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Structure of the Australian Army during World War I

The structure of the Australian Army during World War I included a small force of mostly militia which served in Australia and larger expeditionary forces which were raised for deployment overseas following the outbreak of the conflict in August 1914. The home army consisted of the small regular Permanent Forces, the part-time Citizen Forces, and the Australian Garrison Artillery, which were maintained in Australia to defend the country from attack, while expeditionary forces consisted of the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force (AN&MEF) which occupied German New Guinea from September 1914, and the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) which fought at Gallipoli in 1915, and in the Middle East and on the Western Front in Europe from 1916 to 1918.[1][2] Following an initial precautionary mobilisation following the outbreak of war, by the end of August 1914 those units of the reserve formations of the home army that had been activated began to stand down.[3][4] From 1915, only skeleton garrisons were maintained at coastal forts.[5] Meanwhile, as the war continued overseas the AIF sustained heavy losses, and although it expanded considerably during the war, with the voluntary recruitment system unable to replace its casualties by 1918 most of its units were significantly undermanned.[6]

Australian infantry, Ypres 1917

Order of battle

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1914

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1918

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See also

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Notes

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Footnotes

  1. ^ No. 1 Flight, Australian Flying Corps was formed in the 3rd Military District on 14 July 1914.[12]
  2. ^ The Australian Intelligence Corps was disbanded on 30 September 1914 and replaced by Intelligence Sections which were formed in each Military District. It was reformed in 1939.[13]
  3. ^ The Australian Volunteer Automobile Corps was disbanded in 1915.
  4. ^ The Central Flying School became part of the AIF on 9 September 1918.[25]

Citations

  1. ^ Fleming 2012, pp. 3–5.
  2. ^ Palazzo 2001, pp. 70–76.
  3. ^ Palazzo 2001, pp. 70.
  4. ^ Wilcox 1999, p. 177.
  5. ^ Scott 1941, pp. 196–198.
  6. ^ Kuring 2004, p. 78.
  7. ^ Australian Military Forces 1914, pp. 10–34.
  8. ^ a b c Bou 2010, p. 100.
  9. ^ a b Hall 1968, pp. 70–71.
  10. ^ a b Palazzo 2001, p. 54.
  11. ^ Kuring 2004, p. 40.
  12. ^ a b c Isaacs 1971, p. 11.
  13. ^ Dennis et al 2008, p. 65.
  14. ^ Kuring 2004, p. 36.
  15. ^ Kuring 2004, p. 44.
  16. ^ MacKenzie 1941, pp. 26–27.
  17. ^ Stevenson 2013, p. 29.
  18. ^ a b Mallett, Ross. "Part A: Formations". First AIF Order of Battle 1914–1918. Australian Defence Force Academy. Archived from the original on 28 February 2015. Retrieved 14 August 2015.
  19. ^ Hall 1968, p. 39.
  20. ^ Australian Military Forces 1918, pp. 8–31.
  21. ^ Kuring 2004, pp. 40–42.
  22. ^ Grey 2008, p. 86.
  23. ^ MacKenzie 1941, pp. 154–155.
  24. ^ Palazzo 2001, p. 68.
  25. ^ a b Coulthard-Clark 1991, p. 12.

References

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Further reading

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  • "Australia's Army". The Sydney Morning Herald. Sydney, New South Wales: National Library of Australia. 1 April 1913. p. 9. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  • Grey, Jeffrey (2001). The Australian Army. The Australian Centenary History of Defence. Vol. I. Melbourne, Victoria: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195541146.
  • Horner, David (1995). The Gunners. A History of Australian Artillery. Sydney, New South Wales: Allen & Unwin. ISBN 1863739173.
  • McNicoll, Ronald (1979). The Royal Australian Engineers 1902 to 1919: Making and Breaking. History of the Royal Australian Engineers. Vol. II. Canberra, Australian Capital Territory: Corps Committee of the Royal Australian Engineers. ISBN 9780959687125.
  • Perry, F.W. (1992). Order of Battle of Divisions Part 5A. The Divisions of Australia, Canada and New Zealand and Those in East Africa. History of the Great War Based on Official Documents by Direction of the Historical Section of the Committee of Imperial Defence. Newport: Ray Westlake Military Books. ISBN 1-871167-25-6.
  • Wilson, Graham (2012). Bully Beef and Balderdash: Some Myths of the AIF Examined and Debunked. Newport, New South Wales: Big Sky Publishing. ISBN 9781921941566.
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