Talk:26th Battalion (Australia)

Summary of Events

The summary of events table appears to me to be a copy of that which is included on the 26th Battalion Association page. [1] As such I think it needs to be removed - as it is a copyright violation to reproduce it. The information can be used to write a narrative, but it cannot be used in present form. It is probably inappropriate regardless as the page should probably only be a summary of events, not a battalion war diary as such.

I will remove it for the time being and include here for discussion. If anyone disagrees with me moving it, please explain your reasoning. Cheers.AustralianRupert (talk) 21:34, 16 March 2009 (UTC)

Reply

I have restored the table as I am the webmaster of the 26 Battalion Association site and I have written permission to use the information from A N Turrell's book on both that website and Wikipedia. I could email a scanned copy to a moderator if required. --Chipofftheold (talk) 03:24, 17 March 2009 (UTC)

16 June 1939	Lt Col H.W. Murray VC, CMG, DSO and Bar, DCM was asked if he would accept command of the infantry battalion that was to be formed in the north-east and the central-west of Queensland, Australia.
28 June 1939	Approval was given for a new battalion to be formed in the 1st Military District.
21 July 1939	Lt-Col Murray was appointed to command the 26th Battalion.
4 September to 11 November 1939	The battalion began its first camp of continuous training at Kissing Point near Townsville, Queensland (Qld).
11 November 1939 to 15 February 1940	The battalion moved to the Showgrounds in Townsville, Qld.
March 23 to June 7 1940	The battalion moved to a new camp at Miowera, south of Bowen, Qld. Lt-Col Murray marched in and assumed command of the battalion.
7 June 1940 to 30 May 1941	The battalion moved back to Townsville. National Service Trainees had joined the unit. Men were released for enlistment in the AIF, RAAF and the RAN. Many senior officers and NCOs were retired.
1 June 1941 to 1 May 1942	The battalion moved to a new camp at Sellheim, located near Charters Towers. The Governor of Queensland, Sir Leslie Orme Wilson visited the unit.
1 May to 29 May 1942	The battalion was now based at Stuart near Townsville.
29 May to 1 July 1942	The battalion moved to Bohle River and received a visit from, His Excellency Lord Gowrie Governor-General of the Commonwealth of Australia.
1 July to 28 August 1942	A further move was made to Alligator Creek. Maj-Gen J.J. Murray GOC 4th Division and Mr Frank Forde visited the unit. On August 17, Lt-Col Murray relinquished command of the battalion. Lt-Col J. N. Abbott DSO arrived and assumed command of the unit.
28 August to 1 October 1942	The battalion entrained at Nome and bivouacked at Redlynch then moved to Kuranda near the Barron Falls, Far North Queensland.
1 October 1942 to 24 May 1943	The battalion built a new camp and commenced extensive training. Reinforcements from other states arrived; a number of men were released to the 15th Battalion. Further reinforcements arrived from training battalions. Men were issued with live ammunition.
25 May to 8 August 1943	The battalion marched to Redlynch station and entrained for Cairns wharf. On May 25 the battalion less A Company departed from Cairns aboard Katoomba for Torres Strait and disembarked for Horn Island. A Company were detached to Dutch New Guinea (Western New Guinea) to become part of Merauke Force. The rest of the unit took up garrison duty on Horn Island. Platoons are detached to several of the smaller islands in the Torres Strait.
8 August to 7 November 1943	The battalion moved back to the mainland and was based at Higginsfield Airfield which is located about 30 km south of Cape York, Qld. The men worked with engineer units to build a jetty at Red Island Point. Patrols were active along the coast line.
7 November 1943 to 30 May 1944	A Company commenced their return to the unit at Jacky Jacky. The battalion was still engaged in working parties at Red Island Point.
30 May to 25 June 1944	The battalion commenced the move back to Horn Island and completed this by July 2, 1944.
27 July to 1 August 1944	The battalion departed Horn Island aboard Taroona and arrived Townsville.
