44th Battalion AIF Timeline

The 44th Battalion AIF is formed at Claremont, Western Australia under the command of Lieutenant Colonel W. Mansbridge DSO.

The Battalion finishes training and departs Fremantle on the HMAT A29 Suevic (29 Officers, ~1,000 Men), leaving behind the biggest crowd of people that had ever assembled on a West Australian waterfront. The 1st Reinforcements (One Officer, ~100 Men) also depart on the Suevic.

Training begins at Larkhill Camp on the Salisbury Plain, England.

The 3rd Reinforcements depart Fremantle on the HMAT A23 Suffolk (Two Officers, ~160 Men).

The 5th Reinforcements depart Fremantle on the HMAT A8 Agryllshire (Two Officers, ~150 Men).

Arrived at Steenwreck Village acting as the divisional reserve.

The 44th Battalion arrives at the front line in the Armentieres sector. They man the trenches during the coldest winter France had experienced in two generations. The 6th Reinforcements depart Fremantle on the HMAT A34 Persic (Two Officers, ~150 Men).

The battalion leaves the Armentieres sector after around 3 months of service there. Total losses are 55 killed including the 13th March Raid. The new sector is Ploegstreet Wood, it was here that the men got their first taste of poison gas. Ploegstreet Wood was much better than Armentieres, however. 

The 44th arrives in the Messines sector and prepares for upcoming battles.

The battle of Messines occurs. This is by far the deadliest trial the 44th had come up against by this point. Total casualties numbered 48 killed and 250 wounded. The battalion went from a strength of 700 men to just 400 in a matter of days and was pulled out of the line on the 11th.

The final part of the Messines campaign was a 6 day long struggle at Warneton. The 44th came under heavy artillery fire and as such suffered extensive losses. 29 were killed. The total losses of the Messines campaign had been around 120 killed and hundreds wounded, reducing the strength of companies to platoons. The survivors withdrew to Aldershot Camp for some much needed rest. Colonel Mansbridge, who had commanded the 44th since its inception was transferred to staff duties, being replaced by Lieutenant Colonel J.P. Clark (A Tasmanian).

The battalion had recovered to a strength of 700 and immediately took part in the Battle of Broodseinde Ridge from the 4th-6th October. They faced off against the undefeated German “Iron Division” which they in a few short days defeated. Casualties were extensive, D company lost 50% of its strength and a total of 47 men from the 44th were killed along with 250 wounded.

The battalion rested. Five men died during this time.

The men of the 44th Battalion experienced their second Christmas at the front line. Most other battalions tended to get rest for at least one of the two Christmases. 

Total losses for the year 1917 were 286 with the two deadliest months being October (91) and June (80). The deadliest day by far was the 4th October (34) during the opening phase of the Battle of Broodseinde. 

During the German Spring Offensive, the 44th attacks the Germans at Sailly Le Sac suffering 35 killed and at least 66 wounded.

Was spent relaxing in the Morlancourt sector which had only limited fighting. Seven men were killed.

The Australians alongside the Americans launch the Battle of Hamel. The Americans saw some of their taste of combat here. The battle and its aftermath resulted in the following casualties for the 44th: 34 Killed, 150 wounded and 4 captured.

The 44th Battalion takes part in the pursuit of the fleeing Germans who successfully attempt to regroup at the Hindenburg Line. They meet only scattered German resistance and casualties are therefore light with only 19 men killed. The constant marching makes the men exhausted with the additional tiring nature of having to assault German rearguard posts.

The war for the 44th Battalion AIF is over. Another fourteen men die on their way home or after returning. The men returned home in 1919 but the unit still technically existed until 1921 in some ways.

Members of the battalion earned the following decorations: three Distinguished Service Orders, one Order of the British Empire, sixteen Military Crosses + one bar, thirteen Distinguished Conduct Medals + one bar, ninety-one Military Medals + one bar, five Meritorious Service Medals, twenty-one Mentioned in Despatches and eleven foreign awards. For its service in the Great War, the 44th Battalion AIF received 15 battle honours.

“While memory lives, however, the Fighting Forty-Fourth will never die. To be with them Over There was a privilege and an honour – a glorious page in any man’s life. And when the Final Evening comes to us all, and the Last Pipe has been smoked, it will be of the comrades who wore the blue and white oval patch that we’ll be proudly thinking. Theirs was a tradition that Australia will do well to perpetuate while there’s a growing generation of free men left to be inspired by it.” – Captain C. Longmore