Talk:52nd Battalion (Australia)

Latest comment: 5 years ago by AustralianRupert in topic Corrections required

Query re: Browning source

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G'day page watchers. I see Browning is used here, but am wondering about it as a self-published source? I was thinking of having a look at it at my state library for anything on the 52nd Bn during the Second Battle of Dernancourt (which I'm working on in user space), but am unsure if it's worth the trip? Thoughts? Peacemaker67 (click to talk to me) 04:37, 24 December 2017 (UTC)Reply

G'day PM, sorry I can't remember much about the source, sorry. (I have a bad memory at the best of times, I'm afraid). I seem to recall that I may have used it to find the details of the ship they travelled on, because I couldn't read the entry in the war diary. I think I got it through the work library service. Regards, AustralianRupert (talk) 04:45, 24 December 2017 (UTC)Reply
Thanks Rupert. I might pop in there and take a look. Seems to be the only WWI history for this battalion. Cheers, Peacemaker67 (click to talk to me) 04:49, 24 December 2017 (UTC)Reply

Corrections required

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Hi. I'm new at this and working out how to make changes but in the meantime 1. Image of the 52nd at St Quentin is not of the 52nd Battalion AIF in August / September 1918 as the 52nd was disbanded on 16 May 1918. The image shown also has no discernible Colour Patches on the uniforms (Australian War Memorial have confirmed this but are yet to update the caption). A more suitable image would be one of 52nd Battalion Reinforcements in mid-April 1918 waiting to join their unit before 2nd Villers-Bretonneux. 2. You can trust Browning as his work (apart from his use of the St Quentin image on his front cover) is based on the 52nd Unit Diaries. However, for the bigger picture Peter Edgar's To Villers-Bretonneux is a better source about Dernancourt and 2nd Villers-Bretonneux. 3. The article mentions that the Veterans were bolstered by new recruits, mainly drawn from Queensland. In fact ten sets of Reinforcements from Queensland (over 1330 men) including A Squadron from the original 14th Light Horse in December 1916 joined the 52nd Battalion. By April 1918 the 52nd Battalion was predominately comprised of Queenslanders. Harpooner1830 (talk) 04:49, 11 February 2019 (UTC)Harpooner1830Reply

@Harpooner1830: G'day, in response to your comments above, can you please: (1) provide a url link, or an AWM collection number, for the image you would like added so I can view it and possible upload it, if appropriate? (2) provide a reference (book or journal article with page numbers, or reliable website, for the point about the 14th Light Horse providing reinforcements? (3) provide some specific examples of information (with page numbers) that you would like added from Edgar? If you can provide these, I will try to incorporate them into the article. Regards, AustralianRupert (talk) 09:16, 11 February 2019 (UTC)Reply

Suggestions for @AustraliaRupert 1. I would use this image: https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1227 2. Here is a link (https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/C1292697) to an image of the entire A Squadron 14th Light Horse (Queensland) which as the caption says was disbanded in September 1916 - the first 50 men staring with the Letter A were posted to the 52nd Battalion AIF. Here is a list of names of the men in A Squadron including the names of the units they were posted to: https://www.aif.adfa.edu.au/showUnit?unitCode=LH14SA - unfortunately you need to open each entry. Here also is an example link to the other 1300 men from Queensland - you just substitute the number 2 to 10 at the end of the URL - there is no other way to locate the names of the 1300 men which is why the AWM Unit History didn't even acknowledge the presence of Queenslanders (unlike Wikipedia) until late 2017: https://www.aif.adfa.edu.au/showUnit?unitCode=INF52REIN10 3. As regards Edgar I will have a look and try to find some conclusions about the role of the 52nd at both Dernancourt and Villers-Bretonneux.Harpooner1830 (talk) 10:51, 11 February 2019 (UTC)Reply

G'day, I have updated the image; however, unfortunately I don't think we can use the two AIF Project references for the information you are wanting to add as it would probably constitute original research or synthesis, which is not acceptable on Wikipedia. What we need is a source that explicitly states what you are wishing to add. Do you think that it might be in either Browning or Blair? I have ordered Edgar from the library (but it will take awhile to arrive), and can try to get Blair and Browning as well if you think it would be worthwhile. Regards, AustralianRupert (talk) 08:56, 12 February 2019 (UTC)Reply