20th Battalion ( Australia ) The 20th Battalion was an infantry battalion of the Australian Army . Raised in early 1915 as part of the Australian Imperial Force , it was attached to the 5th Brigade , 2nd Division that served during World War I . The battalion first saw action during the Gallipoli campaign , before being evacuated in December 1915 . After that the 20th Battalion was sent to France where they served in the trenches along the Western Front . Over the course of the next two years , they fought in many major battles , including the battles of the Hundred Days Offensive at the end of the war . The 20th Battalion ' s last engagement was at Montbrehain in October 1918 . Following the end of the war , it was disbanded in April 1919 . It was later re - raised in 1921 , although it was amalgamated in 1929 due to manpower shortages . During World War II the battalion was briefly re - raised and carried out garrison duties in Australia . History . World War I . The 20th Battalion was raised in March 1915 in Liverpool , New South Wales , as part of the Australian Imperial Force ( AIF ) . A small number of its original recruits had already served with the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force in New Guinea in 1914 . After undertaking initial training , the battalion left Australia in June and after a further period of training in Egypt they landed at Anzac Cove on 22 August 1915 as part of the 5th Brigade , 2nd Division . They played only a minor part in the during the August Offensive which was coming to a close by the time they arrived and so for the majority of time that they were at Gallipoli , the battalion was deployed in the defence of Russell ' s Top . They remained on the peninsula until the evacuation on 20 December 1915 . Following further training in Egypt , the 20th Battalion was sent to France , arriving there on 22 March 1916 . From there it proceeded to a position near Pozieres , where it took up position in the trenches in April and , a month later , had the dubious honour of being the first Australian battalion to be raided by the Germans . Later , in July and August the 20th took part in the Battle of Pozières , during which time it served in the line twice before moving to a quieter sector in Belgium for a period of rest . In October , however , the entire 2nd Division was moved to the south again and put back into the line in France once again and in November they launched an attack at Flers , in conditions that were so muddy that they were described by the official historian , Charles Bean , as " the worst ever encountered by the AIF " . Throughout 1917 the 20th Battalion was involved in three major battles as the German Army was forced back towards the Hindenburg Line , seeing action at Bullecourt in May , Menin Road in September and Poelcappelle in October . At Lagnicourt , on 15 April , along with other units from the 5th Brigade , they took part in a defensive action along with four other battalions , where they managed to defeat a counter - attack by a German force almost five times its size . In 1918 , the battalion was involved in repelling the German Spring Offensive , when the 20th was one of many Australian battalions that were hurried in to the line to stop it , and on 7 April 1918 , they took part in a very sharp engagement at Hangard Wood . Once the German offensive was defeated , the Allies launched their own , known as the Hundred Days Offensive which eventually brought about an end to the war . During this time the 20th were involved in the battles at Amiens and Mont St Quentin in August , before participating in the attack on the " Beaurevoir Line " at Montbrehain in October . This would be the battalion ' s last contribution to the war , as it was training out of the line when the Armistice was declared in November 1918 . It was disbanded on 20 April 1919 while at Montigny - le - Tilluel , Belgium , when most of its personnel , including the commanding officer , Lieutenant Colonel Frederick Forbes , were marched out for repatriation to Australia as part of the demobilisation process . During the war , the 20th Battalion lost 848 men killed and 3 , 143 men wounded . The battalion ' s sole Victoria Cross recipient was Walter Brown , who received the decoration for his actions around Villers - Bretonneux on 6 July 1918 . Inter war years and World War II . In 1921 , Australia ' s part - time military force , the Citizens Force ( later known as the Militia ) , was re - organised to perpetuate the numerical designations and structure of the AIF . At this time the 20th Battalion was re - raised in New South Wales , around Parramatta , and was again placed under the command of the 5th Brigade , 2nd Division . In 1929 , following the suspension of the compulsory training scheme by the newly elected Scullin Labor government , financial pressures and manpower shortages resulted in a number of battalions being amalgamated . The 20th Battalion was one of those chosen , and it merged with the 54th , although they were later delinked . In 1939 , the 20th Battalion merged with the 19th Battalion to become the 20th / 19th Battalion , adopting the territorial designation of the " Parramatta and Blue Mountains Regiment " . Following the outbreak of World War II , the 20th / 19th Battalion was transferred from Sydney to Darwin in the Northern Territory , where they were to form part of the town ' s garrison . These two battalions were delinked on 1 November 1941 as part of the expansion of the Australian military following Japan ' s entry into the war . At this time they were assigned once again to the 5th Brigade , although in February 1942 they were transferred to the 28th Brigade . Nevertheless , as a result of a manpower shortage in the Australian economy , the government decided to disband or amalgamate a number of Militia units throughout 1942 – 43 , and on 13 December 1943 , the 20th merged with the 34th to form the 20th / 34th Battalion . This unit remained in existence until it was disbanded on 6 April 1944 . Battle honours . For its service during the war , the 20th Battalion received the following battle honour s :