• 15th Battalion AIF (Queensland and Tasmania) [4th Infantry Brigade]
  Formed Australia September1914. Departed Melbourne Ceramic 22 December 1914. 
  • 2nd Reinforcements departed Brisbane Seang Bee 13 February 1915, 
  • 3rd Reinforcements departed Brisbane Seang Choon 13 February 1915, 
    • Melbourne Runic 19 February 1915, 
  • 4th Reinforcements departed Brisbane  Star of England 8 April 1915, 
    • Adelaide Port Lincoln 1 April 1915, 
  • 5th Reinforcements departed Brisbane  Kyarra 16 April 1915, 
    • Melbourne Hororata 17 April 1915, 
  • 6th Reinforcements departed Brisbane  Karoola 12 June 1915, 
    • Melbourne Ajana 4 June 1915, 
  • 7th Reinforcements departed Sydney Shropshire 20 May 1915, 
    • Melbourne Orsova 17 July 1915,  
  • 8th Reinforcements departed Brisbane Kyarra 15 August 1915, 
    • Melbourne Kyarra 15 August 1915, 
  • 9th Reinforcements departed Sydney  Ayrshire 1 September 1915, 
    • Melbourne Hororata 27 September 1915, 
  • 10th Reinforcements departed Brisbane Warilda 3 October 1915, 
    • Melbourne Port Lincoln 16 October 1915, 
  • 11th Reinforcements departed Brisbane  Seang Bee 21 October 1915, 
    • Melbourne Ulysses 27 October 1915, 
  • 12th Reinforcements departed Sydney Suffolk 30 November 1915, 
    • Melbourne Orontes 24 November 1915,  
  • 13th Reinforcements departed Brisbane Kyarra 3 January 1916, 
    • Melbourne Demosthenes 29 December 1915, 
  • 14th Reinforcements departed Brisbane Warilda 31 January 1916, 
  • 15th Reinforcements departed Brisbane Commonwealth 28 March 1916, 
  • 16th Reinforcements departed Sydney Star of Victoria 31 March 1916, 
  • 17th Reinforcements departed Sydney Hawkes Bay 20 April 1916, 
  • 18th Reinforcements departed Brisbane Seang Choon 4 May 1916, 
  • 19th Reinforcements departed Brisbane Itonus 8 August 1916, 
  • 20th Reinforcements departed Brisbane Clan Macgillivray 7 September 1916, 
  • 21st Reinforcements departed Brisbane Boonah 21 October 1916, 
  • 22nd  Reinforcements departed Brisbane Kyarra 17 November 1916, 
  • 23rd Reinforcements departed Beltana Sydney 25 November 1916, 
  • 24th Reinforcements departed Sydney Ayrshire 24 January 1917, 
  • 25th Reinforcements departed Sydney Hororata 14 June 1917, 
  • 26th Reinforcements departed Sydney Euripides 31 October 1917.
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  Battle Honours: Landing at Anzac, Anzac, Defence of Anzac, Suvla, Sari Bair, Gallipoli 1915, Egypt 1915-16, Somme 1916-18, Pozieres, Bullecourt, Messines 1917, Ypres 1917, Menin Road, Polygon Wood,  Passchendaele, Arras 1918, Ancre 1918, Hamel, Amiens, Albert 1918, Hindenburg Line, Epehy, France and Flanders 1916-18
• 
  Egypt, Gallipoli, Western Front

by Ross Mallett (ADFA)

 

15th Battalion The 15th Battalion AIF was raised from late September 1914, six weeks after the outbreak of the First World War. Three-quarters of the battalion were recruited as volunteers from Queensland, and the rest from Tasmania. With the 13th, 14th and 16th Battalions it formed the 4th Brigade, commanded by Colonel John Monash. The Queensland and Tasmanian recruits were united when the battalion trained together in Victoria. They embarked for overseas just before Christmas. After a brief stop in Albany, Western Australia, the battalion proceeded to Egypt, arriving in early February 1915. Australia already had an AIF division there, the 1st. When the 4th Brigade arrived in Egypt, it became part of the New Zealand and Australian Division. The 4th Brigade landed at ANZAC late in the afternoon of 25 April 1915. From May to August, the battalion was heavily involved in establishing and defending the front line of the ANZAC beachhead. In August, the 4th Brigade attacked Hill 971. The hill was taken at great cost although Turkish reinforcements forced the Australians to withdraw. At the end of the month, a detachment from A Company reinforced the 14th Battalion’s unsuccessful attack on Hill 60. The 15th Battalion served at ANZAC until the evacuation in December. After the withdrawal from Gallipoli, the battalion returned to Egypt. While there, the AIF was expanded and was reorganised. The 15th Battalion was split and provided experienced soldiers for the 47th Battalion. The 4th Brigade was combined with the 12th and 13th Brigades to form the 4th Australian Division. In June 1916 they sailed for France and the Western Front. From then until 1918, the battalion took part in bloody trench warfare. Its first major action in France was at Pozières in August 1916. Along with most of the 4th Brigade, the battalion suffered heavy losses at Bullecourt in April 1917 when the brigade attacked strong German positions without the promised tank support. It spent much of the remainder of 1917 in Belgium, advancing to the Hindenburg Line. In March and April 1918, the battalion helped stop the German spring offensive. In July 1918, as a result of his valorous actions during the fighting near Hamel, Private Henry Dalziel was awarded the battalion’s only Victoria Cross. The battalion participated in the great allied offensive of 1918, fighting near Amiens on 8 August 1918. This advance by British and empire troops was the greatest success in a single day on the Western Front, one that German General Erich Ludendorff described as “..the black day of the German Army in this war...”. The battalion continued operations until late September 1918. At 11 am on 11 November 1918, the guns fell silent. In November 1918, members of the AIF began to return to Australia for demobilisation and discharge. Text from AWM 1194 killed, 2187 wounded (Including gassed) Decorations 1 VC 1 CB 2 CMG 8 DSO, 1 bar 2 MBE 24 MC, 1 bar 29 DCM 167 MM, 18 bars 8 MSM 50 MID 8 foreign awards