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{{Other uses|2/13th Battalion (Australia)}}
{{short description|Australian Army infantry battalion}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2017}}
{{Use Australian English|date=January 2017}}
{{Infobox military unit
|unit_name=13th Battalion
|image=13thBattalionAIF Le Verguier.jpeg
|image_size = 300
|caption=Men of the 13th Battalion at Le Verguier, France, where Sergeant Buckley earned the Victoria Cross in 1918
|dates=1914–1919<br/>1921–1942<br/>1948–1960
|country=Australia
|allegiance=
|branch=[[Australian Army]]
|type=[[Infantry]]
|role=
|size=~1,000 officers and men{{#tag:ref|During the First World War the authorised strength of Australian infantry battalions was 1,023 men all ranks.<ref>{{harvnb|Kuring|2004|p=47}}</ref>|group=Note}}
|command_structure=[[4th Brigade (Australia)|4th Brigade]], [[New Zealand and Australian Division]] (later [[4th Division (Australia)|4th Australian Division]])
|garrison=
|garrison_label=
|nickname=
|patron=
|motto=''Vigor in Arduis'' (Energy amid hardship)<ref name=digger/>
|colors=Light blue over dark blue
|colors_label=Colours
|march=
|mascot=
|equipment=
|equipment_label=
|battles=First World War
*[[Gallipoli campaign]]
*[[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]]
|anniversaries=
|decorations=
|battle_honours=
|battle_honours_label=
|disbanded=
|flying_hours=
|website=

|commander1=
|commander1_label=
|commander2=
|commander2_label=
|commander3=
|commander3_label=
|commander4=
|commander4_label=
|notable_commanders=[[James Murdoch Archer Durrant]]

|identification_symbol=[[File:13th_Bn_4th_Brigade_4th_Division_1st_AIF.png|100px]]
|identification_symbol_label=[[Unit colour patch]]
|identification_symbol_2=
|identification_symbol_2_label=
|identification_symbol_3=
|identification_symbol_3_label=
|identification_symbol_4=
|identification_symbol_4_label=
}}
The '''13th Battalion''' was an [[infantry]] [[battalion]] of the [[Australian Army]]. Originally raised for the [[First Australian Imperial Force|1st Australian Imperial Force]] during the First World War, it was formed just six weeks after the start of the war. Along with the [[14th Battalion (Australia)|14th]], [[15th Battalion (Australia)|15th]] and [[16th Battalion (Australia)|16th Battalions]] which were recruited from [[New South Wales]], it formed the [[Australian 4th Brigade|4th Brigade]]. The battalion saw service initially at [[Battle of Gallipoli|Gallipoli]] before being transferred to France in 1916. For the next two years it fought in the trenches of the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]], earning numerous [[battle honours]] in the process.

Following the end of the war, the 13th Battalion was demobilised in early 1919. It was re-raised in 1921 as a unit of the part-time [[Citizens Military Force|Citizens Force]], based around [[Maitland, New South Wales]]. During the Second World War the battalion undertook garrison duties before being amalgamated with the [[33rd Battalion (Australia)|33rd Battalion]] in October 1942. It was re-raised for a third and final time sometime after 1948 and remained on the order of battle until 1960 when it was subsumed into the [[Royal New South Wales Regiment]].

==History==
===First World War===
Following the outbreak of war, the Australian government announced the decision to raise an all volunteer force for overseas service known as the [[First Australian Imperial Force|Australian Imperial Force]] (AIF).<ref>{{harvnb|Grey|2008|p=85}}</ref> Recruitment for this force began quickly and the 13th Battalion was among some of the first battalions to be raised, doing so in late September 1914, only six weeks after the declaration of war.<ref name=AWM>{{cite web|url=http://www.awm.gov.au/units/unit_11200.asp |title=13th Battalion |work=First World War, 1914–1918 units |publisher=Australian War Memorial |access-date=6 June 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090614114852/http://www.awm.gov.au/units/unit_11200.asp |archive-date=14 June 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref> Drawing its manpower from the state of [[New South Wales]], it undertook training at the [[ANZAC Rifle Range]] in Long Bay, [[Sydney]] and [[Broadmeadows]] and [[Williamstown, Victoria|Williamstown]] in Melbourne. It left Australia from Albany in late December and arrived in [[Egypt]] in February 1915.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.awm.gov.au/cms_images/AWM4/23/AWM4-23-30-1.pdf|title=AWM4: 23/30/1–23/30/2—13th Battalion, AIF, War Diary, entries for November–December 1914|publisher=Australian War Memorial|access-date=5 March 2009}}</ref>

