28th Battalion

28th Battalion

Shoulder patch

28th's arrival parade in Cairo 1915. AWM photo P00700.001

Brief History

The 28th Battalion came into existence on 16 April 1915 when it was raised at Blackboy Hill Camp, in Western Australia. the 28th Battalion's first batch of volunteers came from personnel who had originally been allocated to the 24th Battalion (subsequently the 24th became a Victorian raised battalion). It was allocated to the 7th Brigade, which besides the 28th and several support units, also consisted of the 25th, 26th and 27th Battalions.

The 28th Battalion sailed for Egypt aboard HMAT A11 Ascanius on 9 Jun 1915, arriving in Egypt on 2 Jul 1915 and concentrated along with the rest of the 7th Brigade at Abbassia, near Cairo, where they were assigned to the newly formed Australian 2nd Division. In September 1915 elements of the division were dispatched to Gallipoli to provide reinforcements for the Australian and New Zealand forces that had been fighting around Anzac Cove since April.

After spending Christmas on Lemnos, the 28th returned to Egypt in early January 1916. Further training followed before the 7th Brigade was deployed in defence of the Suez Canal. The 28th Battalion was transferred to France, as part of the first body of Australian troops to deploy to the European battlefield, boarding HMAT A32 Themistocles in Alexandria which sailed at 5:30pm on 16 March for Marseilles where it arrived at 3:30pm on the 21st. The battalion entrained for northern France where they detrained at Thiennes at 6:45pm on the 24th, and then marched to Morbecque, west of Armentieres.

The 28th's first major action came during the Battle of Poziéres in late July and early August when they took part in two attacks. During the first attack, the 28th suffered heavily when they were committed to a night-time attack on the heights that got held up in heavy wire entanglements that the preparatory bombardment had failed to destroy; the battalion's losses were the heaviest in the 7th Brigade, amounting to 10 officers and 360 other ranks. A follow up attack was undertaken on 4 August, which proved more successful, eventually securing the objective. The following day, the Australians were subjected to heavy shelling before they were withdrawn on 6 August.

During 1917 the 28th Battalion was mainly used in supporting roles in a series of battles that followed the German strategic retreat to the Hindenburg Line. Actions were fought at Bullecourt, Menin Road, Broodseinde and Poelcappelle, before the battalion wintered in Belgium.

in 1918 it was transferred to the Somme again in response to the German Spring Offensive. In late March and early April, they held the line around Villers-Bretonneux as the Allies fought to defend the vital railhead of Amiens, before providing support to the 6th Brigade's attack on Ville-sur-Ancre in May.

In June and July as the Allies attempted to regain the initiative, the 28th was involved in a minor action around Morlancourt. On 8 August, the Allies launched their Hundred Days Offensive during which the 28th Battalion was initially engaged around Villers-Bretonneux.

In late August, the Australian 2nd Division advanced to the Somme River, and on 29 August, as the 7th Brigade attacked around Biaches, the 28th was assigned the task of capturing the Amiens–Peronne railway bridge. The following day, they forced their way across the river around Peronne, and during the subsequent Battle of Mont St Quentin–Peronne, they joined the 7th Brigade's advance towards Aizecourt-le-Haut. They continued fighting until early October 1918 when they were withdrawn from the line following an attack on the Beaureviour Line, near the village of Estrees. Throughout the war, casualties amongst the 28th totaled 787 killed and 2,241 wounded.

Battalion Personnel

• David Forbes Abernethy 3 Jul 1917 - 1 Jun 1918
• Rolf Montgomery Allom 26 Oct 1918 - June 1919
• Gerrie Anderson ?? Aug 1915 - 19 Jan 1916
• Edward Armstrong 26 Sep 1916 - 16 Nov 1916 - POW
• † Reuben Arnold MM 18 Dec 1916 - 1 Nov 1917 - DOW received 29 Oct 1917

