1st Anzac Entrenching Battalion

1st Anzac Entrenching Battalion
Active	1916–1917
Country	Australia
Branch	First Australian Imperial Force
Role	Infantry training (1916) Tunnelling (1916–1917)
Engagements	World War I

The 1st Anzac Entrenching Battalion was a First Australian Imperial Force (AIF) battalion of World War I. It was formed in June 1916 with the role of preparing soldiers for combat with the AIF's infantry battalions. From September that year until the battalion's disbandment in October 1917 it was used as a tunnelling unit.

History

The 1st Anzac Entrenching Battalion was formed at La Motte in France on 6 June 1916.^[1] Like the other British Empire entrenching battalions, the unit was initially used to hold reinforcement infantrymen for I ANZAC Corps. Soldiers were posted to the battalion after completing initial infantry training in the United Kingdom and further training at the base depots of the AIF divisions in France. The role of the 1st Anzac Entrenching Battalion was to accelerate and improve the training process by providing reinforcement infantrymen with exposure to combat conditions while undertaking engineering works near the front line.^[2]

The battalion initially provided all infantry reinforcements for the I ANZAC Corps, but all of its personnel were posted to combat units as part of the response to the heavy casualties suffered by the Australian units involved in the Battle of Pozières between July and September 1916.^[1]^[3] While it ceased to provide training to infantrymen, the 1st Anzac Entrenching Battalion's headquarters and staff were retained and the unit absorbed the surplus reinforcements for the AIF's tunnelling companies; these comprised 9 officers and 203 other ranks. The battalion subsequently operated as a tunnelling unit on the Western Front alongside Canadian tunnellers.^[4] It was disbanded on 20 October 1917.^[1]

References

Citations

1 2 3 Mallett, Ross. "Engineers". First AIF Order of Battle 1914–1918. Retrieved 31 October 2016 – via Internet Archive.
↑ Bean 1982, p. 177.
↑ Bean 1982, pp. 177–178.
↑ Bean 1982, p. 178.

Works consulted

Bean, C.E.W. (1982) [1929]. The Australian Imperial Force in France, 1916. St. Lucia, Queensland: University of Queensland Press in association with the Australian War Memorial. ISBN 0702217301.

External links

"AWM4 Subclass 23/78 – 1st ANZAC Entrenching Battalion". Australian Imperial Force unit war diaries. Australian War Memorial.

Infantry formations of the First Australian Imperial Force

1st Division	1st Bde 1st Bn 2nd Bn 3rd Bn 4th Bn 2nd Bde 5th Bn 6th Bn 7th Bn 8th Bn 3rd Bde 9th Bn 10th Bn 11th Bn 12th Bn

2nd Division	5th Bde 17th Bn 18th Bn 19th Bn 20th Bn 6th Bde 21st Bn 22nd Bn 23rd Bn 24th Bn 7th Bde 25th Bn 26th Bn 27th Bn 28th Bn

3rd Division	9th Bde 33rd Bn 34th Bn 35th Bn 36th Bn 10th Bde 37th Bn 38th Bn 39th Bn 40th Bn 11th Bde 41st Bn 42nd Bn 43rd Bn 44th Bn

4th Division	4th Bde 13th Bn 14th Bn 15th Bn 16th Bn 12th Bde 45th Bn 46th Bn 47th Bn 48th Bn 13th Bde 49th Bn 50th Bn 51st Bn 52nd Bn

5th Division	8th Bde 29th Bn 30th Bn 31st Bn 32nd Bn 14th Bde 53rd Bn 54th Bn 55th Bn 56th Bn 15th Bde 57th Bn 58th Bn 59th Bn 60th Bn

Machine Gun Battalions	1st Machine Gun Bn 2nd Machine Gun Bn 3rd Machine Gun Bn 4th Machine Gun Bn 5th Machine Gun Bn

Pioneer Battalions	1st Pioneer Bn 2nd Pioneer Bn 3rd Pioneer Bn 4th Pioneer Bn 5th Pioneer Bn

Other units	1st Anzac Entrenching Battalion

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