Description

Title: The Blue Diamonds The History of the 7th Brigade 1915-2008 (2nd Ed)

Author: Belham, David and Denham, Peter

Condition: Mint

Edition: 2nd Edition

Publication Date: 2008

ISBN: N/A

Cover: Soft Cover without Dust Jacket – 277 pages

Comments: The history of the 7th Australian Infantry Brigade during World War 1, World War 2 and up to 2008.

7th Brigade is a combined arms formation or brigade of the Australian Army. The Brigade was first raised in 1915 as part of the First Australian Imperial Force and saw action at Gallipoli and on the Western Front during World War I. Following the end of the war the brigade was disbanded before being re-raised in 1921 as part of the Citizens Force (later known as the Militia). During World War II the brigade took part in the fighting against the Japanese in New Guinea and on Bougainville. Today, the 7th Brigade is part of the 1st Division and is based in Brisbane, Queensland and is composed mainly of units of the Regular Army. While the Brigade has not deployed as a whole unit since World War II, component units have deployed on operations to East Timor, the Solomon Islands, Iraq and Afghanistan.

The 7th Brigade was formed in early 1915 as part of the First Australian Imperial Force, which was raised for overseas service during World War I. Consisting of four infantry battalions raised in Queensland, South Australia and Western Australia—the 25th, 26th, 27th and 28th Battalions—the brigade was assigned to the 2nd Division in July 1915. After being deployed to Egypt, the brigade was sent to the Gallipoli peninsula in September 1915 as reinforcements for the Allied force that had landed there on 25 April. In December the brigade was evacuated along with the rest of the force and after spending a further period of training in Egypt where the AIF was expanded, the 7th Brigade sailed to France in March 1916 where for the next two and a half years they would take part in a number of major Australian battles including Pozieres, the Lagnicourt, Passchendaele, Broodseinde and the Hundred Days Offensive

During World War II, the 7th Brigade was a Militia unit made up of five infantry battalions—the 9th, 15th, 25th, 47th and 61st Battalions. At the beginning of the war the brigade was primarily responsible for the defence of South East Queensland, with battalions located at Chermside, Cabarlah and Maryborough. On 13 December 1941, the brigade received order to partially mobilise; the following day the order for full mobilisation was issued. The brigade then only had 1,393 men in all ranks. Because of the issue of the mobilisation order, by 27 December, this had increased to 4,449 men of all ranks.

In May 1942, the 7th Brigade, consisting only of the 9th, 25th and 61st Battalions, relocated to Townsville to act as the city’s covering force along with the 11th Brigade and the 29th Brigade. On 9 July 1942, the first elements of the brigade departed Townsville for Milne Bay, arriving there on 11 July. In July, the Brigade took part in the Battle of Milne Bay along with the 7th Division. In November 1943 the brigade returned to Australia where it undertook a period of reorganisation and training on the Atherton Tablelands. In early 1944, however, the brigade was deployed overseas again, firstly to Madang , before being transferred to Bougainville Island later in the year where they took part in the a number of significant battles until the end of the war including the battles of Pearl Ridge and Slater’s Knoll.

Following the end of hostilities the brigade was disbanded on 8 December 1945.