• 57th Battalion AIF (Victoria) [15th Infantry Brigade]
  Formed Egypt 21 February 1916 from the 5th Battalion AIF. 
  • 2nd Reinforcements departed Melbourne Euripides 4 April 1916, 
  • 3rd Reinforcements departed Melbourne Ajana 8 July 1916, 
  • 4th Reinforcements departed Melbourne Orsova 1 August 1916, 
  • 5th Reinforcements departed Melbourne Shropshire 25 September 1916, 
  • 6th Reinforcements departed Melbourne Nestor 2 October 1916, 
  • 7th Reinforcements departed Sydney Afric 3 November 1916, 
  • 8th Reinforcements departed Melbourne Medic 16 December 1916,
  •  9th Reinforcements departed Melbourne Suevic 21 June 1917, 
  • 10th Reinforcements departed Melbourne Nestor 28 February 1918.

• Battle Honours: Egypt 1916, Somme 1916-18, Bullecourt, Ypres 1917, Menin Road, Polygon Wood, Passchendaele, Avre, Villers-Bretonneux, Amiens, Albert 1918, Mont St Quentin, Hindenburg Line, St Quentin Canal, France and Flanders 1916-18

• Egypt, Western Front

by Ross Mallett (ADFA)

57th Battalion

The 57th Battalion was raised in Egypt on 18 February 1916 as part of the “doubling” of the AIF. Half of its recruits were Gallipoli veterans from the 5th Battalion, and the other half, fresh reinforcements from Australia. Reflecting the composition of the 5th, the 57th was predominantly composed of men from the suburbs of Melbourne. The battalion became part of the 15th Brigade of the 5th Australian Division.

Having only arrived in France in late June, the 57th became embroiled in its first major battle on the Western Front on 19 July, without the benefit of an introduction to the trenches in a “quiet” sector. The battle of Fromelles was a disaster. Fortunately for the 57th it was allocated a supporting role and suffered relatively light casualties compared to its sister battalions. This, however, meant that 57th carried the burden of holding the line in ensuing days for the battalion. Despite its grievous losses, the 5th Division continued to man the front in the Fromelles sector for a further two months.

Early in 1917 the battalion participated in the advance that followed the German retreat to the Hindenburg Line, but it was spared having to assault it. It did, however, defend gains made during the second battle of Bullecourt. Later in the year, the AIF’s focus of operations switched to the Ypres sector in Belgium. The 57th’s major battle here was at Polygon Wood on 26 September.

With the collapse of Russia in October 1917, a major German offensive on the Western Front was expected in early 1918. This came in late March and the 5th Division moved to defend the sector around Corbie. During this defence, the 57th Battalion participated in the now legendary counter-attack at Villers-Bretonneux on 25 April. When the Allies launched their own offensive around Amiens on 8 August, the 57th Battalion was amongst the units in action, although its role in the subsequent advance was limited. The battalion entered its last major battle of the war on 29 September 1918. This operation was mounted by the 5th and 3rd Australian Divisions, in co-operation with American forces, to break through the formidable German defences along the St Quentin Canal. The battalion withdrew to rest on 2 October and was still doing so when the war ended. The battalion disbanded in March 1919. Text from AWM

• 505 killed, 1253 wounded

• Decorations

  • 2 DSO, 1 bar
  • 17 MC, 1 bar
  • 12 DCM
  • 63 MM, 2 bars
  • 7 MSM
  • 21 MID
  • 6 foreign awards