53rd Battalion – 14th Brigade 5th – Division | WWI

The Battalion was formed in Egypt in February 1916, under the command of Col. Norris, personnel being 1st Battalion men newly arrived from Gallipoli and reinforcements and details then stationed in Egypt.

After severe training, the Battalion took part in the famous march of the 14th Brigade from Tel-el-Kiber to Moascar a distance of only some forty miles; but up and down loose sand hills of the Egyptian Desert and in sweltering temperatures well over 38 degrees Celsius.

The 53rd sailed from Egypt with the rest of the 14th Brigade, 5th Army Division on 22nd June 1916. After a brief spell the Battalion in company with the remainder of the Division was ordered into action at Fromelles Ridge in the late afternoon of 19th July 1916. Twenty-four hours later only three officers and 150 other ranks answered the roll call of the 53rd Battalion. In all the total casualty’s dead and wounded of the 5th Division were 173 officers and 5,308 other ranks in fourteen hours of fighting!

The winter of 1916 was spent at Flers and Guedecourt of the Somme, and during the next few months the Battalion saw front line service in Beaumetz, Doignies, and Bullecourt before moving the Polygon Wood in the Ypres sector The battle for Polygon Wood was probably the most successful of any campaign undertaken by the Battalion, the job was executed and completed to a time schedule, precisely as it had been rehearsed on the training grounds, the advance of 700 yards had taken exactly 35 minutes and was accomplished in what was probably one of the greatest concentrations of fire power – both artillery and machine gun were pitted against the enemy.

After Polygon Wood came a period of routine front-line service, first at Ypres, then in the Messines Ridge area, interspersed with periods of rest.

On 1st September, 1918 the Brigade spearheaded by the 53rd began the task of capturing the city of Peronne. After five days of bitter shelling, machine gunning and hand to hand fighting, Peronne, the strongest natural defensive position on the whole British front was in Allied hands, together with its protective areas of Mont St. Quentin, Quincone Wood and Anvil Wood.

After refitting and receiving a few reinforcements the Brigade was quickly moved forward to capture of the Hindenburg Line and Bellicourt Tunnel.

During the two years in France the Battalion had 51 Officers and 583 other ranks killed. At the cessation of hostilities, the strength of the Battalion would have been approximately 377. Approx. 2189 number wounded or transferred out to other units

Decorations won by the 53rd Battalion were –

Victoria Cross (VC) – 1
Distinguished Service Order (DSO) – 5
Order of the British Empire (OBE) – 1
Military Cross and 3 bars (MC) – 25
Distinguished Conduct Medal (DCM) – 28
Military Medal and 4 Bars (MM) – 76
Meritorious Service Medal (MSM) – 4
Mentioned in Despatches (for Meritorious Service) (MID) 20
Foreign Awards: – 5

Information re awards sourced from Australian War Memorial. For additional information about these awards visit the AWM site under Glossary.

Sources: A History of the 55/53 rd Battalion was compiled and published in the 1990’s by Alec Bell who was for over 30 years the president of the Association. Alec included material from Frank Budden’s Book ‘That Mob’.