Along with the rest of the 4th Brigade, under the command of then Colonel [[John Monash]], the 13th Battalion took part in the [[Landing at Anzac Cove]], arriving late on 25 April 1915.<ref name=AWM/> For the first four months, between May and August, they undertook defensive operations as the Anzacs attempted to establish themselves on the narrow beachhead that had been captured on the peninsula. On 8 August 1915 [[Battle of Sari Bair|an attempt was made to break out]] from this position and the battalion took part in a costly, and only partially successful, attack on Hill 971.<ref name=AWM/> Later in the month, on 27 August, they were involved in another attack, this time on [[Battle of Hill 60 (Gallipoli)|Hill 60]], during which they suffered further casualties. After this the 13th Battalion was mainly used in a defensive role until the final evacuation in December 1915.<ref name=AWM/>

[[File:Harry Murray 1917 portrait.jpg|thumb|right|175px|Portrait of Australian World War I Victoria Cross recipient, Major Harry Murray. In February 1917, then-Captain Murray led 'A' company of the 13th Battalion in an attack on "Stormy Trench", capturing the position and defending it against three German counter-attacks.]]

From there, the battalion returned to Egypt where the AIF underwent a period of training and reorganisation which saw the raising of two new divisions which effectively doubled its size. As a part of this expansion, the 13th Battalion was split and provided a [[en cadre|cadre]] of soldiers who had served at Gallipoli to provide experienced men to the newly raised [[45th Battalion (Australia)|45th Battalion]]. At the same time the reconstituted 4th Brigade was allocated to the [[4th Division (Australia)|Australian 4th Division]] along with the [[12th Brigade (Australia)|12th]] and [[13th Brigade (Australia)|13th Brigades]].<ref name=AWM/><ref>{{harvnb|Grey|2008|pp=99–100}}</ref> In June 1916, the battalion embarked for France to join other units of [[II Anzac Corps]], and for the next two years it served in the trenches along the [[Western Front (World War I)|Western Front]].<ref name=AWM/>

During this time, the 13th Battalion saw action in a number of major battles. The first such action that they were involved in came at [[Battle of Pozières|Pozières]] in August 1916.<ref name=AWM/> Later, in February 1917, Captain [[Harry Murray]], became the first member of the battalion to earn the [[Victoria Cross]] when he was involved in an attack near Gueudecourt. Later, at [[First Battle of Bullecourt|Bullecourt]] in April, the battalion, along with most of the 4th Brigade, suffered heavy losses when they ran up against a strongly defended German position without the tank support that they had been promised.<ref name=AWM/> After that, the 13th Battalion spent most of the remainder of 1917 in Belgium, as the Allied armies slowly advanced towards the heavily defended [[Hindenburg Line]].<ref name=AWM/>

In March 1918, the Germans launched the [[German spring offensive|Spring Offensive]], which saw them gain considerable ground before being halted. During this time, the 13th Battalion undertook defensive operations in an effort to stem the tide. Later, a brief lull in the fighting occurred before the Allies launched their own offensive, known as the [[Hundred Days Offensive]], which ultimately brought about an end to the war.<ref name=AWM/> The 13th Battalion was involved at the outset, taking part in the fighting around [[Battle of Amiens (1918)|Amiens]] on 8 August 1918, which produced considerable gains for the Allies and was subsequently described as one of the greatest successes in a single day on the Western Front.<ref name=AWM/> On 18 September, the battalion took part in its last offensive action, this time around Le Verguier, and it was here that Sergeant [[Maurice Buckley]], serving under the assumed name of Gerald Sexton, performed the deeds that led to him being awarded the Victoria Cross.<ref name=AWM/>

On 11 November 1918, an [[armistice]] came into effect and the fighting ended. Over the course of the next five months the battalion's personnel were slowly returned to Australia for [[demobilisation]] and discharge. On 18 March 1919, the battalion was finally disbanded, when its remaining personnel were formed into the 13th Composite Battalion along with drafts from the 14th, 15th and 16th Battalions.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.awm.gov.au/cms_images/AWM4/23/AWM4-23-30-53.pdf|title=AWM4: 23/30/53—13th Battalion, AIF, War Diary, entries for March 1919|publisher=Australian War Memorial|access-date=19 September 2010}}</ref> During the course of the war, the battalion lost 1,090 men killed and 2,128 wounded.<ref name=AWM/>

