Australian Corps

2023-07-21T00:45:53Z

2A00:A041:791F:BA00:254E:D85C:42B4:56C1: wrong link

{{short description|First World War army corps}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2021}}
{{Use Australian English|date=November 2011}}
{{Infobox military unit
|unit_name= Australian Corps
|image= Aus corp WW1.svg
|image_size=150px
| caption= I Australian Corps formation badge.
| dates= 1 November 1917–1918
| country=Australia
| allegiance=
| branch= [[Australian Army]]
| type=
|command_structure= [[British Expeditionary Force (World War I)|British Expeditionary Force]]
| role=
| size= 5 [[Division (military)|divisions]]
| garrison=
| garrison_label=
| nickname=
| patron=
| motto=
| colors=
| colors_label=
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| mascot=
| equipment=
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| battles=[[World War I]]
* [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]]
| anniversaries=
| decorations=
| battle_honours=
| commander1= General [[William Birdwood]]
| commander1_label=November 1917 – May 1918
| commander2= Lieutenant General [[John Monash]]
| commander2_label=May – November 1918
| commander3= Lieutenant General [[Talbot Hobbs]]
| commander3_label= November 1918 – May 1919
| identification_symbol_2=
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}}
The '''Australian Corps''' was a [[World War I]] army [[corps]] that contained all five [[Australia]]n infantry [[division (military)|division]]s serving on the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]]. It was the largest corps fielded by the [[British Empire]] in France.{{sfn|Edmonds|1937|p=30}} At its peak the Australian Corps numbered 109,881 men.{{sfn|Fleming|2012|p=7}} By 1918 the headquarters consisted of more than 300 personnel of all ranks, including senior staff officers, as well as supporting personnel such as clerks, drivers and batmen.{{sfn|Bou|Dennis|Dalgleish|Grey|2016|p=38}} Formed on 1 November 1917, the corps replaced [[I Anzac Corps]] while [[II Anzac Corps]], which contained the [[New Zealand Division]], became the [[XXII Corps (United Kingdom)|British XXII Corps]] on 31 December.<ref>Becke, p. 258.</ref> While its structure varied, Australian Corps usually included 4–5 infantry divisions, corps artillery and heavy artillery, a corps flying squadron and captive balloon sections, anti-aircraft batteries, corps engineers, corps mounted troops (light horse and cyclists), ordnance workshops, medical and dental units, transport, salvage and an employment company.{{sfn|Bou|Dennis|Dalgleish|Grey|2016|pp=39–41}}

==History==
Following the hard fighting of 1917, where the Australian divisions suffered heavily at [[Battle of Arras (1917)|Bullecourt]], [[Battle of Messines (1917)|Messines]] and the [[Third Battle of Ypres]], the [[First Australian Imperial Force|Australian Imperial Force]] (AIF) was facing a manpower crisis. One [[Australian plebiscite, 1916|plebiscite for conscription]] had already failed and [[Australian plebiscite, 1917|another]] would be defeated on 1 December 1917. Voluntary recruitment was declining.{{citation needed|date=December 2014}} Plans to form a 6th Australian Division were scrapped and the incomplete formation was disbanded. To make up the numbers, it was proposed to disband the [[Australian 4th Division (World War I)|Australian 4th Division]], numerically the weakest, but this was strongly resisted by the members of the AIF.{{sfn|Fleming|2012|p=7}}

General [[William Birdwood]], commander of the AIF, suggested that in forming the Australian Corps, the weakest division could serve as a depot, providing reserves for the fighting divisions. Field Marshal [[Douglas Haig]], commander of the [[British Expeditionary Force (World War I)|British Expeditionary Force]], accepted this proposal. He had originally resisted combining the five Australian divisions into a single corps as he considered it too unwieldy. The Australian nature of the corps was enhanced by the attachment of [[No. 3 Squadron RAAF|No. 3 Squadron AFC]] plus Australian [[Australian Army Artillery Units, World War I#Siege artillery|siege artillery]] batteries. It was also considered appropriate to appoint Australian officers to all senior command positions. However, Birdwood remained in command of the corps.

