1st Australian Task Force, History, Operations
Initially, 1 ATF consisted of two infantry battalions—the 5th and 6th Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment. Other units included the 1st APC Squadron operating M113 armoured personnel carriers, 1st Field Regiment, Royal Australian Artillery which consisted of one New Zealand and two Australian batteries equipped with eighteen 105 mm L5 Pack Howitzers, 3rd SAS Squadron, engineers from the 1st Field Squadron and 21st Engineer Support Troop, 103rd Signals Squadron, 161st Reconnaissance Flight operating Cessna 180s and Bell H-13 Sioux light observation helicopters, and an intelligence detachment. Support arrangements were provided by the 1st


1st Australian Task Force, History, Operations
Australian Logistic Support Group (1 ALSG) established amid the sand dunes at Vung Tau 30 kilometres (19 mi) south, while eight UH-1B Iroquois helicopters from No. 9 Squadron RAAF also supported 1 ATF from Vung Tau. Although 1 ATF was ostensibly independent, US forces provided considerable support including medium and heavy artillery, close air support, helicopter gunships, medium and heavy lift helicopters and additional utility helicopters. Six 155 mm M109 self-propelled howitzers from A Battery, US 2/35th Artillery Battalion were also permanently attached at Nui Dat.


1st Australian Task Force, History, Operations
The largest Australian formation deployed since the Second World War, although many of 1 ATF's officers and non-commissioned officers had seen extensive operational service, the task force had been hastily assembled and included many untried National Servicemen. Few of its senior personnel had direct experience of counter-insurgency operations, and even less a first-hand understanding of the situation in Vietnam, while it had been unable to train together before departure. Despite these shortfalls 1 ATF had been required to rapidly deploy and commence operations in a complex environment.


1st Australian Task Force, History, Operations
The task force began arriving at Vung Tau between April and June 1966. From 17 May to 15 June, US and Australian forces secured the area around Nui Dat during Operation Hardihood, deploying two battalions of the US 173rd Airborne Brigade and an element of 1 RAR. 5 RAR deployed from Vung Tau the same day and was tasked with clearing any Viet Cong found in an area 6,000 metres (6,600 yd) east and north-east of Nui Dat. 1 ATF occupied Nui Dat from 5 June, with Jackson flying-in with his tactical headquarters to take command.


1st Australian Task Force, History, Operations
The plan to operate independently resulted in significant self-protection requirements and 1 ATF's initial priorities were to establish a base and ensure its own security. Meanwhile, Wilton's decision to occupy Nui Dat rather than co-locate 1 ATF with its logistic support at Vung Tau allowed the task force to have a greater impact but resulted in additional manpower demands to secure the base. Indeed, the security requirements of an understrength brigade in an area of strong Viet Cong activity utilised up to half the force, limiting its freedom of action.


1st Australian Task Force, History, Operations
As part of the occupation all inhabitants within a 4,000-metre radius had been removed and resettled nearby. A protective security zone was then established, the limit of which was designated Line Alpha, and a free-fire zone declared. Although unusual for allied installations in Vietnam, many of which were located near populated areas, the Australians hoped to deny the Viet Cong observation of Nui Dat and afford greater security to patrols entering and exiting the area.


1st Australian Task Force, History, Operations
At the Battle of Long Tan on 18 August 1966, D Company 6 RAR with considerable artillery support held off and defeated a Viet Cong force of at least regimental strength. 18 Australians were killed and 24 wounded, while 245 communist dead were later recovered from the battlefield. A decisive Australian victory, Long Tan proved a major local setback for the Viet Cong, indefinitely forestalling an imminent movement against Nui Dat. Although there were other large-scale encounters in later years, 1 ATF was not fundamentally challenged again.


1st Australian Task Force, History, Operations
The battle established the task force's dominance over the province, and allowed it to pursue operations to restore government authority. Regardless, during February 1967 the Australians suffered their heaviest casualties in the war to that point, losing 16 men killed and 55 wounded in a single week, the bulk during Operation Bribie. 5 RAR and 6 RAR completed their tours in mid-1967 and were replaced by 7 RAR and 2 RAR. The first New Zealand infantry, Victor Company RNZIR, arrived in May 1967 from Malaysia and served with the outgoing 6 RAR before and then with the newly arrived 2 RAR.


1st Australian Task Force, History, Operations
What would ultimately prove to be a tactical blunder by 1 ATF Command and account for the majority of Australian and New Zealand casualties throughout the war, was the laying of a minefield over a 10 km area from Dat Do to the coast. By June 1967, close to 23,000 "jumping jack" mines had been laid by the Australian engineers within a 100-metre-wide strip of cleared ground between a double row of fences. Security of the minefield proved to be ineffective and the VC thereafter simply uplifted the mines and re-used them against the Australians and New Zealanders.


