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Poster - Australian Imperial Force Infantry Battalion 1918

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Overview

Poster showing the personnel and weapons structure of an Australian Imperial Force Infantry Battalion on the Western Front in France and Belgium in 1917

Historical information

The structure of Australia's military force changed over the course of the war. At the outbreak of war, Australia had a small navy and a small regular army. Part-time volunteers in the Citizen Forces were unable to serve overseas. Thousands of men enlisted in the armed forces when recruiting began. At the start of the war, the military structure included 12 battalions organised into 3 brigades within 1 division. The infantry battalions and light horse regiments recruited men from their own states throughout the war. Only specialty units, such as the artillery, medical corps and engineers, drew men from all over Australia. To create a strong bond within each unit, recruitment offices tried to recruit men and officers from the same region, not just from the same state.
Later in the war, the 2nd, 3rd and 5th Australian Divisions each contained one brigade from NSW, one from Victoria and one from the other four states. The 4th and 8th Infantry Brigades were exceptions to the general system. They each contained units of men from all the Australian states because less populous states could not field enough complete battalions. Towards the end of the war, some Australian battalions were so depleted of men through injury, illness and loss that they were lucky to have enough people for a full-strength company.

Details

Registration number

cwa-org-32-55-981

Inscriptions and markings

The Australian Imperial Force, first raised in 1914 for overseas war service, became better known by its initials – the “AIF”. It was a separate and purely volunteer army.There was a distinct character to those who enlisted in the earliest months and who were destined to fight on Gallipoli. They were keen; they had to meet tougher physical standards than those later applied; and quite a few had previous experience in British or Australian forces. Each of them would need to be lucky to survive the next four years of war. Eventually 330,000 Australians served overseas.

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Army Structures

Australian Army Museum of Western Australia

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