1 August to 4 September 1944	The battalion is based at Strathpine camp near Brisbane.
4 September to 4 December 1944	During September the men went on home leave, selected personnel were sent to various schools. Training commenced and reinforcements arrived. The unit prepared for its role in the Solomon Islands.
4 December to 12 December 1944	The battalion left Brisbane and arrived at Bougainville to relieve the American forces at Torokina, New Guinea.
12 December to 29 December 1944	The battalion commenced its first operation in the Doiabi River and Sisivie area, Bougainville.
29 December to 31 December 1944	The battalion prepares for the first campaign in the Numa Numa area.
31 December 1944 to 4 January 1945	The 26th Battalion relieved the 25th Battalion in the Piaterapaia area.
5 January to 2 February 1945	The first patrols moved out into hostile territory making enemy contact on January 6. The unit was operating in the Numa Numa area. The unit's operations covered Pearl Ridge, Vivie, Keenans Ridge, Smith's Hill and Chamber's Hill areas. On January 31 the battalion was relieved by the 55th/53rd Battalion and moved back to Torokina.
2 February to 21 February 1945	Resting at Torokina. On February, 7, Col Abbott relinquished command of the battalion and Lt-Col B.J. Callinan MC, MID assumed command of the unit.
21 February to 4 April 1945	The battalion carried out its second campaign in the Soraken Plantation area. On March 28, Col Callinan advised the 11th Brigade that all organised resistance had ceased in the Soraken. The unit moved to 'I' Beach having been relieved by the 55th/53rd Battalion.
4 April to 19 May 1945	The battalion commenced its third campaign in the Ratsua-Ruri Bay area after relieving the 55th/53rd Battalion.
19 May to 28 June 1945	The unit worked in close conjunction with the 31st/51st Battalion during this campaign. From time to time companies were detached to each other's unit to strengthen the forces required to dislodge the enemy. The 26th Battalion was relieved by the 27th Battalion and moved back to Torokina.
28 June to 25 September 1945	The unit was based at Torokina for resting and refurbishment of men and equipment. On September 25 the 26th Battalion departed Torokina and arrived at Rabaul for garrison duty. The unit was completely reorganised, many men were discharged and then reinforced by men from units which had been made redundant.
25 September to 3 December 1945	The battalion settled in for garrison duty at Rabaul. Extensive sports were organised to keep up the level of fitness. New reinforcements were assimilated into the unit with many of the men coming from mainland training units and were new to battalion life. Men with 190 points and over were warned for draft and their discharge.
3 December 1945 to 7 March 1946	On December 28, the unit was honoured by a visit from the Prime Minister of Australia, Mr J.B. Chifley. The flow of men for discharge continued and new appointments took place. On December 14, 1945 Col Callinan DSO, MC, MID relinquished command and departed for discharge. Lt-Col A.G. Cameron DSO assumed command of the battalion.
7 March to 22 May 1946	Almost 1,000 men marched in from units made redundant. On March 22, Lt-Col Cameron DSO relinquished command and Lt-Col P.G. Webster DSO assumed command of the 26th Battalion. On May 22, the 11th Brigade Farewell Parade was held and was reviewed by Maj-Gen B.M. Morris DSO, GOC, 8 MID accompanied by the Commander 11th Brigade Brig R.F. Monaghan. The battalions present were; 22nd Bn, 26th Bn, 29th/46th Bn and the 31st/51st Bn.
22 May to 28 August 1946	The 26th Battalion was literally 'brand new' as far as men were concerned. Very few of the originals were left. Between May and August, 1,432 men left for discharge; 1,040 men were transferred to other units. In four months 2,500 men departed the battalion.
28 August to 25 September 1946	Lt-Col P.G. Webster relinquished command and Lt-Col E. Barnes assumed command of the 26th Battalion until the unit was disbanded on August 28, 1946. A Company remained as the holding unit until September 25, 1946. Capt Austin (Austy) Foers who was the QM arranged for the unit's stores to be packed and shipped home. Thus ended the life span of the 26th Australian Infantry Battalion (AIF).

