Australian Corps

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Australian Corps
I Australian Corps formation badge.
Active1 November 1917–1918
CountryAustralia
BranchAustralian Army
Size5 divisions
Part ofBritish Expeditionary Force
EngagementsWorld War I
Commanders
November 1917 – May 1918General William Birdwood
May – November 1918Lieutenant General John Monash
November 1918 – May 1919Lieutenant General Talbot Hobbs

The Australian Corps was a

II Anzac Corps, which contained the New Zealand Division, became the British XXII Corps on 31 December.[4] While its structure varied, Australian Corps usually included 4–5 infantry divisions, corps artillery and heavy artillery, a corps flying squadron and captive balloon sections, anti-aircraft batteries, corps engineers, corps mounted troops (light horse and cyclists), ordnance workshops, medical and dental units, transport, salvage and an employment company.[5]

History

Following the hard fighting of 1917, where the Australian divisions suffered heavily at

Australian 4th Division, numerically the weakest, but this was strongly resisted by the members of the AIF.[2]

General

siege artillery
batteries. It was also considered appropriate to appoint Australian officers to all senior command positions. However, Birdwood remained in command of the corps.

General

Cyril Brudenell White (Birdwood's chief-of-staff) and Major General John Monash (commander of the 3rd Division). Monash, who was senior, had experience commanding troops in battle and was favoured by Haig and Birdwood, got the post in May 1918 and was promoted to lieutenant general.[citation needed] The Australian Corps was used extensively throughout the Hundred Days Offensive during which it achieved great success.[2]

The 4th Division saw little rest in its role as the "depot". In December 1917 it was moved into reserve near Péronne following the German counter-attack in the Battle of Cambrai. In January 1918, the division was returned to the front line south of Ypres as Haig acquiesced to French demands to take over more of the front. From this time until the Australians were withdrawn from fighting in early October, all divisions of the corps saw nearly continuous action. Rather than disbanding entire divisions, any consolidation of strength was made under the British system of reducing brigades from four battalions to three. During the Hundred Days campaign that ended the war, the Australian Corps, along with the Canadian Corps, were used repeatedly as spearheads for offensives. During the period August to October, 1918, General Monash reported that the Australian Corps had defeated some 39 German divisions, a full fifth of the entire German strength of 200 divisions on the Western Front.

Organisation

The Corps comprised

See also

Footnotes

  1. ^ Edmonds 1937, p. 30.
  2. ^ a b c Fleming 2012, p. 7.
  3. ^ Bou et al. 2016, p. 38.
  4. ^ Becke, p. 258.
  5. ^ Bou et al. 2016, pp. 39–41.

References

  • Maj A.F. Becke, History of the Great War: Order of Battle of Divisions, Part 4: The Army Council, GHQs, Armies, and Corps 1914–1918, London: HM Stationery Office, 1944/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2007,
    ISBN 1-847347-43-6
    .
  • Bou, Jean; Dennis, Peter; Dalgleish, Paul;
    ISBN 9780195576801
    .
  • ISBN 0-89839-223-3
    .
  • Fleming, Robert (2012). The Australian Army in World War I. Men at Arms. Oxford: Osprey.
    ISBN 978-1849086325
    .

Further reading
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