===Interwar years, the Second World War and beyond===
In 1921, the decision was made to perpetuate the numerical designations and [[battle honour]]s of the AIF by re-raising those units as part of the Citizens Force.<ref>{{harvnb|Grey|2008|p=125}}</ref> This was done by reorganising the existing Citizens Forces units so that they would adopt the identity of the AIF units that had been recruited within their regions and in which many of the pre-war citizen soldiers had served. As a result, by 1924, the 13th Battalion had been re-raised in the [[Maitland, New South Wales]] region.<ref>{{harvnb|Kuring|2004|p=109}}</ref> Upon formation, the newly raised battalion had drawn personnel from parts of the 13th and 22nd Infantry Regiments, and through its link with these units inherited the battle honour "South Africa 1900–1902".<ref>{{harvnb|Festberg|1972|pp=73–74}}</ref> In 1927, territorial titles were introduced and the battalion adopted the title of the "Maitland Regiment",<ref name=digger>{{cite web|url=http://www.diggerhistory.info/pages-army-today/state-regts/rnswr.htm |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090429144925/http://www.diggerhistory.info/pages-army-today/state-regts/rnswr.htm |title=Royal New South Wales Regiment |publisher=Digger History |access-date=23 September 2010 |archive-date=29 April 2009 |url-status=live }}</ref> and the unit received its battle honours for the First World War.<ref name=Festberg74>{{harvnb|Festberg|1972|p=74}}</ref> By 1928 it had been assigned to the [[1st Brigade (Australia)|1st Brigade]], attached to the [[1st Division (Australia)|1st Division]].<ref>{{harvnb|Palazzo|2001|p=102}}</ref>

Following the election of the [[James Scullin|Scullin]] [[Australian Labor Party|Labor]] government in 1929, the [[Conscription in Australia|compulsory training scheme]] was suspended and the Citizens Forces became an all volunteer force.<ref>{{harvnb|Grey|2008|p=138}}</ref> In order to reflect its voluntary basis, it was subsequently renamed the "Militia" at this time.<ref>{{harvnb|Palazzo|2001|p=110}}</ref> The decision to suspend compulsory training, as well as the hardships associated with the [[Great Depression]] meant that many Militia units were afflicted by low manning levels. As a consequence of this, it was decided to amalgamate a number of units.<ref>{{harvnb|Keogh|1965|p=44}}</ref> The 13th Battalion was not one of the units affected by this decision, and it remained under the command of the 1st Brigade, which was headquartered in [[Newcastle, New South Wales]] as a subordinate unit of the 2nd Military District, until the start of the Second World War in September 1939.<ref>{{harvnb|Kuring|2004|p=296}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|author=Dunn, Peter |url=http://www.ozatwar.com/ausarmy/2ndmildist.htm|title=2nd Military District of the Australian Army in September 1939|publisher=www.ozatwar.com|access-date=23 September 2010}}</ref>

During the war, because of the provisions of the ''Defence Act (1903)'', which prohibited sending the Militia to fight outside of Australian territory,<ref>{{harvnb|Johnston| 2007|p=5}}</ref> the decision was made to raise an all volunteer force to serve overseas – the [[Second Australian Imperial Force]] (2nd AIF) – while the Militia would be used to undertake garrison duties in Australia. The compulsory training scheme was also re-instituted at this time and the Militia were called up for periods of continuous training that varied between 30 and 90 days.<ref>{{harvnb|Grey|2008|pp=145–147}}</ref> In October 1942, however, the battalion was amalgamated with the [[33rd Battalion (Australia)|33rd Battalion]] to form the 13th/33rd Battalion.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ordersofbattle.com/UnitData.aspx?UniX=6784&Tab=Uhi&Titl=13%20Infantry%20Battalion|title=13 Infantry Battalion|publisher=Orders of Battle.com|access-date=22 September 2010}}{{Dead link|date=January 2021 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref>{{sfn|McKenzie-Smith |2018|p=2116}} Around this time, the battalion's machine gun company was detached and in conjunction with several other Militia machine gun companies, it was used to form the [[6th Machine Gun Battalion (Australia)|6th Machine Gun Battalion]].{{sfn|Morgan|2019|p=5}} The 13th/33rd Battalion was itself later disbanded on 25 November 1943 when it became surplus to Army requirements.<ref name=Festberg73>{{harvnb|Festberg|1972|p=73}}</ref>

