18th Battalion (Australia)

18th Battalion
Members of the 18th Battalion in Egypt, 1915
Active	1915–1919 1921–1935 1936–1944
Country	Australia
Branch	Australian Army
Type	Infantry
Size	~800–1,000 men
Part of	5th Brigade, 2nd Division
Colours	Purple over green
Engagements	World War I Gallipoli campaign Western Front
Commanders
Notable commanders	Evan Alexander Wisdom
Insignia
Unit Colour Patch

World War I

The 18th Battalion was an infantry battalion of the Australian Army. During World War I, the battalion was raised in 1915 as part of the Australian Imperial Force, attached to the 5th Brigade, of the 2nd Division. It was sent initially to Gallipoli, where it suffered a large number of casualties before it was withdrawn from the line and sent to France and Belgium, where it served at the Western Front as part of the Australian Corps and took part in most of the major battles between 1916 and 1918. The battalion's last engagement of the war was at Montbrehain in October 1918 and it was disbanded in April 1919.

After the war, the battalion was re-raised as a part-time force in the Sydney area. It was briefly amalgamated with the 51st Battalion in 1935–1936, but the two units were later unlinked and re-raised as separate units. During World War II, the battalion served in a garrison role in Australia and was disbanded in 1944 without having seen active service overseas.

Raised as an Australian Imperial Force (AIF) battalion in March 1915 as part of the 5th Brigade of the 2nd Division, the 18th Battalion was formed at Liverpool, New South Wales. Following training, the battalion was sent to Gallipoli in August 1915 as part of a wave of reinforcements that arrived after the initial landing. There it participated in the costly August Offensive, during which it was sent to Damakjelik Bair. Beginning the battle with about 1,000 men, by the end the battalion could muster only 386. Following that, the battalion was placed in reserve behind the 5th Brigade's positions between Walker's Ridge and Quinn's Post, where they played a mainly defensive role in the campaign until they were withdrawn in December 1915. Their main area of responsibility during this time was Courtney's Post.