World War 1, Australia Western Australia, 214 TRENBERTH, 44 Battalion, 1915
1915Studio portrait of 214 Private Melville Trenberth (three copies)
The 44th Battalion was established in February 1916 in Claremont, Western Australia, as part of the 11th Brigade of the 3rd Australian Division. Commanded initially by Lieutenant Colonel William Mansbridge, it earned the nickname "Old Bill's Thousand." The battalion left Australia on 6 June, arrived in Britain for additional training, and reached France in late November. It saw its first frontline action on the Western Front on 29 December.
Throughout the winter of 1916-17, the 44th Battalion alternated between frontline duties and work in rear areas, interrupted only by a major raid on 13 March 1917. Its first significant battle was at Messines in Belgium from 7 to 10 June. Following this, the battalion was actively engaged in the Ypres sector, participating in the battle for Broodseinde Ridge and enduring severe losses. Of the 992 men involved, only 158 returned unscathed by the time the battalion was relieved on 21 October.
For the next five months, the 44th Battalion rotated between rear and front lines in Belgium. When Germany launched its last major offensive in March 1918, the battalion was quickly deployed to France, helping halt the advance on Amiens. As the Allies prepared their own offensive, the 44th took part in the battle at Hamel on 4 July and was involved in the major Allied push starting on 8 August. The battalion's final action was breaching the Hindenburg Line at the St Quentin Canal in late September. Severely depleted by then, it was relieved from the front before the war's end and disbanded in May 1919.
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Nearest geotagged records:
- World War 2, Western Australia, Rottnest Island AIF Enlistment, WP6326 to WX35965 KING, 1942 (0.01km away)
- PHOTOGRAPH: 'CATHERINE STREET POWER UNDERGROUNDING' 1987 (0.01km away)
- PHOTOGRAPH: 'CATHERINE STREET POWER UNDERGROUNDING' 1988 (0.01km away)
- PHOTOGRAPH: 'CATHERINE STREET POWER UNDERGROUNDING' 1988 (0.01km away)
- CUSHION: GREEN WITH YELLOW AND ORANGE FLORAL EMBROIDERY (0.03km away)
- CUSHION: GREEN WITH YELLOW AND ORANGE FLORAL EMBROIDERY (0.03km away)
- CUSHION, DUN- COLOURED, MULTI-COLOURED FLORAL EMBROIDERY (0.03km away)
- World War 1, Australia, Western Australia, 1249 JACK, 10 Light Horse (0.04km away)
- PHOTOGRAPH: 'CATHERINE STREET POWER UNDERGROUNDING' 1987 (0.06km away)
- PHOTOGRAPH: 'ROBERTS ROAD FOUNDATION WORK' (0.07km away)
Nearby places: View all geotagged records »
Australian Army Museum of Western Australia
Australian Army Museum of Western Australia
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Inter War, Australia Western Australia, 1938
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Inter War, Australia, Western Australia, Artillery Barracks. Jimmy the Cockatoo,1936
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Inter War, Australia, Western Australia, Fremantle, Artillery Barracks, 1925
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World War 1, Europe, Greece, Lemnos, 4 Field Ambulance, 1915
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World War 1, Europe, Türkiye, Gallipoli, Field Artillery at Anzac Cove, 1915
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World War 1, Europe Turkiye, Suvla Bay, Gallipoli, 4 Field Ambulance, 1915
