7th Battalion ( Australia ) The 7th Battalion was an infantry battalion of the Australian Army . Raised in 1914 as part of the Australian Imperial Force during the First World War , the battalion was completely recruited from Victoria and formed the 2nd Brigade , 1st Division . The battalion served during the Gallipoli campaign where it had the distinction of having four of its members awarded the Victoria Cross . In 1916 it was transferred to Europe , fighting in the trenches along the Western Front for the next two and a half years . Although disbanded in 1919 following the end of hostilities , it was re - raised in 1921 in the Citizens Force ( later known as the Militia ) as a part - time infantry battalion based in Victoria . However , due to lack of funding following the Great Depression and a shortage of manpower following the suspension of the compulsory training scheme in 1929 , the battalion was amalgamated with the 38th Battalion as the 7th / 38th Battalion , although it was delinked again in 1936 when the Army was expanded due to rising tensions in Europe . During the Second World War , the 7th Battalion served primarily in a garrison role , firstly being used to defend the Australian mainland before deploying late in the war to take part in the Bougainville campaign in 1944 – 45 . On Bougainville , as part of the 23rd Brigade , they took part in the fighting in the central sector of the island in the last months of the war . Following the end of hostilities , the battalion was once again used in the garrison role before being returned to Australia and disbanding in early 1946 . In 1948 , the battalion was re - raised as an amalgamated unit with the 8th Battalion when the Citizens Military Force was reformed . Today , it exists as the 8th / 7th Battalion , Royal Victoria Regiment . History . First World War . Formation . Following the outbreak of the First World War , the Australian government decided to raise an all volunteer force for overseas service due to the provisions of the " Defence Act ( 1903 ) " which precluded sending the Militia outside of Australian territory to fight . While this force would draw from the military forces that already existed — the part - time Citizens Force and the Permanent Military Force — it would be largely be made up from recruits not currently serving . Known as the Australian Imperial Force ( AIF ) , initially it was to consist of 20 , 000 men , comprising one infantry division and a light horse brigade . Recruitment for the first intake began on 10 August 1914 , and the 7th Battalion was among the first units raised , forming less than a fortnight after the declaration of war . Under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Harold Elliot , the battalion was brigaded with the 5th , 6th and 8th Battalions to form the 2nd Brigade under Brigadier James Whiteside McCay . Elliott took personal control over the recruitment process , selecting only those officers that he had known from his service in the Citizens Forces as his company commanders , who he in turn entrusted with choosing their own subordinates . Recruitment was conducted over a period of three weeks and by the end of the period the process had been so successful that the battalion was over establishment . Initially , the battalion was organised into eight companies , designated ' A ' to ' H ' , while recruitment and initial training was undertaken at Broadmeadows , however , this was later reduced to the standard four companies , designated ' A ' to ' D ' . Gallipoli . In September the battalion marched through the city of Melbourne and a fortnight later they embarked upon HMT " Hororata " bound for the Middle East . They arrived in Egypt on 2 December 1914 after which they undertook further training before being called to undertake defensive duties along the Suez Canal following the failed Turkish First Suez Offensive in February 1915 . However the battalion did not take part in direct combat , and during this time a number of the its non commissioned officer s were allowed to apply for commissions in British Army units . In early April the battalion was moved to Alexandria and from there on to Lemnos Island . On the morning of 25 April 1915 , the battalion took part in the Landing at Anzac Cove , coming ashore as part of the second wave . Over the course of the first week the battalion was involved in establishing the beachhead and suffered heavily , losing five officers and 179 men killed or died of wounds . This was higher than any other subsequent battle that the battalion fought during the war . On 29 April , the 2nd Brigade was relieved by the 12th ( Deal ) Battalion and in early May the battalion was able to reorganise itself after its baptism of fire . The respite did not last long , however , for only ten days after the landing at Anzac Cove , the 2nd Brigade was transferred to Cape Helles in order to take part in the an attack on Krithia on 8 May 1915 . The attack was a very costly failure , with the battalion losing a further six officers and 87 men killed . Nevertheless , they were involved in what is believed to be the first brigade - level attack conducted by an Australian force against an entrenched enemy and the attack earned the Victorians many plaudits . After the attack the battalion was given a weeks rest at Cape Helles , where it received a number of reinforcements before being sent back to the lodgement at Anzac Cove , where a stalemate situation had developed . In an effort to break this deadlock , the Allies launched an offensive in August and the battalion took part in the Battle of Lone Pine . After taking over positions that had been captured by the 1st Brigade , the battalion defended the trenches against repeated Turkish counterattacks and , in the process , four of its members performed acts of gallantry that later led to them receiving the Victoria Cross ( VC ) , the nation ' s highest military decoration . These men were : Corporal Alexander Stewart Burton , Corporal William