page_title: 58th Battalion (Australia)
section_title: World War II
hierarchical_section_title: 58th Battalion (Australia) / History / World War II
caption_attribution_description: English: Soldiers from the 58th/59th Battalion in the Ramu Valley, New Guinea in January 1944
context_page_description: The 58th Battalion was an infantry battalion of the Australian Army. It was raised in 1916 for overseas service during World War I and saw action on the Western Front from June 1916 until the end of the war. Following the end of hostilities it was disbanded in 1919; however, in 1921 the battalion was re-raised as part of the part-time Citizens Force and remained in existence until 1942 when it was amalgamated with the 59th Battalion to form the 58th/59th Battalion. That battalion subsequently saw active service in the Pacific against the Japanese during World War II before being disbanded in 1946. After the war, the battalion was re-formed as an amalgamated Citizens Military Force unit, the 58th/32nd Battalion, which was based in Melbourne. This unit remained in existence until 1960 when it was subsumed into the Royal Victoria Regiment.
context_section_description: Following the outbreak of World War II, as a result of the provisions of the Defence Act (1903) which prohibited sending the Militia to fight outside of Australian territory, the decision was made to raise an all volunteer force, known as the Second Australian Imperial Force (2nd AIF), for service overseas. The result of this decision was that the Militia units that already existed lost some of their best personnel who were used to form a cadre of trained men upon which to raise the units of the 2nd AIF, while the units themselves were relegated to administering the training of conscripts that were called up following the reinstitution of the compulsory training scheme in January 1940.
  At the same time, they were also progressively called upon to undertake brief periods of continuous training during 1940 and 1941 as part of an effort to improve the nation's level of military preparedness. Throughout 1941 the 58th Battalion was stationed around Seymour in Victoria before undertaking further training near Casino, New South Wales, in 1942. At this time, the 15th Brigade was briefly expanded with the arrival of the 24th Battalion from the 10th Brigade, which had been disbanded as part of a minor demobilisation of forces that was necessitated by a manpower shortage that had developed within the Australian economy. As a result of the addition of the 24th Battalion, the 58th and 59th Battalions were amalgamated to form the 58th/59th Battalion (Essendon, Coburg, Brunswick/ Hume Regiment), in order to maintain the triangular structure of the brigade. This came into effect on 27 August 1942. The 58th/59th Battalion would remain linked for the next four years, seeing action in the South-west Pacific in 1943–45. They were disbanded on 23 February 1946.
caption: Men from the 58th/59th Battalion in the Ramu Valley, January 1944
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