Australian units in World War I

From Linking experiences of World War One
Revision as of 05:09, 27 April 2015 by GavinRobinson (talk | contribs) (→‎Constitution of Australian Forces: more details and complications)

Jump to: navigation, search

Constitution of Australian Forces

Australia's military forces consisted of several legally separate services:

  • Royal Australian Navy: formed after federation of the Commonwealth of Australia in 1901 as Commonwealth Naval Forces. Granted the title Royal Australian Navy in 1911. Put under British command immediately after start of First World War and served in many theatres.
  • Australian Army (known as Commonwealth Military Forces 1901-1915 and Australian Military Forces 1916-1929): formed after federation and governed by 1903 Defence Act. Divided into two (are these branches or services?):
    • Permanent Force: full-time regulars, mostly artillery and engineers. Not legally allowed to include infantry.
    • Citizen Military Force (also known as the Militia): conscripted in peace-time for training and could be called out for home defence, but not legally allowed to be sent overseas. Used for home defence during First World War. Adopted names of AIF battalions and divisions after end of war.
  • Australian Imperial Force: all-volunteer force raised for overseas service in First World War. Legally separate from the Permanent Force and CMF to get round the limitations imposed by the 1903 Defence Act. Disbanded 1 April 1921 but CMF inherited the names of its battalions and divisions. According to AWM, this was a branch of the Army.
  • Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force: another volunteer land force, raised for war service, particularly invading and occupying German colonies in the Pacific. Operated with Royal Australian Navy ships, but not legally part of the Navy, AIF, CMF or Permanent Force. Not mentioned in AWM list.

For more information see these Wikipedia pages:

Corps

Australian units also formed a large part of Desert Mounted Corps (which country did the corps headquarters belong to?).

Infantry divisions

Infantry brigades and battalions

As part of '1st Brigade', Australian Imperial Force (AIF)

As part of '2nd Brigade', Australian Imperial Force (AIF)

As part of '3rd Brigade', Australian Imperial Force (AIF)

As part of '4th Brigade', Australian Imperial Force (AIF)

As part of '5th Brigade', Australian Imperial Force (AIF)

As part of '6th Brigade', Australian Imperial Force (AIF)

As part of '7th Brigade', Australian Imperial Force (AIF)

As part of '8th Brigade', Australian Imperial Force (AIF)

As part of '9th Brigade', Australian Imperial Force (AIF)

As part of '10th Brigade', Australian Imperial Force (AIF)

As part of '11th Brigade', Australian Imperial Force (AIF)

As part of '12th Brigade', Australian Imperial Force (AIF)

As part of '13th Brigade', Australian Imperial Force (AIF)

As part of '14th Brigade', Australian Imperial Force (AIF)

As part of '15th Brigade', Australian Imperial Force (AIF)

Medical, Dental & Nursing

Also the Australian Army Nursing Service and Australian Voluntary Hospital

Australian Flying Corps (AFC)

Cavalry and Mounted infantry

As part of '1st Light Horse Brigade', Australian Imperial Force (AIF)

As part of '2nd LH Brigade', Australian Imperial Force (AIF)

As part of '3rd LH Brigade', Australian Imperial Force (AIF)

As part of '4th LH Brigade', Australian Imperial Force (AIF)

As part of '5th LH Brigade', Australian Imperial Force (AIF)

As part of 'Unattached Units'

Artillery

Royal Australian Navy

Transport ships

Retrieved from ‘http://collaborativecollections.org/WorldWarOne/index.php?title=Australian_units_in_World_War_I&oldid=5966’