60th Battalion ( Australia ) The 60th Battalion was an infantry battalion of the Australian Army . It was raised for service during World War I in 1916 and took part in the fighting on the Western Front for two and a half years . Following the end of the war it was disbanded before being re - raised in 1921 as a part - time unit of the Citizens Force . In 1930 it was amalgamated with the 57th Battalion to form the 57th / 60th Battalion . History . World War I . The 60th Battalion was originally raised as a unit of the First Australian Imperial Force ( 1st AIF ) in Egypt on 24 February 1916 for service in World War I as part of an expansion of the Australian forces that took place following the Gallipoli campaign . This expansion saw experienced personnel being drawn from 1st Division units , and joining with fresh recruits from Australia to form new battalions . In the case of the 60th , its cadre came from the 8th Battalion , a predominately Victorian unit , while its new recruits were also drawn from that state . Together with the 57th , 58th and 59th Battalions , the 60th formed part of the 15th Brigade , attached to the 5th Australian Division . Shortly after being raised , the battalion was sent to France , arriving there on 28 June , and experienced its first taste of fighting against the Germans on the Western Front in July when it was involved in the Battle of Fromelles . During the course of the battle , the battalion suffered 757 casualties and was almost destroyed . After that , the 60th Battalion spent the next two and a half years in the trenches in France and Belgium , where it took part in a number of significant actions . Throughout 1917 , as the Germans began to withdraw towards the Hindenburg Line , the battalion took part in the Allied advance . Later , at Bullecourt in May , the 60th were engaged in a defensive capacity . Following this , the AIF was moved to the Ypres sector where , on 26 September 1917 , the 60th Battalion were committed to the fighting around Polygon Wood . In early 1918 , following the collapse of the Russian resistance on the Eastern Front in the wake of the October Revolution , the Germans had been able to transfer a large number of troops to the Western Front . As a result , in March , they launched their Spring Offensive . With the Germans making rapid gains , the Australian units were thrown into the line to blunt the attack . The 60th Battalion , along with the rest of the 5th Division , were allocated to the Corbie sector . On 25 April 1918 , Anzac Day , the battalion took part in a counterattack at Villers - Bretonneux . Later , on 8 August 1918 , they went into battle at Amiens , at the start of Allied Hundred Days Offensive , which ultimately resulted in the end of the war . In September 1918 , with the 1st AIF suffering considerable manpower shortages due to heavy losses and insufficient replacements , one battalion in each brigade was ordered to disband in order to provide reinforcements to the other battalions within the brigades . Within the 15th Brigade , the 60th Battalion was the unit which was ordered to disband . The men , however , did not wish to be sent to other units and refused to obey the order to disband . Nevertheless , after being spoken to by the highly regarded Brigadier Harold Edward Elliott , the men agreed to follow the order and the battalion was subsequently disbanded on 27 September 1918 . During the course of the war , the 60th Battalion lost 701 men killed in action and 1 , 340 wounded . Members of the battalion received the following decorations : one Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George , one Distinguished Service Order , 10 Military Cross es and one bar , 10 Distinguished Conduct Medal s , 47 Military Medal s and two bars , 20 Mention in Dispatches , three Meritorious Service Medals and four foreign awards . Inter war years . Following the war , when Australia ' s part - time military force was re - organised in 1921 , the battalion was raised again as the " 60th Battalion ( Princes Hill Infantry Regiment ) " as part of the Citizens Force ( later known as the Militia ) . With its headquarters at Westgarth , it was once again assigned to the 15th Brigade , although at divisional level they were placed under the 3rd Division , and the battalion drew its personnel from a number of previously existing part - time units such as the 2 / 60th Infantry , 2 / 29th Infantry , 5 / 29th Infantry and 29th Light Horse Regiments , which had themselves provided the 60th Battalion with recruits in 1916 . In 1927 territorial titles were introduced and the 60th Battalion went through a number of name changes : firstly the " Brunswick Carlton Infantry Regiment " , the " Jika Jika Regiment " and finally " The Heidelberg Regiment " . At this time it adopted the motto " Celer Et Audax " , meaning " Swift and Bold " . In 1930 , following the suspension of the compulsory training scheme by the newly elected Scullin Labor government , a combination of a lack of volunteers and economic austerity measures following the Great Depression resulted in the battalion being amalgamated with the 57th Battalion , to become the 57th / 60th Battalion ( Merri / Heidelberg Regiment ) . They would remain linked for the next 16 years , seeing action in World War II in the South West Pacific in 1943 – 45 , before finally being disbanded on 30 March 1946 . Commanding officers . During World War I , the following officers served as commanding officer of the 60th Battalion :