General [[Hubert Gough]] was dismissed from command of the [[British Fifth Army]] following its failure to withstand the German [[Operation Michael|Spring Offensive]] of 1918. When Haig decided to reform the Fifth Army, he offered its command to Birdwood who accepted. This paved the way for an Australian to assume command of the corps, the highest field command held by an Australian in the war. The two candidates were Major General [[Cyril Brudenell White]] (Birdwood's chief-of-staff) and Major General [[John Monash]] (commander of the [[3rd Division (Australia)|3rd Division]]). Monash, who was senior, had experience commanding troops in battle and was favoured by Haig and Birdwood, got the post in May 1918 and was promoted to [[Lieutenant general (Australia)|lieutenant general]].{{citation needed|date=December 2014}} The Australian Corps was used extensively throughout the [[Hundred Days Offensive]] during which it achieved great success.{{sfn|Fleming|2012|p=7}}

The 4th Division saw little rest in its role as the "depot". In December 1917 it was moved into reserve near [[Péronne, Somme|Péronne]] following the German counter-attack in the [[Battle of Cambrai (1917)|Battle of Cambrai]]. In January 1918, the division was returned to the front line south of [[Ypres]] as Haig acquiesced to French demands to take over more of the front. From this time until the Australians were withdrawn from fighting in early October, all divisions of the corps saw nearly continuous action. Rather than disbanding entire divisions, any consolidation of strength was made under the British system of reducing [[brigade]]s from four [[battalion]]s to three. During the [[Hundred Days Offensive|Hundred Days]] campaign that ended the war, the Australian Corps, along with the Canadian Corps, were used repeatedly as spearheads for offensives. During the period August to October, 1918, General Monash reported that the Australian Corps had defeated some 39 German divisions, a full fifth of the entire German strength of 200 divisions on the Western Front.

== Organisation ==
The Corps comprised

* [[1st Division (Australia)|1st Division]]
* [[2nd Division (Australia)|2nd Division]]
* [[3rd Division (Australia)|3rd Division]]
* [[4th Division (Australia)|4th Division]]
* [[5th Division (Australia)|5th Division]]
* [[6th Division (Australia)|6th Division]] (broken up for reinforcements)

==See also==
*[[Military history of Australia during World War I]]
*[[Australian and New Zealand Army]]

==Footnotes==
{{Reflist}}

==References==
{{Refbegin}}
* Maj A.F. Becke, ''History of the Great War: Order of Battle of Divisions, Part 4: The Army Council, GHQs, Armies, and Corps 1914–1918'', London: HM Stationery Office, 1944/Uckfield: Naval & Military Press, 2007, {{ISBN|1-847347-43-6}}.
* {{cite book|last1=Bou|first1=Jean|last2=Dennis|first2=Peter|last3=Dalgleish|first3=Paul|last4=Grey|first4=Jeffrey|author-link4=Jeffrey Grey|title=The Australian Imperial Force|series=The Centenary History of Australia and the Great War. Volume V|date=2016|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=South Melbourne|isbn=9780195576801}}
*{{cite book|last=Edmonds |first=J.E. |author-link=James Edward Edmonds |title=Military Operations France and Belgium, 1918; March–April: Continuation of the German Offensives|url=https://archive.org/details/3edmilitaryopera02edmouoft |year=1937 |publisher=Macmillan |location=London | edition=IWM-Battery Press 1995 |isbn=0-89839-223-3}}
* {{cite book |last=Fleming|first=Robert|title=The Australian Army in World War I|series=Men at Arms|year=2012|publisher=Osprey|location=Oxford|isbn=978-1849086325}}
{{Refend}}

==Further reading==
* {{cite book|last=Bean|first=Charles|author-link=Charles Bean|year=1941|title=The Australian Imperial Force in France during the Main German Offensive, 1918|edition=8th| series=[[Official History of Australia in the War of 1914–1918]]|volume=V|publisher=Australian War Memorial| location=Canberra | url=https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/RCDIG1069922/|oclc=220898057}}
* {{cite book|last=Bean|first=Charles|year=1942|title=The Australian Imperial Force in France during the Allied Offensive, 1918 | edition=1st | series=Official History of Australia in the War of 1914–1918|volume=VI|publisher=Australian War Memorial| location=Canberra | url=https://www.awm.gov.au/collection/RCDIG1069923/|oclc=41008291}}

{{Anzac}}

[[Category:Corps of Australia]]
[[Category:Military units and formations of Australia in World War I]]
[[Category:Military units and formations established in 1917]]
[[Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1918]]

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Australian Corps