- Australian Corps
The Australian Corps was a
World War I armycorps that contained all fiveAustralia n infantry divisions serving on theWestern Front . It was the largest corps fielded by theBritish Empire army inFrance Fact|date=September 2007. Formed onNovember 1 ,1917 , the corps replacedI Anzac Corps whileII Anzac Corps , which contained theNew Zealand Division , became theBritish 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 (AIF) was facing a manpower crisis. One referendum for conscription had already failed and another would be defeated onDecember 1 ,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 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 MarshallDouglas Haig , commander of theBritish 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 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 Gough was dismissed from command of theBritish Fifth Army following its failure to withstand the German 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 GeneralCyril Brudenell White (Birdwood's chief-of-staff) and Major GeneralJohn Monash (commander of the 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. The Australian Corps was used extensively throughout theHundred Days Offensive during which it achieved great success.The 4th Division saw little rest in its role as the "depot". In December 1917 it was moved into reserve near Péronne following the German counter-attack in the
Battle of Cambrai (1917) . In January 1918, the division was returned to the front line south ofYpres 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 reducingbrigade s from fourbattalion s to three.ee also
Military history of Australia during World War I
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