page_title: 1st Division (Australia)
section_title: Third Battle of Ypres
hierarchical_section_title: 1st Division (Australia) / History / World War I / Third Battle of Ypres
caption_attribution_description: English: Supporting troops of the 1st Australian Division walking on a duckboard track near Hooge, in the Ypres Sector. As they passed toward the front line to relieve their comrades, whose attack the day before won Broodseinde Ridge and deepened the Australian advance. They are relievieng troops who had taken part in the Battle of Broodseinde.
context_page_description: The 1st Division is the main formation of the Australian Army and contains the majority of the Army's regular forces. Its headquarters is in Enoggera, a suburb of Brisbane. The division was first formed in 1914 for service during World War I as a part of the Australian Imperial Force. It was initially part of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps and served with that formation during the Gallipoli campaign, before later serving on the Western Front. After the war, the division became a part-time unit based in New South Wales, and during World War II it undertook defensive duties in Australia before being disbanded in 1945.
  After World War II, the division remained off the Australian Army's order of battle until the 1960s, when it was reformed in New South Wales. In 1965 it adopted a certification role, determining the operational readiness of units deploying to Vietnam. It was re-formed in 1973 as a full division based in Queensland and in the decades that followed it formed the Australian Army's main formation, including both Regular and Reserve personnel.
context_section_description: The 1st Division's artillery was in action from the start of the Third Battle of Ypres on 31 July 1917 but the infantry were not called upon until the second phase of the battle commenced on 20 September with the Battle of Menin Road. Attacking across 1,000-metre (1,100 yd) front, along with ten other divisions, including the Australian 2nd Division on their left, the 1st Division captured around 1,500 metres (1,600 yd) of ground, securing Glencorse Wood and gaining a foothold in Polygon Wood. The Australian divisions suffered 5,000 casualties from the battle – the 1st Division lost 2,754 men – mainly due to retaliatory shelling from heavy artillery after the advance had completed.
  The 1st Division was relieved by the Australian 5th Division before the next assault, the Battle of Polygon Wood (26 September), but in turn took up the advance for the following Battle of Broodseinde (4 October), the third and final of the successful bite-and-hold attacks conceived by General Herbert Plumer of the British Second Army. This battle marked the peak of British success during 3rd Ypres and apart from minor roles on the southern flank of the Canadian Corps during the Battle of Poelcappelle, First Battle of Passchendaele and the Second Battle of Passchendaele, it was the end of the 1st Division's involvement. The division's casualties were 2,448 men killed or wounded.
caption: Soldiers from the 1st Division at Hooge, 5 October 1917
exif: {}