27th Battalion (Australia)

27th Battalion
Members of the 27th Battalion marching through Beaucourt-sur-l'Ancre in the Somme, France, 7 April 1918
Active	1915–19 1921–46 1948–60 1965–87
Country	Australia
Branch	Australian Army
Type	Infantry
Size	~800–1,000 men
Part of	7th Brigade (1915–19) 3rd Brigade (1921–42) 23rd Brigade (1942–46) 9th Brigade (1948–60; 1965–87)
Nickname(s)	South Australian Scottish Regiment
Motto(s)	Primus inter Pares
Colours	Brown over Blue
March	The Campbells Are Coming
Engagements	World War I Gallipoli campaign Western Front World War II Bougainville campaign
Insignia
Unit Colour Patch

World War I

World War II

The 27th Battalion was an infantry battalion of the Australian Army. It was initially raised in 1915 as part of the First Australian Imperial Force for service during World War I. During the conflict, the battalion saw action briefly at Gallipoli before later fighting on the Western Front between 1916 and 1918. It was disbanded in 1919, but was re-raised in 1921 as part of the Citizens Force, which later became the "Militia". During World War II the battalion was used mainly in a garrison role until the last year of the war when it was committed to the fighting against the Japanese during the Bougainville campaign. Following the end of hostilities it was disbanded in May 1946. Between 1948 and 1965 the battalion was re-raised and disbanded a number of times before eventually becoming part of the Royal South Australia Regiment. It was disbanded for a final time in 1987, when it was amalgamated with the 10th Battalion, Royal South Australia Regiment to form the 10th/27th Battalion, Royal South Australia Regiment.

Because of the restrictions that the Defence Act (1903) placed upon deploying units of the Citizens Force overseas, following the outbreak of World War I, the Australian government decided to raise an all volunteer force for overseas service. This force was known as the Australian Imperial Force (AIF). Initially, the AIF was to consist of only one infantry division, but following the despatch of the 1st Division in late 1914 further units were raised and these were eventually organised to form the 2nd Division. As part of the 2nd Division, the 27th Battalion was formed on 16 March 1915 at Ascot Park Camp, Adelaide, from recruits drawn mainly from South Australia, who had originally been allocated to the 24th Battalion. After a period of basic training, the battalion embarked for the Middle East on the troopship HMAT A2 Geelong on 31 May 1915, arriving there on 6 July.