21st Battalion (Australia)

21st Battalion
Troops from the 21st Battalion prepare to abandon the Southland after it was torpedoed by a German submarine, September 1915
Active	1915–18 1921–29
Country	Australia
Branch	Australian Army
Type	Infantry
Size	~1,000 men
Part of	6th Brigade, 2nd Division (1915–18) 6th Brigade, 4th Division (1921–29)
Colours	Black over Red
Engagements	World War I
Insignia
Unit Colour Patch

The 21st Battalion was an infantry battalion of the Australian Army. It was raised in 1915 as part of the First Australian Imperial Force for service during World War I and formed part of the 6th Brigade, attached to the 2nd Division. It fought during the Gallipoli campaign and on the Western Front before being disbanded in late 1918. The battalion was the first Australian battalion to commence active operations on the Western Front and also had the distinction of being the last to pull back when the Australian Corps was withdrawn from the line. In 1921, the battalion was re-raised as a part-time unit of the Citizens Force but was later amalgamated with the 23rd Battalion in 1929 to form the 23rd/21st Battalion.

The 21st Battalion was raised at Broadmeadows, Victoria, in February 1915 as part of the formation of the 6th Brigade, 2nd Division. A unit of the First Australian Imperial Force (AIF), it was raised from volunteers for overseas service that were drawn from all over Australia. After training at Broadmeadows and Seymour Camps in Victoria, the battalion left for Egypt. Arriving there in June 1915, it undertook further training before being dispatched as reinforcements to Gallipoli in late August. En route the battalion's transport, HMT Southland, was torpedoed by German submarine UB-14 near Lemnos and the passengers and crew were forced to abandon ship. Nevertheless, the 21st Battalion eventually arrived at ANZAC Cove on 7 September. Following this they undertook mainly defensive duties along the Australian line until December 1915, when they were evacuated from Gallipoli after the decision was made to withdraw Allied forces from the peninsula. One 21st Battalion soldier who was killed during the Gallipoli campaign, Private James Martin, who was only 14 years and nine months old, is believed to have been the youngest Australian soldier killed during the war.