43rd Battalion

43rd Battalion

Shoulder patch

Field Dressing Station Messsines 7 Jun 1917

Brief History

Raised in Australia, primarily with volunteers from South Australia. Following only rudimentary training in Adelaide it sailed for the battlefields of Europe on HMAT A19 Afric. On arrival in England they moved to the Salisbury Plain for further training before moving to France in late 1916 as part of the 3rd Division.

The battalion participated in several large battles, the first being the Battle of Messines in June 1917. In October 1917 they participated in the Third Battle of Ypres, at both Broodseinde and Passchendaele.

When in early 1918 the Germans attacked, the 43rd Battalion was one of many Australian units sent south to hold the line and to protect Amiens in France. On arrival they initially took defensive action near Morlancourt and later, offensive action during the Battle for Hamel and the subsequent Hundred Days Offensive, particularly the Hindenburg Line fighting and at the Battle of Mount St Quentin.

During their time on the Western Front the battalion suffered the loss of 386 killed and 1,321 wounded casualties.

Battalion Personnel

• William Percy Matthews 13 Apr 1917 - 28 Aug 1918
• Charles Henry Murray 11 Apr 1918 - 23 Apr 1919
• John Arthur Patterson MM 3 May 1917 - 6 Jul 1918
• George William Piesley
• Thomas Ramsell
• Henry Seddon
• John Henry Whitfield

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

• 1 Victoria Cross (Cpl Lawrence Weathers)
• 2 Distinguished Service Orders
• 1 Commander of the Order of the British Empire
• 1 Medal of the Order of the British Empire
• 20 Military Crosses
• 15 Distinguished Conduct Medals
• 74 MM with 4 bars
• 3 Meritorious Service Medals
• 19 Mentioned In Despatches, and
• 6 foreign awards

Notes

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