the
Inter-war years
In 1921, the decision was made to perpetuate the battle honours and traditions of the AIF by re-organising the units of the Citizens Force to adopt the numerical designations of their related AIF units.
Initially, the strength of the part-time military in the early inter-war years was maintained by a mixture of voluntary and compulsory service, but in 1929, following the election of the
Second World War
Following the outbreak of the Second World War, due to the provisions of the Defence Act (1903) which precluded deploying the Militia outside of Australian territory, the government decided to raise an all volunteer force for overseas service, known as the Second Australian Imperial Force (2nd AIF).[15] As such while the Militia would provide a cadre for this force, its main role was to provide training to conscripts as part of the compulsory training scheme which was re-established in early 1940.[15] During this time, the Militia were called up in cohorts for periods of continuous training lasting between 30 and 90 days and the 47th Battalion undertook a number of these camps early in the war. On 17 March 1941, however, as tensions were building in the Pacific, the battalion was mobilised for full-time war service.[10] At the end of 1941 it was brigaded together with the 15th and 42nd Battalions to form the 29th Brigade.[10]
Initially, the 29th Brigade was attached to the 5th Division and undertook garrison duties around Townsville in 1942 before deploying to Milne Bay in early 1943 to garrison Goodenough Island. They later took part in the landings at Tambu Bay before participating in the Salamaua–Lae campaign, helping to capture Lae from the Japanese. Finally, in 1944, after 18 months of service overseas the 47th Battalion returned to Australia with the rest of the brigade for training and reorganisation around Strathpine.[10] It was around this time that the Australian Army began converting a number of its divisions over to the Jungle divisional establishment, including the units of the Militia 3rd and 5th Divisions.[16] The battalion's final involvement in the war came when the 29th Brigade was transferred to the 3rd Division and sent to Bougainville in late 1944.[10] On Bougainville the Australians had launched an aggressive campaign against the 40,000 Japanese on the island.[17][18][Note 3] The Australian campaign on the island developed into three separate drives in the north, south and central sectors.[19] In December 1944, the 47th Battalion was assigned to the southern sector, taking part in the 29th Brigade's advance from the Jaba River to Mawaraka.[10] After this they were moved to the rear at Torokina for rest before returning to the take part in a second operation in July 1945 which saw them relieve the 15th Brigade and take part in the advance across the Mivo River.[10]
Following the end of hostilities the 47th Battalion returned to Australia in December 1945 and was disbanded a month later in January 1946.[10] During its service in the war, the battalion lost 67 men killed or died of various causes and another 147 wounded. Members of the battalion received the following decorations: one Officer of the Order of the British Empire, six Military Crosses, nine Military Medals and 21 Mentions in Despatches.[10] The battalion received five battle honours for the Second World War in 1961.[8]
Post Second World War
Following the war, Australia's part-time military force was re-raised in 1948 under the title of the Citizens Military Force.[20] Around this time the 47th Battalion was re-formed with its headquarters around Maryborough. In 1960, when the Australian Army introduced the Pentropic divisional establishment,[21] the 47th Battalion became a company-sized element of the 1st Battalion, Royal Queensland Regiment, known as 'D' Company (The Wide Bay Company).[22][23] In 1965, the Army abandoned the Pentropic system and re-organised the units of the CMF in an effort to return to some of the traditional battalion identities.[24] As a part of this, 'D' Company, 9th Battalion, Royal Queensland Regiment was formed from the Wide Bay Company.[25] In 2011, an official history of the 47th Battalion was published by the Australian Army History Unit and Big Sky Publishing. Battle Scarred by Craig Deayton chronicles the battles and history of the 47th Battalion through France and Belgium.[26]
The Regiment is also significant in the Wide Bay, with the school colours of Maryborough Grammar School, now Maryborough State High School, reflected in the brown and blue of the school’s colours. The retired regimental colours were presented to the school in a ceremony in 2017, where they continue to be presented in the school Administration.
Battle honours
The 47th Battalion received the following battle honours:[8][Note 4]
- First World War: Egypt 1916.[3]
- Second World War: Liberation of Australian New Guinea, Tambu Bay, Mawaraka, Mivo Ford, South-West Pacific 1943–45.[10]
Notes
- Footnotes
- ^ During the First World War, the authorised strength of an Australian infantry battalion was 1,023 men. By the start of the Second World War, it was 910 men all ranks,[1] falling to just over 800 later in the war.[2]
- ^ The Australian War Memorial source does not indicate what these foreign awards were specifically.
- ^ At the time, Australian and Allied intelligence estimates actually placed the Japanese strength at around 17,000 men. It was only after the war that the inaccuracy of this figure was realised.[18]
- ^ These battle honours are perpetuated today by the Royal Queensland Regiment.[27]
- Citations
- ^ Kuring 2004, p. 47
- ^ Palazzo 2004, p. 94
- ^ a b c d e f "47th Battalion". First World War, 1914–1918 units. Australian War Memorial. Archived from the original on 13 March 2011. Retrieved 12 June 2010.
- ^ Grey 2008, p. 99
- ^ Grey 2008, pp. 99–100
- ^ Williams 1986, p. 261
- ^ Grey 2008, p. 111
- ^ a b c d e f Festberg 1972, p. 105
- ^ Grey 2008, p. 125
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l "47th Battalion (Wide Bay Regiment)". Second World War, 1939–1945 units. Australian War Memorial. Archived from the original on 15 March 2011. Retrieved 26 June 2010.
- ^ Grey 2008, p. 138
- ^ Shaw 2010, p. 9
- ^ Palazzo 2001, p. 110
- ^ Keogh 1965, p. 44
- ^ a b Grey 2008, p. 146
- ^ Palazzo 2001, p. 183
- ^ Grey 2008, p. 191
- ^ a b Long 1963, pp. 102–103
- ^ Johnston 2007, pp. 30–31
- ^ Grey 2008, p. 200
- ^ Grey 2008, p. 228
- ^ "9 Battalion Royal Queensland Regiment". Digger History.info. Archived from the original on 20 January 2008. Retrieved 2 July 2011.
- ^ "Ken Tidey". 25th Battalion Association. Archived from the original on 10 August 2011. Retrieved 2 July 2011.
- ^ Grey 2008, p. 239
- ^ "Colonial Era – First Fleet to Federation". Maryborough Museum. Retrieved 2 May 2011.
- ^ "Battle Scarred: The 47th Battalion in the First World War". Trove. National Library of Australia. Retrieved 10 May 2014.
- ^ Festberg 1972, p. 26
References
- 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.
- ISBN 978-1-84603-123-6.
- OCLC 7185705.
- 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.
- OCLC 1297619.
- Palazzo, Albert (2001). The Australian Army: A History of its Organisation 1901–2001. South Melbourne, Victoria: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-551507-2.
- Palazzo, Albert (2004). "Organising for Jungle Warfare". In Dennis, Peter; Grey, Jeffrey (eds.). The Foundations of Victory: The Pacific War 1943–1944. Canberra, Australian Capital Territory: Army History Unit. pp. 86–101. ISBN 978-0-646-43590-9. Archived from the originalon 9 March 2016.
- 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.
- Williams, J. G (1986). "McDougall, Stanley Robert (1889–1968)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Vol. 10. Melbourne University Press. p. 261. OCLC 39141198.
Further reading
- Deayton, Craig (2011). Battle Scarred: The 47th Battalion in the First World War. Newport, New South Wales: Big Sky Publishing. ISBN 978-0-9870574-0-2.