In 1948, with the completion of the demobilisation process, the Citizens Force was re-raised as the Citizens Military Force (CMF), which was established on a restricted establishment of two divisions.<ref>{{harvnb|Grey|2008|pp=200–201}}</ref> The 13th Battalion (Maitland Regiment) was re-established sometime after this date. In 1952, it was re-designated as the "Macquarie Regiment".<ref name=digger/><ref>{{harvnb|Kuring|2004|p=297}}</ref> In 1960, the Australian Army adopted the [[Pentropic organisation|Pentropic divisional establishment]], the result of which was the reduction of a number of CMF units which were amalgamated to form larger Pentropic battalions as part of six new State-based regiments.<ref>{{harvnb|Grey|2008|p=228}}</ref> At this time, the 13th Battalion was reduced to a company-level formation in the [[Royal New South Wales Regiment|2nd Battalion, Royal New South Wales Regiment]], being designated 'D' (Macquarie) Company.<ref name=Festberg73/><ref>{{harvnb|Palazzo|2001|p=259}}</ref> In 1961, the 13th Battalion was entrusted with the battle honours of the 2nd AIF's [[2/13th Battalion (Australia)|2/13th Battalion]].<ref name=Festberg74/> When the Pentropic establishment was abandoned in 1965 the CMF was re-organised once more and most of the previously existing regional battalions were re-raised, but the 13th Battalion was not one of those units and it remained off the Army's order of battle.<ref>{{harvnb|Palazzo|2001|pp=276–277}}</ref>

==Battle honours==
For their service, the 13th Battalion received the following battle honours:
* "South Africa 1900–1902" (inherited);<ref name=Festberg74/>
* '''First World War''': Somme 1916, Somme 1918, Pozières, Bullecourt, Messines 1917, Ypres 1917, Menin Road, Polygon Wood, Passchendaele, Arras 1918, Ancre 1918, Hamel, Amiens, Albert 1918, Hindenburg Line, Epehy, France and Flanders 1916–1918, ANZAC, Landing at ANZAC, Defence at ANZAC, Suvla, Sari Bair.<ref name=AWM/>

==See also==
* [[List of Australian Victoria Cross recipients]]

==Notes==
;Footnotes
{{reflist|group=Note}}

;Citations
{{Reflist|3}}

==References==
{{Refbegin}}
* {{cite book|last=Festberg|first=Alfred|title=The Lineage of the Australian Army|year=1972|publisher=Allara Publishing|location=Melbourne, Victoria|isbn=978-0-85887-024-6}}
* {{Cite book | last=Grey | first=Jeffrey |author-link=Jeffrey Grey | year=2008 | title=A Military History of Australia | edition=3rd | publisher=Cambridge University Press | location=Melbourne, Victoria | isbn=978-0-521-69791-0}}
* {{Cite book|last=Keogh|first=Eustace|author-link = Eustace Graham Keogh|title=South West Pacific 1941–45|year=1965|publisher=Grayflower Publications|location=Melbourne, Victoria |oclc=7185705}}
* {{Cite book|last=Kuring|first=Ian|title=Redcoats to Cams: A History of Australian Infantry 1788–2001|year=2004|publisher=Australian Military History Publications|location=Loftus, New South Wales |isbn=1-876439-99-8}}
* {{Cite book|last=Johnston|first=Mark|author-link=Mark Johnston (historian)|title=The Australian Army in World War II|year=2007|publisher=Osprey Publishing|location=Botley, Oxford|isbn=978-1-84603-123-6}}
* {{cite book |last=McKenzie-Smith |first=Graham |year= 2018|title=The Unit Guide: The Australian Army 1939–1945, Volume 2 |publisher=Big Sky Publishing |location=Warriewood, New South Wales |isbn=978-1-925675-146 }}
* {{cite journal |last=Morgan |first=Joseph |title=They Also Served: The 6th and 7th Machine Gun Battalions During World War II |journal=Sabretache |publisher=[[Military Historical Society of Australia]] |volume=LX |issue=1 |year=2019 |pages=4–10 |issn=0048-8933 }}
* {{Cite book|last=Palazzo|first=Albert|title=The Australian Army: A History of Its Organisation 1901–2001|year=2001|publisher=Oxford University Press|location=South Melbourne, Victoria |isbn=0-19-551507-2}}
{{Refend}}

==Further reading==
{{Refbegin}}
* {{cite book|last=White|first=T.A|title=The History of the Thirteenth Battalion, A.I.F|year=1924|publisher=13th Battalion, A.I.F. Committee|location=Sydney|oclc=220054966}}
{{Refend}}

{{Infantry formations of the First Australian Imperial Force |state=collapsed}}

[[Category:Australian World War I battalions|13]]
[[Category:Military units and formations established in 1914]]
[[Category:Military units and formations disestablished in 1919]]
[[Category:1914 establishments in Australia]]

13th Battalion (Australia) - Revision history

imported>Citation bot: Alter: template type. | Use this bot. Report bugs. | Suggested by Superegz | Category:1914 establishments in Australia | #UCB_Category 51/103