Hi mate, sorry to muck up your work. Your reasoning seems fine to me. I think it should be okay, but I suggest that we include on the article page something like "with permission" or some such thing, otherwise other users will do the same that I did.AustralianRupert (talk) 04:07, 17 March 2009 (UTC)

Chipofftheold, I've added a reference/note to this effect. Hopefully that should keep things above board. Cheers for your help. AustralianRupert (talk) 04:14, 17 March 2009 (UTC)

I admit I was cut when, after a few clicks, all my efforts in initiating the 26th Battalion page were decimated, especially after my careful actions to write to the author to seek permission to use the table. I meticulously explained to the (non-computer literate) author how Wikipedia works prior to his agreement. My submission to Wiki is my first exposure to the processes and I understand that the integrity of information needs to be preserved, as well as abiding by copyrights. I also understand your action, AustralianRupert, because copyright permission was not visible within the Article, but was hidden in the submission History on 17 June 2008. That has now been fixed, so I have no hard feelings. Thank you for completing WWI history section of the Battalion. Your thorough efforts make it a more comprehensive and useful article.--Chipofftheold (talk) 22:38, 17 March 2009 (UTC)

G'day, again. It's been awhile, but I have now reworked the article to incorport what was in the table into the prose as I think it flows better that way. IMO it is not necessary to duplicate the exact information on the battalion association website as it has now been used as a reference. Interested parties can click through this article to there. I have plans to try to improve this article to Good Article status, so will probably come back to this article again shortly to incorporate some information from the World War I and World War II official histories. Regards, AustralianRupert (talk) 12:51, 14 October 2013 (UTC)

Two VC's

Hi, Good article I think this btn must be the only one in all the British Empire armed forces with both the OC & 2IC being recipients of the VC. --Jim Sweeney (talk) 06:58, 19 August 2009 (UTC)

I think you might be right. It is the only one I've seen so far. It would be great if we could find a citation for this, so it could maybe be added to the article. — AustralianRupert (talk) 16:01, 19 August 2009 (UTC)

Battle Honours

The article lists the WWI Battle Honours as

• World War I: Suvla, Gallipoli 1915–1916, Egypt 1915–1917, Somme 1916, Pozieres, Bapaume 1917, Bullecourt, Ypres 1917, Menin Road, Polygon Wood, Broodseinde, Poelcappelle, Passchendaele, Hamel, Amiens, Albert 1918, Mont St Quentin, Hindenburg Line, Beaurevoir, France and Flanders 1916–1918.

However, the source used says

Somme, 1916, '18, Pozières, Bullecourt, Ypres, 1917, Menin Road, Polygon Wood, Broodseinde, Poelcappelle, Passchendaele, Amiens, Albert, 1918, Mont St. Quentin, Hindenburg Line, Beaurevoir, France and Flanders, 1916-18, Gallipoli, 1915, Egypt, 1915-16

This leads to a number of discrepencies: Suvla, Bapaume 1917, Hamel. Somme 1918 is missing, and dates for Egypt are different. Is there another sourse to support these differences? Hamish59 (talk) 13:33, 31 December 2013 (UTC)

G'day, Hamish, good spot. Festberg's The Lineage of the Australian Army confirms that the battle honours as previously presented were incorrect. I've adjusted this now. Regards, AustralianRupert (talk) 21:28, 31 December 2013 (UTC)

Happy New Year, AustralianRupert. Thank you very much for that. Hamish59 (talk) 13:35, 1 January 2014 (UTC)

The 26th and Mephisto

The first A7V to be taken by the Allies was Elfriede, not Mephisto, on 14 May. Only 13 men of the 26th were involved in the Mephisto seizure in July, with almost twice as many men of the British Tank Corps. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.135.43.19 (talk) 19:55, 9 April 2017 (UTC)

G'day, have you got a reference for Elfriede, and for the fact that it was 13 men from the 26th that took part in capturing Mephisto? AustralianRupert (talk) 09:42, 10 April 2017 (UTC)

Any half-decent work of reference confirms the above, as do the decent ones - Hundleby & Strasheim; Vollert; Jones, Rarey, & Icks; Zaloga; Whitmore. In fact, so many that it taxes credulity that Wikipedia has got so many things wrong. The articles on Mephisto and the A7V in general are a long way from perfect, but are a useful guide, even though they don't use especially sound sources.

For the sake of simplicity, Elfriede is most succinctly confirmed at: Zaloga, Steven J. (2006). German Panzers 1914-18. Osprey Publishing. p. 22.

You will read many jumbled and partisan accounts of the recovery of Mephisto. The fact is that 13 Australian infantrymen and 23 British tank men were involved in the operation. Confirmation: Whitmore, Mark (1994). Mephisto, Part II. Quarterly Journal of Australian Military History. Appendix, p. 62. Note that these 13 are not the "Tank Boys" whose names are inscribed on the hull. The latter were not Australian. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.135.43.19 (talk) 11:39, 12 April 2017 (UTC)

Thank you for sharing the information. I have added the Whitmore ref for you. If you see errors in other articles, by all means please correct them and add the supporting ref to the article. Thank you for your contributions. Regards, AustralianRupert (talk) 12:05, 12 April 2017 (UTC)

You're welcome. That's what I tend to do, but life is often made difficult by some for whom Wikipedia serves a rather different purpose. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.135.43.19 (talk) 15:06, 12 April 2017 (UTC)

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