1st Machine Gun Battalion (Australia)
| 1st Machine Gun Battalion | |
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.jpg)
Members of the 1st Machine Gun Company around Chuignolles, 23 August 1918
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| Active | 1918–1919 |
| Country | Australia |
| Branch | Australian Army |
| Type | Infantry |
| Role | Direct and indirect fire support |
| Size | ~ 900 personnel |
| Part of | 1st Division |
| Engagements | |
| Commanders | |
| Notable commanders |
Iven Mackay |
| Insignia | |
| Unit Colour Patch |  |
The 1st Machine Gun Battalion was an infantry support unit of the Australian Army that was raised for service during World War I as part of the all volunteer Australian Imperial Force. It was one of five such units raised as part of the AIF during the war. Formed in March 1918, the battalion consisted of four machine gun companies, which had previously existed as independent companies assigned mainly at brigade level. The battalion consisted of 64 medium machine guns, and took part in the final stages of the war, seeing action during the Allied defensive operations during the German Spring Offensive and then the Allied Hundred Days Offensive, which finally brought an end to the war. The battalion was disbanded in mid-1919 during the demobilisation of the AIF.
Assigned to the 1st Division, the unit was formed in France on 2 March 1918 from Australian Machine Gun Corps personnel, following a re-organisation of the AIF, which saw the previously independent machine gun companies that were assigned to each division being grouped together under a battalion structure. Each machine gun battalion had an authorized strength of 46 officers and 890 other ranks. The 1st Machine Gun Battalion consisted of four such companies, each equipped with 16 Vickers medium machine guns. Its constituent companies were the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 21st Machine Gun Companies. The first three of these had been formed in Egypt in March 1916, and had been assigned to the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Brigades respectively, fighting with them through the early battles of Australia's involvement on the Western Front including Pozieres, Mouquet Farm and the Third Battle of Ypres. The 21st Machine Gun Company, however, had been formed in England in February 1917, initially as the 16th Machine Gun Company, with the intention that it would be assigned to the newly formed 16th Brigade, but it was redesignated in March 1917 and assigned to the 1st Division to supplement the brigade machine gun companies. The battalion's first commanding officer was Lieutenant Colonel Iven Mackay, and he led them through their first battle at Hazebrouck during the German Spring Offensive. After the German offensive was turned back, the battalion took part in the Allied Hundred Days Offensive, which finally brought an end to the war. The battalion was disbanded in mid-1919 during the demobilisation of the AIF.
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