Actions

Difference between revisions of "44th Battalion"

From Our Contribution

(Battalion Personnel)
(Battalion Personnel)
Line 93: Line 93:
 
* † [[Maurice James Ronan]] 28 Jan 1916 - 14 Mar 1917 - KIA Ploegsteert
 
* † [[Maurice James Ronan]] 28 Jan 1916 - 14 Mar 1917 - KIA Ploegsteert
 
S
 
S
* † [[Robert Melville Salter]] 30 Oct 1917 - 30 Mar 1918 KIA - 1st Mourlancourt
+
* † [[Robert Melville Salter]] 30 Oct 1917 - 30 Mar 1918 KIA - 1st Morlancourt
 
* † [[Lionel Newton Savage]] ?? Feb 1916 - 28 oct 1917 - KIA Ypres area
 
* † [[Lionel Newton Savage]] ?? Feb 1916 - 28 oct 1917 - KIA Ypres area
 
* † [[Ernest William Serls]] 6 Feb - 4 Oct 1917 - KIA Broodseinde
 
* † [[Ernest William Serls]] 6 Feb - 4 Oct 1917 - KIA Broodseinde
Line 100: Line 100:
 
* [[Norman Leslie Skewes]] 9 Dec 1917 - 23 Feb 1919
 
* [[Norman Leslie Skewes]] 9 Dec 1917 - 23 Feb 1919
 
* [[Alfred Slee]] 10 Feb 1916 - 26 Sep 1917 - Medical return to Australia
 
* [[Alfred Slee]] 10 Feb 1916 - 26 Sep 1917 - Medical return to Australia
Mervyn Alexander Stalker
+
8 [[Mervyn Alexander Stalker]] 23 Jan 1918 - 28 Mar 1918 - WIA Sailly-le-Sec
 
T
 
T
 
Mount (Mont) Alexander Taylor
 
Mount (Mont) Alexander Taylor

Revision as of 20:30, 18 August 2021

44th Battalion
44th Battalion.jpg
Shoulder patch
44th Bn.jpg
Voting in 1917 Referendum at Neuve Eglise. AWM photo E01605


Brief History

Raised at Claremont, Western Australia, in February 1916, the battalion formed part of the 11th Brigade, which in turn was part of the 3rd Division. Following some initial training in Australia the battalion embarked on 6 Jun 1916 aboard HMAT A29 Suevic for England where the battalion spent a further four months training before moving to France on 27 November 1916.


During the very cold winter of 1916-17 they alternated between manning front line positions and providing men for working details when in the rear. Their first real taste of battle came at Messines (7-10 Jun 1917), but some had previously participated in an unsuccessful, two company raid on enemy positions. They also participated in the Battle for Broodseinde Ridge in late October 1917, taking very heavy casualties (only 158 unscathed of the 992 that entered the battle).


Following the winter of 1917-18 which they spent in Belgium, in March they were moved south to the Somme valley when the German attack in 1918 threatened Amiens. Their defensive positions helped repel a German attack near Morlancourt, and later they participated in the attack on Le Hamel and participated in the Hundred Days Offensive that followed commencing in August 1918. The battalion's final battle came when it, with others, breached the German defences at the St Quentin Canal. Total battalion casualties during the war amounted to 437 killed and 1,346 wounded.

Battalion Personnel

A

B

C

D

F

G

H

J

K

  • John Kiely 10 Dec 1917 - 11 Jan 1918 - 11th Australian Light Trench Mortar Battery
  • Charles Kelly 23 Sep 1916 - ?? Apr 1919

M

O

P

R

S

8 Mervyn Alexander Stalker 23 Jan 1918 - 28 Mar 1918 - WIA Sailly-le-Sec T Mount (Mont) Alexander Taylor Alfred Martin Tilly Norman Sedrick Tonkin Ralph Trotter W Ronald Daniel Wallace Stephen Hubert Christian (Hughie) Wallace Charles Alexander Wann

Battle Honours

  • Messines 1917
  • Ypres 1917
  • Polygon Wood
  • Broodseinde
  • Poelcappelle
  • Passchendaele
  • Somme 1918
  • Ancre 1918
  • Hamel
  • Amiens
  • Albert 1918
  • Mont St Quentin
  • Hindenburg Line
  • St Quentin Canal
  • France and Flanders 1916–18

Individual Honours

Notes

Content for the history and honours sections has come from a combination of Wikipedia and the Australian War Memorial websites.


External Links