The 44th Battalion AIF was raised at Claremont, Western Australia in February 1916, becoming known as "Old Bill's Thousand" after its first commander. Following training in Australia and Britain the unit reached France in late November 1916, entering the line for the first time on 29 December. Through 1917 it bore some of the war's heaviest costs in Belgium—fighting at Messines in June and then in the brutal struggle for Broodseinde Ridge, where only 158 of the 992 men who went into the Ypres operations came out unwounded. When Germany's spring 1918 offensive threatened Amiens, the battalion was rushed south to the Somme, helped repel the attack near Morlancourt, and went on to fight at Le Hamel and throughout the Hundred Days Offensive that followed, ending its war by helping breach the Hindenburg Line at the St Quentin Canal. By the armistice the battalion had lost 437 men killed and 1,346 wounded, and its members had earned 15 battle honours and a long list of decorations for gallantry.
Published: 2004, First Edition
Format: Hardcover with Dust Jacket
Pages: 512
Indexed
Illustrations: Black & White
Condition: Used, Very Good |
