48th Battalion (Australia)

48th Battalion (Australia)
Soldiers from the 48th Battalion before their final attack at Le Verguier, September 1918
Active	1916–19 1921–30 1930–42 (43rd/48th Battalion) 1942–43 1943–45 (10th/48th Battalion) 1952–60 (43rd/48th Battalion)
Country	Australia
Branch	Australian Army
Type	Infantry
Size	~800–1,000 officers and men
Part of	12th Brigade 4th Division
Engagements	World War I Western Front World War II
Insignia
Unit Colour Patch

World War I

The 48th Battalion was an infantry battalion of the Australian Army. It was originally raised in 1916 for service during World War I and took part in the fighting in the trenches of the Western Front in France and Belgium, before being disbanded in early 1919. After the war, the battalion was re-raised as a part-time unit based initially in Victoria and later in South Australia. In 1930 it was amalgamated with the 43rd Battalion and remained so until mid-1942, subsequently being linked with the 10th Battalion. The battalion did not see combat during World War II, and after the war was re-raised as an amalgamated unit, again with the 43rd Battalion, in 1952. They remained linked until 1960 when the 43rd/48th Battalion was subsumed by the Royal South Australia Regiment.

The 48th Battalion was raised in Egypt on 16 March 1916 as part of the reorganisation and expansion of the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) following the Gallipoli campaign. This was achieved by transferring cadres of experienced personnel predominately from the 1st Division to the newly formed battalions and combining them with recently recruited personnel who had been dispatched as reinforcements from Australia. The unit's first intake of personnel were drawn from men originating from South Australia and Western Australia, many of whom had already served with the 16th Battalion. Under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Raymond Leane, formerly of the 11th Battalion, the battalion became part of the 12th Brigade attached to the 4th Australian Division. Several of Leane's relatives, including his brother, Benjamin, who served as adjutant, and three of his nephews – Allan, Reuben, and Geoffrey – and a few others, also served in the 48th. As a result, the battalion became known as the "Joan of Arc battalion", which was a play on words because it was seemingly "made of all Leanes".