The 13th Battalion AIF was raised from late September 1914,
six weeks after the outbreak of the First World War. The battalion was
recruited in New South Wales, and with the 14th, 15th and 16th
Battalions formed the 4th Brigade, commanded by Colonel John Monash.
The
Brigade embarked for overseas in late December. After a brief stop in
Albany, Western Australia, it 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 Cove
late in the afternoon of 25 April 1915. From May to August, the
battalion was heavily involved in establishing and defending the ANZAC
front line. In August, the 4th Brigade attacked Hill 971. The hill was
taken at great cost, although Turkish reinforcements forced the
Australians to withdraw. The 13th also suffered casualties during the
attack on Hill 60 on 27 August. The battalion served at ANZAC until the
evacuation in December.
After the withdrawal from Gallipoli,
the battalion returned to Egypt. While in Egypt the AIF was expanded
and was reorganised. The 13th Battalion was split and provided
experienced soldiers for the 45th Battalion. The 4th Brigade was
combined with the 12th and 13th Brigades to form the 4th Australian
Division.
In June 1916, the 13th 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 Pozieres in
August. In February 1917, Captain W. H. Murray, who had transferred to
the 13th from the 16th Battalion, earned the Victoria Cross for his
actions during an attack near Gueudecourt. He became one of the most
highly decorated officers in the AIF. The 13th Battalion, along with
most of the 4th Brigade, suffered heavy losses at Bullecourt in April
when the brigade attacked strong German positions without the promised
tank support. The battalion spent much of the remainder of 1917 in
Belgium advancing to the Hindenburg Line.
A German message dog captured by the 13th Battalion near
Villers-Bretonneux on 3 May 1918. The two soldiers in and behind the
dog cart are Corporal Green and Private Martin.
In March and April 1918, the battalion helped to stop the German spring offensive. It subsequently played a role 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...".
in colour
The 4th Brigade
continued operations until late September 1918. On 18 September Maurice
Buckley, serving as Sergeant Gerald Sexton, was awarded the Victoria
Cross for valour near Le Verguier. 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.