52nd Australian Infantry Battalion

Place	Mouquet Farm
Events	Attack on Noreuil Attacks on Dernancourt Battle of Amiens Battle of Messines Battle of Polygon Wood Battle of Villers Bretonneux Expansion and re-organisation of the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) in Egypt German Spring Offensive Hindenburg Line Hindenburg Outpost Line Third Battle of Ypres
Battle Honours	Ancre, 1918 Bullecourt Egypt, 1916 France and Flanders, 1916-18 Menin Road Messines, 1917 Passchendaele Polygon Wood Pozières Somme, 1916, '18 Villers Bretonneux Ypres, 1917
Commanding Officers	Beevor, Miles Fitzroy Lane, Denis Arthur Pope, Harold Whitham, John Lawrence
Decorations	2 DSO; 17 MC, 1 bar; 8 DCM; 88 MM, 1 bar; 1 MSM; 20 MID; 5 foreign awards
Conflict	First World War, 1914-1918
References	52nd Battalion, Australian Imperial Force, (France: 52nd Australian Infantry Battalion, 1918). AWM4/23/69/1-23/69/26: 52nd Battalion war diary
Category	Unit
Conflict	First World War, 1914-1918
Unit hierarchy	Commonwealth Military Forces Australian Imperial Force Infantry 52nd Australian Infantry Battalion

Description

The 52nd Battalion was raised at Tel el Kebir in Egypt on 1 March 1916 as part of the "doubling" of the AIF. Approximately half of its recruits were veterans from the 12th Battalion, and the other half, fresh reinforcements from Australia. Reflecting the composition of the 12th, the 52nd was originally a mix of men from South and Western Australia and Tasmania. From March 1916, the battalion’s reinforcement groups mainly comprised men from Queensland. The 52nd became part of the 13th Brigade of the 4th Australian Division.

After arriving in France on 11 June 1916, the 52nd fought in its first major battle at Mouquet Farm on 3 September. It had been present during an earlier attack mounted by the 13th Brigade between 13 and 15 August, but had been allocated a support role and missed the fighting. In this second attack the 52nd had a key assaulting role and suffered heavy casualties- 50 per cent of its fighting strength. The battalion saw out the rest of the year alternating between front line duty, and training and labouring behind the line. This routine continued through the bleak winter of 1916-17.

Early in 1917, the battalion participated in the advance that followed the German retreat to the Hindenburg Line, and attacked at Noreuil on 2 April. Later that year, the focus of AIF operations moved to the Ypres sector in Belgium. There the battalion was involved in the battle of Messines between 7 and 12 June and the battle of Polygon Wood on 26 September. Another winter of trench routine followed.

Utilising troops freed by the collapse of Russia in October 1917, the German Army launched a major offensive on the Western Front at the end of March 1918. The 4th Division was deployed to defend positions south of the River Ancre in France. At Dernancourt, on 5 April, the 52nd Battalion assisted in the repulse of the largest German attack mounted against Australian troops during the war. The German threat persisted through April, and just after 10pm on the 24th of April 1918, ANZAC Day eve, the 52nd began its advance in the now- legendary attack to dislodge the enemy from Villers-Bretonneux.

The defeat of the German offensive had come at a cost though. Due to heavy casualties and a lack of reinforcements from Australia, three brigades were directed to disband one of their battalions to reinforce the other three. The 13th Brigade was one of these, and on 16 May 1918 the 52nd Battalion was disbanded.