Dunstan , Lieutenant William John Symons and Captain Frederick Harold Tubb . During this fighting , the 7th Battalion lost 87 men killed . Despite the battalion ' s success in holding the trenches at Lone Pine , the August Offensive failed to break the deadlock as setbacks elsewhere resulted in continued stalemate and for the rest of the campaign the fighting was relatively static . Finally , in December the decision was made to evacuate the Allied force from the peninsula . During the evacuation , two of the battalion ' s soldiers , William Scurry and Alfred ' Buntie ' Lawrence played a significant part through their invention of a self - firing rifle , which assisted in making the Turks believe that there were still men manning the trenches even as they were being evacuated . Western Front . After Gallipoli the 7th Battalion was withdrawn to Egypt , where the AIF underwent a period of reorganisation and expansion prior to being transferred to Europe . The 7th Battalion was split to provide a cadre for the 59th Battalion which was being raised as part of the doubling of the Australian forces . In March 1916 , they sailed to France where for the next two and half years they would take part in the fighting in the trenches along the Western Front . Upon arrival , the battalion was sent to the Somme , where its first major action came in July during the Battle of Pozières . Throughout July and into August , the battalion was committed to the fighting twice , losing 55 men killed in the first battle and another 83 in the second . In late August , the 7th Battalion , with a frontage equal to just over half its authorised strength , was transferred to Ypres , in Belgium , where they manned trenches near the Ypres – Commines canal . During this time they were not involved in any major attacks , however , each night they sent patrols out into no man ' s land and established listening posts to gather intelligence . On 30 September , the 7th Battalion , along with its sister battalion , the 8th Battalion , mounted a raid on the German line at Hollebeke with a force roughly equivalent to two platoon s . The raid was a great success , with the Australians overwhelming the defenders and capturing a section of the German line and killing up to 13 Germans , before withdrawing . In October , the battalion returned to the Somme where they spent the winter months manning trenches and training . In early 1917 , precipitated by the loss of the high ground around Pozières , the Germans withdrew back to the Hindenburg Line in order to shorten their defensive line and to straighten a salient that had developed . In February , the German withdrawal was discovered and the Allies , finding an open battlefield for the first time since 1914 and believing that the German Army was suffering from limited manpower , began an advance to follow them up . On the night of 26 / 27 February , the 7th Battalion launched what was meant to be a trench raid , but turned into an open advance , seeing them extend their lines by . The Allied advance , however , was brief as the Germans had established themselves in strength , and was halted at Bullecourt . In May the battalion was withdrawn from the front line for re - organisation and training . It did not return until the Third Battle of Ypres in September and October 1917 , when they were committed to the fighting first at Menin Road . The 7th Battalion had 57 men killed in this phase , and then later at Broodseinde another 98 were killed . Following these battles , the 7th Battalion was withdrawn from the front line once more in December . In March 1918 , however , following the start of the German Spring Offensive , the battalion was called back to help stem the tide of the German advance . As the German offensive ran out of momentum , the battalion kept up the pressure on the German line through a series of peaceful penetrations , before subsequently taking part in the Allied Hundred Days Offensive , which was launched near Amiens on 8 August 1918 . As a part of this offensive , the battalion fought major actions at Lihons on 9 – 11 August where they captured a number of German mortars and Herleville Woods on 23 August . They continued operations until late September 1918 when they were withdrawn with a strength of just 410 men and it was out of the line when the armistice came into effect in November . Shortly afterwards the demobilisation process began and as the battalion ' s numbers fell as men were repatriated back to Australia , it was amalgamated with 6th Battalion . This battalion was amalgamated with another , formed from the 5th and 8th Battalions , to form the 2nd Brigade Battalion . Throughout their service during the war , the battalion suffered 1 , 045 killed and 2 , 076 wounded . Members of the battalion received the following decorations : four VCs , one Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George ( CMG ) , two Distinguished Service Order s ( DSOs ) , 20 Military Cross es ( MCs ) with two bars , 31 Distinguished Conduct Medal s ( DCMs ) with one bar , 100 Military Medal s ( MMs ) with five bars , six Meritorious Service Medals ( MSMs ) , 37 Mention in Despatches ( MIDs ) and six foreign awards . Inter war years . In 1921 the decision was made to perpetuate the battle honour s and traditions of the AIF battalions that had served during World War I by reorganising the Citizens Force along AIF lines , with previously existing part - time units adopting the numerical designations of the AIF units that had been drawn from their traditional recruitment territories . In May 1921 , the 7th Battalion was reformed in regional Victoria around a headquarters in Mildura , with depots at Merbein , Wentworth and Red Cliffs . At this time , the battalion drew its personnel from the 2nd Battalion , 7th Infantry Regiment , and the 2nd Battalion , 21st Infantry Regiment . In 1927 , when territorial titles were introduced into the Militia , the battalion adopted the title of the " Mount Alexander Regiment " . It was also granted the motto " Cede Nullius " at this time . In 1929 , however , the compulsory training scheme was suspended by the newly elected Scullin Labor government . In its place a voluntary system was established and the Citizens Force renamed the " Militia " . The end of compulsory training , coupled with low levels of defence spending and economic hardships brought about by the Great Depression greatly reduced the manpower available to many Militia units at this time and as a result a number of units were disbanded or amalgamated at this time . The 7th Battalion was also affected and on 1 July 1929 it was amalgamated with the 38th Battalion to form the 7th / 38th Battalion . The two battalions remained linked until 9 November 1936 when , following concerns about growing tensions in Europe , it was decided to delink them in order to double the size of the Milita as the prospect of another war became apparent . In 1937 , the battalion ' s designation was changed to the " North Murray Borderers " . Second World War . Following the outbreak of the Second World War in September 1939 , the Australian government once again decided to raise an all volunteer force for service overseas as the legal restrictions on employing the Militia outside of Australia still applied . Regardless a number of Militia units attempted to join up en masse as already formed units and the 7th Battalion was one of these units . However as they were required to remain in Australia to provide home defence in the case of war spreading to the Pacific this did not occur . In October 1939 , the Militia was mobilised in stages to undertake a short period of 30 days continuous training and this was undertaken again in 1940 , but for a period of 90 days instead . The compulsory training scheme was also reintroduced and the 7th Battalion ' s ranks were filled out with national servicemen . Throughout 1940 and 1941 the battalion undertook a number of training camps in Victoria . In December 1941 , with Japan ' s entry into the war following the attacks on Malaya and Pearl Harbor , the battalion was mobilised for war service and tasked with defending the Dandenong area . In 1942 , however , it received orders to move north to Darwin , where it carried out garrison duties to defend the town and experienced a number air raids from Japanese aircraft . During this time also , the battalion was transferred to the 23rd Brigade . Originally the 23rd Brigade had been part of the 8th Division and made up of Second Australian Imperial Force battalions , however , after these units were captured or destroyed on Rabaul , Ambon and Timor , it had been rebuilt using Militia battalions and placed under the command of Brigadier Arnold Potts , and assigned to the 12th Division . They remained in Darwin for 18 months before being relieved and sent back to Melbourne in April 1943 . After taking leave , the 7th Battalion was sent to the Atherton Tablelands in Queensland for a period of intensive pre - deployment training in November . In 1944 the 23rd Brigade had been attached to the II Corps , which was tasked with taking over from the Americans and launching a renewed offensive on Bougainville . The 23rd Brigade was given the task of relieving the garrisons in the outer islands and the 7th Battalion was primarily responsible for Mono island , although one company was detached to Munda , arriving there in October 1944 . Tasked with defending the airfield from a Japanese attack that was at best remote , some members of the battalion sought to enliven their existence by acting as crews on US Navy PT boat s carrying out raids on New Britain and New Ireland . In April 1945 , after months of lobbying by Potts — who was keen to get back into action himself after having been relieved of his previous command during the Kokoda campaign — the 7th Battalion was transferred to Torokina on Bougainville Island , where the Japanese garrison was still holding out . In June they moved up the Numa Numa trail to Pearl Ridge in the central sector of the island where they relieved the 27th Battalion . Almost immediately they began aggressive patrols in order to dominate the Japanese in their area of operations and were tasked with the capture of several key positions including Wearne ' s Hill , Base Point 3 , Tokua and Sisivie and to establish a forward position in the Wakunai Valley . Over the course of the next three months until the end of the war , the battalion captured 25 positions and killed around 200 Japanese soldiers . Following the end of hostilities the battalion moved to the island of Fauro to guard Japanese prisoners of war . As the demobilisation process began , members of the battalion were slowly repatriated to Australia , while others were transferred to other units for further service elsewhere . By March 1946 the last of the battalion ' s personnel had been returned to Australia and on 10 May 1946 , the 7th Battalion was formally disbanded . During its service throughout the war the battalion lost 25 men killed or died on active service , with a further 50 men wounded . Members of the battalion received the following decorations : one DSO , one MC , one MM and 16 MIDs . Legacy . Following the completion of the demobilisation process , the Citizens Military Force was reformed in 1948 , albeit on a reduced scale . At this time , the 7th Battalion was not re - raised in its own right , although an amalgamated unit known as the 8th / 7th Battalion ( North Western Victorian Regiment ) was formed in order to perpetuate the two rural Victorian battalions . Today the honours and traditions of the 7th Battalion are maintained by the 8th / 7th Battalion , Royal Victoria Regiment , an infantry battalion of the Australian Army Reserve . Commanding officers . The following is a list of officers that served as the 7th Battalion ' s commanding officer during the two World Wars : First World War : Second World War : Battle honours . The 7th Battalion received the following battle honour s :