16th Battalion
From Our Contribution
Shoulder patch | |
16th Battalion men cleaning out a Gird Trench |
Contents
Brief History
The 16th Battalion AIF was raised from 16 September 1914, six weeks after the outbreak of the First World War. Three-quarters of the battalion were recruited in Western Australia, and the rest in South Australia. With the 13th, 14th and 15th Battalions it formed the 4th Brigade commanded by Colonel John Monash. After a period of training in Western Australia, the battalion travelled by sea to Port Melbourne where hey disembarked and were for a time located at the Broadmeadows camp north of Melbourne where all elements of the 4th Brigade were gathering prior to travelling to Egypt as part of the 2nd Convoy. The 16th Battalion travelled to Alexandria in Egypt aboard HMAT A40 Ceramic, disembarking there on 1 Feb 1915.
When the 4th Brigade arrived in Egypt in early February 1915 it became part of the New Zealand and Australian Division which trained on the outskirts of Cairo before being called forward to Gallipoli. While 'C' Company travelled to Gallipoli onboard HMAT A48 Seang Bee, the rest of the battalion boarded HMT Haida Pascha for Mudros harbour on the island of Lemnos arriving outside the harbour late on 15 Apr 1915. The 4th Brigade landed at ANZAC late in the afternoon of 25 April 1915.
A week after the landing the 16th was thrown into the attack on Bloody Angle suffering many casualties. From May to August the battalion was heavily involved in establishing and defending the front line of the ANZAC beachhead, and in August the 4th Brigade attacked Hill 971. The hill was taken at great cost, although Turkish reinforcements forced the Australians to withdraw. While on the Gallipoli Peninsular the battalion was engaged in the fighting at Bloody Angle, Quinn's, Hill 971, and Aghyl Dere. From 13 September until 2 November the battalion enjoyed a seven week break from the war on Lemnos Island before returning to the fray. The battalion evacuated ANZAC until the evacuation during the nights of 19th and 20th December.
After the withdrawal from Gallipoli, the battalion returned to Egypt. While there the AIF expanded and was reorganised. The 16th Battalion was split and provided experienced soldiers for the 48th Battalion. The 4th Brigade was combined with the 12th and 13th Brigades to form the 4th Australian Division.
Its first major action in France was at Poziéres in the Somme valley. The battalion spent much of 1917 in Belgium advancing to the Hindenburg Line. The battalion, along with most of the 4th Brigade, suffered heavy losses at Bullecourt in April 1917, when the brigade attacked strong German positions without the promised tank support. In March and April 1918, the battalion helped to stop the German Spring offensive. The battalion participated in the great allied offensive of 1918, fighting near Amiens on 8 August 1918. This advance by British and empire troops was the greatest success in a single day on the Western Front, one that German General Erich Ludendorff described as '..the black day of the German Army in this war'. The battalion continued operations until late September 1918.
Battalion Personnel
A
- † Herbert Wright Aldred 15 Sep 1914 - 10 May 1915 - KIA Quinn's Post, Gallipoli
- Frederick James Allison MM 24 Oct 1917 - 3 Oct 1918
- Leith John Newton Angelo 1 Mar 1916 - 8 Aug 1918 - WIA near Mericourt, Somme region
B
- † Robert Prior Bailey 7 May 1917 - 8 Aug 1918 - KIA near Mericourt-sur-Somme