• † William Barge 16 Apr 1915 - 1 Jun 1918 - KIA
• † Charles Barnett 16 Apr 1915 - 30 May 1916 DOW
• Albert William Barratt 3 Jul - 13 Sep 1917
• Gordon Edgar (George) Bennett 24 Sep 1916 - 1 Jun 1918 - WIA Mourlancourt area
• Joseph George Benton Snr 10 May - 17 Aug 1915
• † Frederick James Bishop 11 Oct 1915 - 10 Mar 1916 - to 32nd Battalion
• Percy James Blake 30 Oct 1916 - ?? May 1919
• Robert Henry Blake 2 May 1917 - 3 Apr 1919
• William Bowman 18 Aug - 2 Oct 1915 - to Service Corps
• Arthur Percy Thomas Boyle 16 Apr 1915 - 31 Oct 1017
• Patrick Francis Brennan 4 Dec 1916 - 3 May 1917 - WIA Second Bullecourt
• Edward Briggs late Mar 1915 - 18 Jan 1919
• † David Edward Bromley 18 Nov 1916 - 14 Jun 1918
• † Henry William Buckland 31 Jul 1917 - 10 Jun 1918 - died of illness in Australia
• Sylvanus Benjamin Buckland 18 Nov 1916 - 6 May 1917
• † James Willie Bush 9 Jan 1917 - 1 Oct 1918 - KIA near Bellicourt
• Leonard Butcher 17 Aug 1916 - 3 May 1917 KIA - 2nd Bullecourt
• Allahbuse Jan Butt 4 Oct 1918 - 16 May 1919

• Frederick Ernest Capstick
• Frederick John Chester
• Ernest Henry Chisholm
• Oswald Chorlton
• Joseph Clough
• Herbert Dunbar Cousens 18 Nov 1916 - 3 Oct 1917 - to Engineers
• Reuben Leeuwin Cousens

Angus Dearden Oliver John Dowell Alexander Dowle

Leslie Norman Elkington Harold Empsall

Joseph Charles Joshua Farnell Charles Glyn Firns

Lionel William Gibbs Stephen Gittins Herbert Goodman

• Charles Gorringe 6 Sep - 5 Nov 1916 - WIA The Maze

William Edward Clarence Green Arthur William Griffin

William Hall Thomas Percival (Percy) Hanretty Alfred James Hansen MM Walter Hayward Roby Helliwell Paul Henzell Hemy Frederick Hobbs John Hobbs

• Frederick George Hodges ?? Nov 1915 - 21 Apr 1916

George Henry Holroyd Stephen Henry Horrocks

• † William John Howe 16 Jun 1916 - 17 Oct 1917 - DOW as a POW - Pozieres

Gordon Weston Johanson Joseph Reginald Jones

Leo Patrick Kane Henry Richard Keefe Basil Kelley Walter David Francis Kerridge Osborne King

William Alfred Leaver Arthur Lewis Ernest Alfred (Jack) Lewis John Richard Lewis Reginald Peter Lewis

• William Wilfred Gerald Liddington 2 May - 12 Oct 1917 - to 16th Battalion

Frederick Thornton Lindley

William Mathews

• Sydney Chadwick McDonald 4 Oct 1918 - 24 Mar 1919

William Edward McKenna

• Robert George McLean 5 Feb - 3 Mar 1916 - to 48th Battalion

Patrick Michael

• Albert Thomas Myers 3 Jul 1917 - 22 Jan 1918

Reuben Douglas Naughton

Robert George Orrock

Harry Pickard William Augustus Povah Bertram Ernest Powell Frederick James Powell Charles William Price Henry George Price

Robert Landen Rayner Thomas Henry Rice

Douglas Gordon Scott MC Albert Edward See Reginald Grove Sexty MID Thomas Joseph Sheehan Roland Parker Shelley Ephraim Shepherd Luke Siford Keith Herbert Sloan

Ernest Charles Thomas Samuel Simpson Thompson William Thomson Arnold Thorp Henry Albert Thorp Hubert Harris Thorp Sidney Francis Till

George Charles Unwin

Arthur John Verrall

Albert Edward John Walls Joseph Watson Stuart Alan Webb Ernest Wells Claude Algernon Wright