Australia. Australian Army - The Australian Army in World War I

Men-at-Arms 478

Robert Fleming Illustrated by Mike Chappell

Series editor Martin Windrow

Chateaux Wood, Ypres, 1917: soldiers from the 10th Field Artillery Bde, 4th Australian Division, make their way across the deep mud of the flooded, shell-blasted terrain by means of duckboards. (Australian War Memorial E01220)

T he Australian Armys participation in World War I began as a loyal response to the call to protect British Imperial interests, but became a significant contribution to the Allied victory over the German and Ottoman armies. Australias role was remarkable, given the nations comparative population in 1914, barely 7 million (compared to 40 million in France, 46 million in Britain, and 68 million in Germany). The response in 1914 was the more extraordinary in that the Australian nation was only 13 years old, and had not yet created a unified sense of itself. Each of the six colonies that had recently federated to become states of the Commonwealth of Australia had its own unique history, characteristics and cultural identity.

Australia had a pre-war system of compulsory militia service, but constitutional limitations meant that an additional expeditionary force was required, and the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) came into being on 15 August 1914. Initially a single division of 20,000 men under British command, by 1918 the AIF had grown to five divisions totalling more than 100,000, under Australian command. The way in which the AIF acquitted itself in the tragic campaign of Gallipoli in 1915, in the Middle East in 191518, and on the appallingly costly Western Front in 191618 shaped not only the worlds opinion of Australians, but also the young nations sense of itself. The national personality embraced the Anzac Spirit of mateship, courage, giving every man a fair go, and meritocracy, as epitomized by the Diggers of 191418.

An Australian Digger carries a wounded comrade back to a dressing station in the Gallipoli beachhead; he has kept his rifle with fixed bayonet, slung on his right shoulder.
A strong ethos of mateship developed among the Australian troops, leading to many instances of selfless bravery by men rescuing wounded comrades. After the war the young nation embraced the Anzac Spirit as a pillar of Australian identity. (Illustrated War News, 1916)

It is recorded that 331,781 Australians served overseas during World War I, suffering no fewer than 210,000 casualties, of whom 61,519 were killed or died of wounds. No fewer than 63 awards of the Victoria Cross Britains supreme decoration for valour in the face of the enemy were made to Australians for their conduct on the battlefieds of the Great War. Moreover, only about 4,000 Australians were taken prisoner during the whole war a fact that speaks of the Diggers bloody-minded determination.

The Australian Army was born in 1901, but it was not until the Defence Act 1903 came into force on 1 March 1904 that an established framework for the new Australian Commonwealth Military Forces came into effect.

In pre-Federation days the colonial units were associated with elitism, and their role in quelling civil disturbances had created a widespread distrust of the military. Two schools of thought about defence emerged in the new Commonwealth government: the Imperialists advocated a strong permanent force for service inside or outside Australia, in the Imperial interest and commanded by an Imperial officer, while the Nationalists advocated a smaller-scale approach, and were suspicious of British influence. The first Commander of Commonwealth Military Forces, MajGen Sir Edward Hutton, encouraged the Imperialist view; but while the government resolved to contribute both to its own defence and to the Imperial Defence System, it believed that a large standing army was neither desirable nor affordable. The Australian Army was to be based on a small Permanent Force limited to a staff corps, administrative, instructional, and specialist personnel such as artillery and engineers. The Defence Act prevented regular infantry and the Citizen Military Forces (CMF) militia being deployed either against Australian citizens or outside of Australian territory. Although seemingly practical for the perceived defensive needs of Australia, this two army system created a long and bitter rivalry between the Permanent Force and the CMF.

In 1909 Lord Kitchener toured Australia to review the state of defence. His report, anticipating the imminent need for a contribution to Imperial defence, proposed the introduction of universal national service, and the creation of the Royal Military College at Duntroon for officer training both of which were achieved in 1911. In 1913, Permanent Force personnel numbered just 2,235; however, compulsory military training added 21,461 militiamen, and CMF strength grew by more than 50 per cent over the three years prior to the outbreak of war.