- † Frank Ball 22 Mar - 2 May 1915 - KIA Bloody Angle, Gallipoli
- † Edward James Bell - 16 Sep 1914 - 25 May 1915 - DOW Gallipoli
- Clement Wilder Benporath - 27 Apr - 7 Aug 1915 - WIA Gallipoli
- Arthur Edward Bingham - 25 Aug 1916 - 10 Apr 1917 - WIA Bullecourt area
- † Austin Henry (Paddy) Bingham 25 - 30 Aug 1916 - KIA Mouquet Farm
- John Blake 6 May 1915 - 11 Apr 1917 - POW 1st Bullecourt
- † Sydney Fenner Blencowe 9 Jan - 2 Mar 1916 - to 48th Battalion
- † Henry Bolton 26 Sep 1914 - 12 Aug 1916 - KIA Pozières
C
- Sidney Herrick Carter 16 Dec 1916 - 1 Apr 1918 - Injured and not able to rejoin unit
- John Thomas Clements 27 Jul 1917 - 11 May 1918 - to 4th Machine Gun Battalion
- † Frederick Lawrence Close 29 Apr -4 May 1915 - KIA 'Baby 700', Gallipoli
- William Francis Cohn 2 Jan 1916 - 11 Apr 1917 - POW 1st Bullecourt
- Victor Thomas Emanuel Compassi 23 Oct - 31 Dec 1915
- Gordon Vidgen Cross 4 Oct 1916 - 11 Apr 1917 - POW 1st Bullecourt
D
- George Chistopher Dalziell DCM 23 Oct 1915 - 27 Feb 1919
- † Thomas Denteith 21 Jan - 11 Apr 1917 - KIA 1st Bullecourt
E
- John James Emery ?? - 1 May 1915 - KIA Gallipoli as a reinforcement before joining the battalion
F
- Charles Fancote 21 Jun - 29 Sep 1917 - WIA near Ploegeteert
- † Arthur Thomas Feast 30 Oct 1916 - 28 Sep 1917 - DOW Polygon Woods
- John Edwin Ffoulkes DCM 7 Mar 1916 - 26 Jan 1919
- George Weston Firns 2 Aug 1915 - 2 Mar 1916 - to 48th Battalion
- † Osborne Fisher 5 Feb - 2 Mar 1916 - to 48th Battalion
- † Walter Stanley Fisher 26 Feb - 2 Apr 1916 - to 48th Battalion
- † Herbert Fuhrmann 13 Feb - 8 Aug 1917 - KIA Messines area
G
- William Henry Gibbs 2 Jan 1917 - 30 Mar 1919
- Eugene Anthony Gillespie 26 Jan - 21 May 1918 -- to 4th Australian Broad Gauge Railway Operating Company
- Alfred Gittins 9 Feb - 4 Jul 1918 - WIA Hamel
- Frederick Sidney Gladstone 4 Oct 1916 - 30 Mar 1918 - WIA (2nd time) Hébuterne
- Leslie James Godfrey 2 May - 16 Sep 1916 - to 4th Machine Gun Company
- † Rupert Arthur Kent Goodchild 22 Sep 1914 - 26 Apr 1915 - KIA Pope's Hill, Gallipoli
H
- John Richard (Jack) Hall
- Edwin Patrick Hanrahan a reinforcement that never reached the battalion in the field.
- George Harris 4 Oct 1916 - 5 Apr 1918
- † Phillip (Harry) Harrison 15 Sep 1914 - 7 Aug 1915 - KIA Hill 971, Gallipoli
- William (Bill) Hart 24 Sep 1914 - 2 Oct 1918
- Matthew Harwood 7 Mar 1916 - 10 Jun 1917 - Medical return to Australia
- Edward Hobson 21 Jan - 11 Apr 1917 - WIA 1st Bullecourt
- James Owen Horrocks ?? Jul - 3 Dec 1915 & 6 May 1917 - 29 Dec 1918
K
- James Kirk 15 Sep 1914 - 3 May 1915 - WIA Gallipoli
L
- † James Edward Laugher 27 Sep 1914 - 2 May 1915 - KIA Baby 700, Gallipoli
- George William Liddington 23 Sep 1914 - 9 Jun 1918
- William Wilfred Gerald Liddington 13 Oct 1917 - 11 May 1918 - to 4th Machine Gun Battalion
- Angus Lindt 23 Oct 1915 - 23 Jan 1919
- † Ernest Edward Lockhart 23 Oct 1915 - 12 Aug 1916 - DOW Pozières
- Samuel Thomas Lowth 7 May - 26 Sep 1917 - WIA Polygon Wood
M
- Claude Robert Marsh 13 Feb - 11 Apr 1917 - POW 1st Bullecourt
- † Victor Henry Marshall 15 Sep 1914 - 9 Apr 1917
- Alfred Arthur Martin 5 Feb - 3 Mar 1916 - to 48th Battalion
- George Henry Martin MM MID 16 Oct 1914 - 10 Aug 1918
- Harold Percival Martin 19 Jan - 6 Feb 1918 - to 32nd Battalion
- Benjamin Arthur McEvoy 30 Apr - 5 Aug 1917 - WIA Messines area
- Patrick O'Connell McKenna 15 Sep 1014 - 2 May 1915 - WIA Baby 700 Gallipoli
- Albert Tom Milton 11 Jun 1917 - 8 Aug 1918 - WIA Battle of Amiens
