The
First World War began when Britain and Germany went to war in August
1914, and Prime Minister Andrew Fisher's government pledged full
support for Britain. The outbreak of war was greeted in Australia, as
in many other places, with great enthusiasm.
Australia's
early involvement in the Great War included the Australian Naval and
Military Expeditionary Force landing at Rabaul on 11 September 1914
and taking possession of German New Guinea at Toma on 17 September
1914 and the neighbouring islands of the Bismarck Archipelago in
October 1914. On 14 November 1914 the Royal Australian Navy made a
significant contribution when HMAS Sydney destroyed the German raider
SMS Emden.
On
25 April 1915 members of the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) landed
at Gallipoli together with troops from New Zealand, Britain, and
France. This began a campaign that ended with the evacuation of
troops on 19 and 20 December 1915. Following Gallipoli, Australian
forces fought campaigns on the Western Front and in the Middle East.
Throughout
1916 and 1917 losses on the Western Front were heavy and gains were
small. In 1918 the Australians reached the peak of their fighting
performance in the battle of Hamel on 4 July. From 8 August they then
took part in a series of decisive advances until Germany surrendered
on 11 November.
The
Middle East campaign began in 1916 with Australian troops
participating in the defence of the Suez Canal and the allied
reconquest of the Sinai peninsula. In the following year Australian
and other allied troops advanced into Palestine and captured Gaza and
Jerusalem; by 1918 they had occupied Lebanon and Syria. On 30 October
1918 Turkey sued for peace.
For
Australia, as for many nations, the First World War remains the most
costly conflict in terms of deaths and casualties. From a population
of fewer than five million, 416,809 men enlisted, of which over
60,000 were killed and 156,000 wounded, gassed, or taken prisoner.
The
outbreak of war was greeted in Australia, as in many other places,
with great public enthusiasm. In response to the overwhelming number
of volunteers, the authorities set exacting physical standards for
recruits. Yet, most of the men accepted into the army in August 1914
were sent first to Egypt, not Europe, to meet the threat which a new
belligerent, the Ottoman Empire (Turkey), posed to British interests
in the Middle East and the Suez Canal.
After
four and a half months of training near Cairo, the Australians
departed by ship for the Gallipoli peninsula, with troops from New
Zealand, Britain, and France. The Australians landed at what became
known as Anzac Cove on 25 April 1915 and established a tenuous
foothold on the steep slopes above the beach. During the early days
of the campaign, the allies tried to break through Turkish lines,
while the Turks tried to drive the allied troops off the peninsula.
Attempts on both sides ended in failure and the ensuing stalemate
continued for the remainder of 1915. The most successful operation of
the campaign was the evacuation of troops on 19 and 20 December,
under cover of a comprehensive deception operation. As a result, the
Turks were unable to inflict more than a very few casualties on the
retreating forces.
After
Gallipoli the AIF was reorganised and expanded from two to five
infantry divisions, all of which were progressively transferred to
France, beginning in March 1916. The AIF mounted division that had
served as additional infantry during the campaign remained in the
Middle East. When the other AIF divisions arrived in France, the war
on the Western Front had long been settled in a stalemate, with the
opposing armies facing each other from trench systems that extended
across Belgium and north-east France, from the English Channel to the
Swiss border. The development of machine-guns and artillery favoured
defence over attack and compounded the impasse, which lasted until
the final months of the war.
While
the overall hostile stasis continued throughout 1916 and 1917, the
Australians and other allied armies repeatedly attacked, preceded by
massive artillery bombardments intended to cut barbed wire and
destroy enemy defences. After these bombardments, waves of attacking
infantry emerged from the trenches into no man's land and advanced
towards enemy positions. The surviving Germans, protected by deep and
heavily reinforced bunkers, were usually able to repel the attackers
with machine-gun fire and artillery support from the rear. These
attacks often resulted in limited territorial gains followed, in
turn, by German counter-attacks. Although this style of warfare
favoured the defence, both sides sustained heavy losses.
In
July 1916 Australian infantry were introduced to this type of combat
at Fromelles, where they suffered 5,533 casualties in 24 hours. By
the end of the year about 40,000 Australians had been killed or
wounded on the Western Front. In 1917 a further 76,836 Australians
became casualties in battles, such Bullecourt, Messines, and the
four-month campaign around Ypres, known as the battle of
Passchendaele.
In
March 1918 the German army launched its final offensive of the war,
hoping for a decisive victory before the military and industrial
strength of the United States could be fully mobilised in support of
the allies. The Germans initially met with great success, advancing
64 kilometres past the region of the 1916 Somme battles, before the
offensive lost momentum. Between April and November the stalemate of
the preceding years began to give way, as the allies combined
infantry, artillery, tanks, and aircraft more effectively,
demonstrated in the Australian capture of Hamel spur on 4 July 1918.
The allied offensive, beginning on 8 August at Amiens, also
contributed to Australian successes at Mont St Quentin and Péronne
and to the capture of the Hindenburg Line. In early October the
Australian divisions withdrew from the front for rest and refitting;
they were preparing to return when Germany surrendered on 11
November.
Unlike
their counterparts in France and Belgium, the Australians in the
Middle East fought a mobile war against the Ottoman Empire in
conditions completely different from the mud and stagnation of the
Western Front. The light horsemen and their mounts had to survive
extreme heat, harsh terrain, and water shortages. Nevertheless,
casualties were comparatively light, with 1,394 Australians killed or
wounded in three years of war. This campaign began in 1916 with
Australian troops participating in the defence of the Suez Canal and
the allied reconquest of the Sinai peninsula. In the following year
Australian and other allied troops advanced into Palestine and
captured Gaza and Jerusalem; by 1918 they had occupied Lebanon and
Syria. On 30 October 1918 Turkey sued for peace.
Australians
also served at sea and in the newly formed flying corps. The Royal
Australian Navy (RAN), under the command of the Royal Navy, made a
significant contribution early in the war, when HMAS Sydney destroyed
the German raider Emden near the Cocos Islands in November 1914. The
Great War was the first armed conflict in which aircraft were used;
about 3,000 Australian airmen served in the Middle East and France
with the Australian Flying Corps, mainly in observation capacities or
providing infantry support.
