Home > Australian Corps

The Australian Corps was a World War I army corps that contained all five Australian infantry divisions serving on the Western Front. It was the largest corps fielded by the British army in France. Formed on November 1, 1917, the corps replaced I Anzac Corps while II Anzac Corps, which contained the New Zealand Division, became the British XXII Corps .

Following the hard fighting of 1917, where the Australian divisions suffered heavily at Bullecourt , Messines and the Third Battle of Ypres, the Australian Imperial Force was facing a manpower crisis. One referendum for conscription had already failed and another would be defeated on December 1December 1 is the 335th (in leap years the 336th) day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 30 days remaining. Events 1640 Portugal regains its independence from Spain and John IV of Portugal becomes king. 1822 Peter I is crowned as Emperor of, 1917. Voluntary recruitment was declining. 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 DivisionThe Australian 4th Division was formed in World War One during the expansion of the Australian Imperial Force infantry brigades, in February 1916. In addition to the experienced 4th Brigade (previously in the original New Zealand and Australian Division), numerically the weakest, but this was strongly resisted by the members of the AIF.

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 Marshall Douglas Haig, commander of the British Expeditionary ForceThe British Expeditionary Force was the British army sent to France and Belgium in World War I and British Forces in Europe from 1939 1940 during World War II. World War I The British Expeditionary Force was established by Secretary of State for War Richa, 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 AFC plus Australian 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 GoughSir Hubert de la Poer Gough ( August 12, 1870 1963) was a British World War I general who commanded the British Fifth Army from 1916 to 1918. Gough was a cavalry officer who, as a favourite of the British Commander-in-Chief, General Sir Douglas Haig, expe was dismissed from command of the British Fifth ArmyThe British Fifth Army was a field army of the British Expeditionary Force during the First World War. The Fifth Army was created on 30 October 1916 by renaming the British Reserve Army of General Sir Hubert Gough and as such it fought the Battle of the A following its failure to withstand the German Spring OffensiveOperation Michael also known as the German Spring Offensive was the biggest gain in World War I on the Western Front by any side since 1914. On March 21 1918 Germany launched a major offensive, "Operation Michael", against British and Commonwealth forces. 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 General Cyril Brudenell White (Birdwood's chief-of-staff) and General John Monash (commander of the 3rd Division). Monash, being senior and favoured by Haig, got the post in May 1918.

The 4th Division saw little rest in its role as the "depot". In December 1917 it was moved into reserve near Pérrone following the German counter-attack in the Battle of Cambrai. In January 1918, the division was returned to the front line south of Ypres as Haig acquiesed 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 brigades from four battalions to three.