- Thomas William Moore 21 Jan 1917 - 18 Sep 1918 - WIA near Beaumetz
- Frank Myales 26 Jan 1918 - 22 Feb 1919
N
- George Emanuel Nettleton 30 Apr 1917 - 11 May 1918 - to 4th Machine Gun Battalion
- † Ernest Clifford Noyce 17 Oct 1916 - 6 Feb 1917 - KIA near Ypres
O
- Patrick Joseph O'Brien 27 - 30 Jul 1917 - regular defaulter
- Bernard O'Reilly 27 Apr 1915 ? - 12 Mar 1916 - to 48th Battalion
P
- William Plant 17 Jul 1916 - ?? Dec 1918
R
- Frederick Rawlinson 16 Oct 1914 - 11 Apr 1917 - POW 1st Bullecourt
- Edwin Lawrence Reed 27 Jul 1917 - 4 Mar 1919
- † William Edward Reed 15 Sep 1914 - 8 Aug 1917 - KIA Messines
- Egbert Robert Trethowan Reeves 2 Jan - 11 Apr 1917 - POW 1st Bullecourt
- John Edmond Rhodes 13 Feb - 11 Apr 1917 - POW 1st Bullecourt
- Hartland Wheare Richards 21 Jan - 11 Apr 1917 - POW 1st Bullecourt
- † James Edward Richardson 9 Feb - 22 Aug 1918 - KIA Madame Wood
- Alexander Robinson 17 Oct 1916 - 9 Nov 1918
- † Alfred Arthur (Fred) Rouse 23 Aug 1916 - 11 Apr 1917 - KIA 1st Bullecourt
S
- † Robert Melville Salter 21 Sep 1914 - 11 Apr 1916
- William Thomas Saw 30 Oct 1916 - 21 Mar 1919
- Frederick William Scott 9 Sep 1914 - 13 Mar 1916 - to 48th Battalion
- † Joseph Scott 16 Dec 1916 - 11 Apr 1917 - WIA & POW who DOW in captivity
- Clarence Otto Sladden 27 Jul 1917 - 23 Apr 1919
- † Albert Squire 29 Jan - 5 Apr 1918 - KIA Hebuterne
- John Donald Stalker 28 Jul 1915 - 4 Feb 1917 - WIA Flers area
- James Strachan 13 Feb 1917 (WIA 11 Apr 1917 Bullecourt)
T
- † Albert Thomas Ticklie MM 1 Mar - 1 Apr 1916 - to 48th Battalion
- † Ernest Charles Thomas 21 Jan - 29 Sep 1917 - DOW Polygon Wood (wounded 26 Sep)
- Allan Leslie Thomas 15 Oct 1914 - 26 Apr 1915 - WIA Gallipoli
- Aubrey Turner 30 Apr - 2 Nov 1918 - illness
- † Herbert Winton Turner 23Jan - 11 Apr 1917 - KIA 1st Bullecourt
U
- John Francis Ullyott 26 May 1916 - 11 Apr 1917 - POW 1ST Bullecourt
W
- † David Dickson Waddell 2 Apr - 6 Aug 1916 - KIA Pozières
- Matthew Walsh 27 Jul - 15 Sep 1917 - to 32nd Battalion
- † Harold Watts 15 Sep 1914 - 2 May 1915
- † Lawrence Hamill White MM 1 Jun - 14 Oct 1916
- James Murray Whiteley 8 Jan - 13 Mar 1916 - to 12th Machine Gun Company
- Aubrey Jesse Whittington MM 14 Oct 1914 - 11 Apr 1917 POW 1st Bullecourt
- James Arthur (Artie) Williams 18 Feb 1918 - 12 May 1919
- Douglas Campbell Wills Winning 15 Apr 1918 - early 1919
- Cyril Arthur Woodland 2 Jan 1917 - 9 Jan 1918
Y
- George Young 15 Oct 1914 - 28 Apr 1915 - WIA Pope's Hill, Gallipoli
Battle Honours
- Anzac
- Landing at Anzac
- Defence of Anzac
- Suvla
- Sari Bair
- Gallipoli, 1915
- Egypt, 1915-16
- Somme, 1916-18
- Pozières
- Bullecourt
- Messines, 1917
- Ypres, 1917
- Menin Road
- Polygon Wood
- Passchendaele
- Arras, 1918
- Ancre, 1918
- Hamel
- Amiens
- Albert, 1918
- Hindenburg Line
- Epéhy
- France and Flanders, 1916-18
Individual Honours
- 3 Victoria Crosses (Pte Martin O'Meara, LCpl Tom Axford, Lt LD "Fats" McCarthy)
- 2 Companion of the Order of Bath
- 1 Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George
- 12 Distinguished Service Orders and 1 bar
- 25 Military Crosses and 5 bars, one second bar
- 30 Distinguished Service Orders and 1 bar
- 163 Military Medals and 12 bars
- 5 Meritorious Service Medals
- 50 Mentioned in Despatches and
- 7 foreign awards.
Notes - further reading
History sourced from the AWM website. Accessed 29 Dec 2017.
For further detail see:
- The Old Sixteenth by Capt C. Longmore, 1929, History Committee of the 16th Battalion Association.