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HASS09 History - Aquinas ANZAC Memorial Battles: Background to WW1

World War 1: Background Information

Britain declared war on Germany on the 4th August 1914. At the time Australia was involved in an election campaign. Both the candidates pledged support for Britain in the days before the declaration:

Speech by Prime Minister Cook on August 3rd

Whatever happens, Australia is a part of the Empire right

to the full. Remember that when the Empire is at war, so is

Australia at war … I want to make it quite clear that all our

resources in Australia are in the Empire and for the Empire,

and the preservation and security of the Empire.

(Argus, Melbourne, 3rdAugust 1914)

 

Speech by Labor leader Andrew Fisher during the election campaign

We stand united against the common foe … our last man and our last

shilling will be offered and supplied to the

mother country in maintaining her honour and our honour,

if we should happen to come into the conflict.

(Argus, Melbourne, 1st August 1914)

10th August voluntary recruitment for the AIF commenced.

11th August enrolments for the 11th Battalion began in Perth and Fremantle and three days later selections began. The 11th Battalion was among the first infantry units raised for the AIF during the First World War. It was the first battalion recruited in Western Australia, and with the 9th, 10th and 12th Battalions it formed the 3rd Brigade.

Some facts about the 11th Battalion:

  • in 1903 the Perth Rifle Volunteers were renamed the 11th Australian Infantry Regiment
  • the Battalion was raised at Blackboy Hill Camp on 17thAugust 1914 within days of war being declared
  • the Battalion was under the command of Lieutenant Colonel James Lyon-Johnston
  • the majority of men came from Perth, Fremantle and the Goldfields
  • after ten weeks of preliminary training the volunteers embarked
  • there is a famous photograph of the 11th Battalion on the Pyramid of Cheops in Egypt prior to landing at Anzac Cove
  • the Battalion was part of the 3rd Brigade and therefore the first ashore on Anzac Cove at 4:30am on 25th April 1915
  • the Battalion served in France and Belgium from 1916-1918
  • the Battalion was disbanded 5th February 1919

17th August, the training camp at Blackboy Hill was officially opened. This became the 11th Battalion's and the 8th Field Artillery Battery’s home for the next ten weeks as the men underwent their military training.

11th September, the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force landed at Rabaul and took possession of German New Guinea at Toma on 17th September 1914 and the neighbouring islands of the Bismarck Archipelago in October 1914.

31st October, the 11th Battalion embarked from Fremantle aboard the transport ship HMAT Ascanius. They were accompanied by the 8th Field Artillery Battery (Western Australia), the 3rd Field Artillery (Army) Brigade, and the 1st Division Ammunition Column 1st Division Artillery aboard the HMAT Medic along with the Japanese cruiser, HIJMS Ibuki. Also on the Medic was the 3rd Field Ambulance which trained at Blackboy Hill.

1st November, the remainder of the first convoy departed from Albany. Merchant ships carrying troops from New Zealand, Queensland, New South Wales, Tasmania and Victoria together with three cruisers – HMAS Melbourne, HMAS Sydney and the HMS Minotaur.

3rd November, the two groups joined together off Fremantle to form the complete convoy.

9th November, HMAS Sydney was detailed to leave the convoy to investigate reports of an unknown vessel off the Cocos (Keeling) Islands. This was the German cruiser SMS Emden. In the resulting engagement the Sydney defeated the Emden which was beached on North Keeling Island. 1

5th-17th November, the convoy arrived in Colombo. The Sydney rejoined the convoy in Colombo.

25th November, the convoy arrived in Aden.

30th November, the convoy passed through the Suez Canal. This was after Great Britain had declared war on Turkey. One person on the convoy wrote: Things look a bit queer for us getting through the Suez safely.

1st December, the convoy arrived at Port Said and then on December 3rd at Alexandria.

3rd December, the soldiers disembarked at Alexandria to continue their training at the camp at Mena.

December 1914 - March 1915: after four and a half months of training near Cairo, the Australians departed by ship for further preparation on Lemnos, then to the Gallipoli Peninsula.

Some facts about the camp on Lemnos taken from: J. Yiannakis, "Lemnos and Gallipoli. Towards redressing a marginalised history", in Oliver, B and Summers, S (2014) Lest we Forget? Marginalised aspects of Australia at war and peace. Black Swan Press, Curtin University

  • Lemnos is 100 km from the Gallipoli Peninsula and was not a sideshow but essential to the ANZAC campaign. Lemnos supported the Allies with hospital facilities, recreation, entertainment, an opportunity to practice military manoeuvres (on the beaches and hills) and an assembly point for the April 25 landings.
  • When the 3rd Field Artillery Brigade arrived in Lemnos on 10 April 1915 there were already 3200 Australians on Lemnos, including the 3rd Australian Infantry Brigade, 1st Field Company of Engineers and the 3rd Field Ambulance. Captain Forrest noted that: [Mudros was] an ideal harbour, well protected [and] full of ships, transports, warships and hospital ships. Warships of all nations..." (p. 144) 6
  • The Greeks built jetties, supplied fresh food and assisted in unloading stores for the soldiers.
  • Australia, England, France and Canada established military hospitals on Lemnos. The island was used as an intermediate military base, rest camp and convalescent depot. There were water shortages early on, but the troops were supplied with fresh food. The hot springs on Mt Therma were popular with soldiers for recreation and a good wash."It is evident...that Lemnos was crucial to the conduct of the Gallipoli campaign from beginning to end, strategically, logistically, medically and recuperatively..." (p. 150)
  • In 2002 a memorial to the ANZACs was unveiled near Mudros Harbour.

 

25th April 1915, the Australians, including the 11th Battalion, landed at what became known as Anzac Cove where they established a tenuous foothold on the steep slopes above the beach.

August 1915, saw concerted but unsuccessful allied attempts to break through the Turkish lines. These included the Australian attacks at Lone Pine and the Nek.

19th–20th December 1915, the evacuation of the troops from Gallipoli occurred under cover of a comprehensive deception operation. No lives were lost during the evacuation.

SOURCE: HTAWA, Western Australia at War 1914, Teachers' Handbook, pp 5-7, https://htawa.net.au/WA-in-WW1/files/Teachers_handbook_overview.pdf

Official History of Australia in the War of 1914–1918

Video: Australian Troops depart for WWI

WW1 Australian troops depart Fremantle (David de Vos) from HTAWA on Vimeo.

ANZAC 1914 - The West Australian Story - on the departure of the first convoy from Fremantle.
Produced by David de Vos (ABC Perth)

The ships that left from Fremantle on the 31st October 1914 became part of the first convoy to leave Australia to join the First World War.

Australian Experience of World War I [Rated E, Duration: 8:40]

Supporting Great Britain in the Great War meant that Australian troops fought on many battlefields around the globe between 1914 and 1918. This video looks at the theatres of war in which Australian soldiers fought and the conditions they endured there, such as trench warfare. Students will learn about the differences in the nature of warfare in various battles, including Gallipoli, the Western Front and Palestine.

SOURCE: ClickView (2019) ClickView, https://clickv.ie/w/sdGv

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