Battle honours, First World War

A battle honour is an official public recognition of a battle, action, or engagement by its inclusion on a unit’s colours, standard, or guidon.

Australia’s oldest battle honour is ‘Suakin, 1885,’ granted to acknowledge the contribution of the New South Wales Contingent to the war in the Sudan. It was inherited by the Australian Army Reserve’s Royal New South Wales Regiment.

Definition of battle names

The First World War was a period of continual fighting. Before battle honours could be awarded, it was necessary to classify individual combat engagements so they could be identified by name and relative importance. As a result, Britain’s Army Council appointed the Battles Nomenclature Committee in August 1919. The committee’s report established the names, dates, and boundaries of important engagements for each theatre of war, and was published in 1921.

The committee defined ‘battles’ as ‘engagements of primary importance fought out between forces not smaller than the corps.’ On occasion, individual battles were grouped together, such as the battles of Megiddo, which included the battles fought at Sharon and Nablus. ‘Actions’ were defined as engagements involving forces no smaller than a division: for example, the German attack on Lagnicourt, France, in April 1917. Lesser engagements were defined as ‘affairs’, and included the fighting at Quinn’s Post on Gallipoli in May 1915. The committee also included descriptive terms such as ‘capture’, ‘occupation’, ‘attack’, and ‘defence’. An ‘attack’ was defined as an unsuccessful offensive action.

Awarding of battle honours

The Battles Nomenclature Committee compiled an official battle honours list. Each British or Dominion unit (battalion, division, or corps) was permitted to select up to ten battle honours for display on their unit’s Colours from this list of more than 180. The selections required approval by the British War Office before being finally approved by the King. Not all engagements Australians were involved in were granted a battle honour. Despite being the subject of special claims by various battalions, some were excluded, for example Fromelles, Mouquet Farm, Thilloys, and Lagnicourt, among others.

As the result of a submission by the Governor-General of Australia to the British War Office, some modifications were later made to the list to satisfy Australian requirements. Amendments included the addition of Mont St Quentin, Hamel, Péronne, and Chuignes in France, and a dispensation to use Sari Bair–Lone Pine for the fighting on Gallipoli.