Virtual
War Memorial
Australia

Headquarters 1st Division AIF

The 1st Division was raised at the outbreak of war and was the first to depart Australian shores in October 1914.  It served at ANZAC, initially under General William Bridges until he was mortally wounded by a sniper, then by Brigadier Walker (interim) and Major General Legge, with Walker resuming command after Legge was evacuated. 

1st Division AIF served at ANZAC from the Landing until the Evacuation.  At ANZAC it comprised the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th Brigades although the 4th Brigade was detached under Command of the ANZAC Division commanded by Major General Godley. 

At Gallipoli the Australian Divisions had four Infantry Brigades, but when they reorganised in Egypt in early 1916 this was changed to the standard British Army arrangement of three Brigades. The 4th Brigade was used to spawn the 4th Division in the process known as the 'doubling of the AIF'. 

A division was a large formation; at full strength it numbered over 16,000 men. These men had to be fed and clothed, equipped, moved, organised, and directed to fight. A divisional staff was required to do this, and staff officers needed expertise in managing such a large group of men. Unfortunately, Australia possessed very few staff officers at the beginning of the war with any degree of competence. Like the soldiers they commanded, they learned on the job - through trial and error. Lots of errors.

The 1914 complement for a Divisional HQ was 15 officers and 67 Other Ranks (ORs). The Division was commanded by a GOC (General Officer Commanding, usually a major general) who was assisted by several GSOs (General Staff Officers) who were responsible for training, intelligence, and planning and conducting operations. There were also the Adjutants and QMG (Quartermaster General) branch, which administered things like transport and supply as well as accommodation and managing personnel.

A division was meant to be able to fight a battle on its own, which meant it included all the necessary elements enabling it to fight. In practice, the huge scale and slow pace of fighting on the Western Front meant that divisions were grouped into Corps (pronounced "Corr"), which in turn were grouped into Armies. Corps and Armies also had separate artillery and logistical units attached to them.

An Infantry Division comprised the following elements:

• 3 Infantry Brigades (each of 4 Battalions) numbering c. 12,000 men
• 4 Field Artillery Brigades (3 of which were equipped with 18lb field guns, and 1 of 4.5" howitzers although this structure varied significantly as the war progressed)
• 2 Field Companies of Engineers
• 1 Signal Company
• 3 Field Ambulances
• Supply Troops: Divisional Ammunition Column and Divisional Train

By 1918 this structure had changed significantly. Concentration of fire support assets evolved constantly.  Whereas for example, each Brigade originally had a Machine Gun Company under command, these were amalgamated to form a single Machine Gun Battalion in each Division. Four battalion Briogades were maintained until about mid 1918 when reinforcmenets began to slow and the fourth Battalion in each Brigade was in many cases disbanded.  Artillery organisation, command and control was in a constant state of flux, and even the Engineers' organisation had changed too.

Battle/Campaign/ Involvement

ANZAC - Gallipoli (/explore/campaigns/1) - 25 April 1915 to 19 December 1915

August Offensive (/explore/campaigns/3)  (Lone Pine)- 10 August 1915 to 12 August 1915

Pozieres  (/explore/campaigns/5)- 23 July 1916 to 4 September 1916 

Mouquet Farm (/explore/campaigns/103) - 8 August 1916 to 5 September 1916 

Flers/Gueudecourt (/explore/campaigns/24)- 18 October 1916 to 16 November 1916

German Withdrawal to Hindenburg Line and Outpost Villages (/explore/campaigns/21) - 15 February 1917 to 3 April 1917

Lagnicourt - 15 April 1917 (/explore/campaigns/6)

Second Bullecourt (/explore/campaigns/6)- 3 May 1917 to 17 May 1917 

Menin Road (/explore/campaigns/26) - 20 September 1917 to 25 September 1917 

Broodseinde (/explore/campaigns/18)- 4 October 1917 to 5 October 1917

2nd Passchendaele - (/explore/campaigns/29)26 October - 10 November 1917

Lys / Hazebrouk (/explore/campaigns/80) - 12-15 April 1918

Amiens (/explore/campaigns/14)  - 8th August 1918

Albert 1918 (Chuignes) - 21 August 1918 to 23 August 1918

St Quentin Canal/Hindenburg Line (/explore/campaigns/81) - 28 September 1918 to 5 October 1918 

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We would particularly like to encourage individual historians researchers or members of unit associations to contribute to the development of a more detailed history and photographs pertaining to this unit and its members.

Please contact  admin@vwma.org.au (mailto:admin@vwma.org.au) for details on how to contribute