23rd Battalion ( Australia ) The 23rd Battalion was an infantry battalion of the Australian Army . It was raised in 1915 as part of the Australian Imperial Force for service during World War I and formed part of the 6th Brigade , attached to the 2nd Division . It fought during the Gallipoli campaign and on the Western Front before being disbanded in 1919 . In 1921 the battalion was re - raised as part of the Citizens Forces in the state of Victoria , but was amalgamated with the 21st Battalion in 1929 to form the 23rd / 21st Battalion . History . Formation . The 23rd Battalion was raised in Victoria in March 1915 as part of the formation of the 2nd Division of the Australian Imperial Force ( AIF ) . Its first commanding officer was Lieutenant Colonel George Morton . Together with the 21st , 22nd and 24th Battalions , it formed the 6th Brigade under the command of Colonel Richard Linton . After completing initial training at Broadmeadows , in May 1915 they embarked upon the troopship " Euripides " bound for Egypt . They arrived in Alexandria on 11 June and after being moved by train to Cairo they marched to a camp at Heliopolis where they undertook further training in preparation for deployment to Gallipoli , where the units of the 1st Division had landed on 25 April 1915 . Gallipoli . While they were training , the Allies launched the August Offensive in an attempt to break the deadlock that had developed on the Gallipoli peninsula following the initial landing . The offensive largely failed and heavy casualties resulted . In order to replace the men that were lost and give the survivors a rest , the decision was made by Allied commanders to move the 2nd Division from Egypt . After being moved to Lemnos Island , the 23rd Battalion embarked for Gallipoli on 4 September , arriving there at 9 : 30 pm that evening . After spending a day to familiarise itself , the battalion took up positions at Lone Pine . On 12 September , the 23rd , along with their sister battalion , the 24th , took over responsibility for the post from the 1st Division battalions that had held it previously . During the stalemate that followed , manning positions that , in some places , were only a few metres from the Ottoman lines , the 23rd Battalion began countermining operations after Turkish mining operations were discovered . For the next three months , due to the intensity of the fighting in the sector , the battalion alternated their position with the 24th Battalion almost every day until the evacuation of Allied troops from the peninsula occurred , embarking with the last troops to leave on the night of 19 / 20 December 1915 . Following their withdrawal from Gallipoli , the 23rd Battalion was moved to Lemnos Island , where they remained until January 1916 when they were transferred back to Egypt . Here they conducted further training until receiving orders that they were to be transferred to Europe in March . Western Front . After arriving in France , the battalion moved to the Western Front , occupying the forward positions around Armentières in northern France on 10 April 1916 . In mid - July , the battalion was transferred to the Somme , where they subsequently took part in the battles of Pozières and Mouquet Farm , suffering almost 90 per cent casualties . After being reinforced , the battalion was committed to the fighting at the second battle of Bullecourt in May 1917 after the first attempt by the 4th Australian Division failed . Succeeding in capturing all its objectives , it was heavily counter - attacked by German forces , suffering a large number of casualties , including 100 men killed or died of wounds before being relieved by the Australian 3rd Battalion . After this the battalion was withdrawn from the line until early September 1917 when they moved into positions around Ypres , Belgium , and participated in the battle of Broodseinde on 4 October . During this battle , the 6th Brigade was positioned to the south of Zonnebeke Lake , and the 23rd Battalion lost three officers and 101 other ranks killed or wounded , some of which were inflicted when an intense German mortar barrage fell upon their " waiting line " prior to the attack . Nevertheless , the attack which followed , after overcoming an encounter with a German regiment , the 212th , in no man ' s land , resulted in success as the Australians captured the ridge . In early 1918 , Russian resistance on the Eastern Front collapsed in the wake of the October Revolution and , as a result , the Germans were able to transfer a large number of troops to the Western Front . This greatly improved the German strength in the West and , as a result , in March , they launched their Spring Offensive . With the Germans making rapid gains , many Australian units , including the 23rd Battalion , were thrown into the line to blunt the attack in early April , as the 6th Brigade relieved the 12th around Dernancourt . Following this , the 23rd participated in the fighting at Hamel on 4 July , advancing as the right - hand battalion on the southern front behind a devastatingly accurate preparatory barrage . In August 1918 , it joined the Allied Hundred Days Offensive , which was launched at Amiens on 8 August 1918 . Later , for his actions during the fighting at Mont St . Quentin in early September , one of the battalion ' s soldiers , Private Robert Mactier , was awarded the Victoria Cross posthumously . After participating in the Battle of Beaurevoir between 3 and 4 October , the battalion was sent to the rear for rest when the units of the Australian Corps , severely depleted , were withdrawn from the line upon the insistence of the Australian prime minister , Billy Hughes . As a result , it took no further part in the fighting before the armistice was declared on 11 November . Disbandment . Following the end of hostilities , the demobilisation process began and slowly the battalion ' s numbers began to dwindle . The 23rd Battalion was disbanded in Belgium on 30 April 1919 . Throughout its service during the war , it suffered 686 killed and 2 , 317 wounded ( including gassed ) . Re - raising and subsequent amalgamation . In 1921 the decision was made to perpetuate the battle honour s and traditions of the AIF by re - organising the units of the Citizens Forces to adopt the numerical designations of the AIF units with which they were affiliated . As a result of this decision , the 23rd Battalion was re - raised in Victoria , drawing personnel from the 2nd and 5th Battalions , 23rd Infantry Regiment , and part of the 29th Light Horse Regiment , and perpetuating the battle honours of its AIF predecessor . It later adopted the title of the " 23rd Battalion ( The City of Geelong Regiment ) " when territorial titles were introduced in 1927 . At the same time it was granted the motto " Nulli Secundus " . In 1928 , the battalion was part of the 2nd Brigade , within the 3rd Military District . In 1929 , following the election of the Scullin Labor government , the compulsory training scheme was abolished and this , coupled with the economic privations of the Great Depression drastically reduced the number of recruits available . As a result the decision was made to amalgamate a number of units . The 23rd Battalion was one of those chosen and it was linked with the 21st Battalion to become the 23rd / 21st Battalion , adopting the territorial designation of " The City of Geelong Regiment / The Victoria Rangers " . This battalion undertook garrison duties in the Northern Territory during World War II , before being disbanded in August 1943 without having served overseas . Commanding officers . During World War I , the following officers served as commanding officer of the 23rd Battalion : Battle honours . World War I : Suvla , Gallipoli 1915 – 1916 , Egypt 1915 – 1917 , Somme 1916 , Pozieres , Bapaume 1917 , Bullecourt , Ypres 1917 , , Polygon Wood , , , Passchendaele , Hamel , Amiens , Albert 1918 , Mont St Quentin , Hindenburg Line , Beaurevoir , France and Flanders 1916 – 1918 .