1st Australian Task Force, History, Operations
Meanwhile, with the war continuing to escalate following further American troop increases, 1 ATF was heavily reinforced. A third infantry battalion, 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, arrived in December 1967. The New Zealand contribution also increased with a second infantry company added also in December 1967. Whisky Company RNZIR was initially attached to 3 RAR and then came under operational control of 2 RAR, as with Victor Company.


1st Australian Task Force, History, Operations
In February 1968 the Australian government sent two troops of Centurion tanks from its 1st Armoured Regiment to South Vietnam, each with four tanks plus two tanks with the squadron headquarters. Two bulldozer tanks and two bridgelayer tanks were also committed. A third troop was created out of the headquarters tanks, and by August the squadron was brought up to its full strength of 26 tanks. Australian and New Zealand infantry would work very closely with these tank troops for the remainder of their time in Vietnam. Additional Iroquois helicopters were also added. In all a further 1,200 men were deployed, taking the total Australian troop strength to 7,672 combat troops, its highest level during the war. This increase effectively doubled the combat power available to the task force commander.


1st Australian Task Force, History, Operations
On 1 March 1968 the Australian and New Zealand governments agreed to merge the New Zealand rifle companies into one Australian battalion which resulted in both New Zealand companies integrating with A, B, and C Companies of 2 RAR to become 2 RAR/NZ (ANZAC). With a total of five rifle companies it was stronger than the standard Australian battalion which only had four. New Victor and Whisky companies from RNZIR were again attached to subsequent 4 RAR and 6 RAR rotations during later tours.


1st Australian Task Force, History, Operations
The ANZAC battalions were commanded by an Australian officer, with a New Zealand officer appointed as deputy commander. All of the New Zealanders were regular soldiers. In late 1968 a New Zealand Special Air Service troop was also attached to the Australian SAS Squadron. New Zealand strength peaked at 552 troops in 1969. At its height 1 ATF numbered over 8,000 men, including three infantry battalions, armour, artillery, engineers, logistics and aviation units in support.


1st Australian Task Force, History, Operations
Although primarily operating out of Phuoc Tuy, the 1 ATF was also available for deployment elsewhere in the III Corps Tactical Zone and with the province progressively coming under control, 1968 saw the Australians spending a significant period of time conducting operations further afield. 1 ATF was subsequently deployed astride infiltration routes leading to Saigon in order to interdict communist movement against the capital as part of Operation Coburg during the 1968 Tet Offensive and later during the Battle of Coral–Balmoral in May and June 1968.


1st Australian Task Force, History, Operations
At Fire Support Bases Coral and Balmoral the Australians had clashed with regular North Vietnamese Army and Viet Cong main force units operating in battalion and regimental strength for the first time in near conventional warfare, ultimately fighting their largest, most hazardous and most sustained battle of the war. During 26 days of fighting Australian casualties included 25 killed and 99 wounded, while communist casualties included 267 killed confirmed by body count, 60 possibly killed, seven wounded and 11 captured.


1st Australian Task Force, History, Operations
Later, from December 1968 to February 1969 two battalions from 1 ATF again deployed away from their base in Phuoc Tuy province, operating against suspected communist bases in the Hat Dich area, in western Phuoc Tuy, south-eastern Bien Hoa and south-western Long Khan provinces during Operation Goodwood. From May 1969 the main effort of the task force returned to Phuoc Tuy Province.


1st Australian Task Force, History, Operations
One operation which became infamous as it became known to the public was Operation Mundingburra, a mine-clearing action conducted in the Long Hai Hills from 15 July 1969 involving 6 RAR/NZ (ANZAC.) The operation had three objectives: disrupt enemy infiltration into the villages, maintain regular checkpoints on the main access routes between the villages, visit local hamlets and offer medical services to those villagers who might need it. All platoons conducted mine clearing and ambushing tasks. After 31 days the operation ended with casualties all from mine detonations.


1st Australian Task Force, History, Operations
These were Australian mines which had been uplifted by the Viet Cong from the Australian minefield laid in 1967 and relaid or booby trapped. 6 RAR/NZ's casualties were 11 killed (6 New Zealanders, 5 Australians) and 54 wounded (10 New Zealanders, 44 Australians). A particularly disastrous incident on 21 July was the major inspiration for the 1983 pop song I Was Only 19 by the Australian band Redgum.


1st Australian Task Force, History, Operations
One of the most successful 1 ATF operations which severely weakened the Communist forces in 1 ATF's area of operations was Operation Marsden (3–28 December 1969) which was a search-and-destroy mission conducted in the Mây Tào Mountains where the VC 5th Division was headquartered. The VC base in the mountains provided logistics and controlled the VC 274th and 275th Regiments as well as local Viet Cong guerilla forces. The area was also the location of the K76A Hospital, which was the principal provider of medical services for the regional VC and North Vietnamese Army (NVA) forces.


1st Australian Task Force, History, Operations
All five infantry companies from 6 RAR/NZ were deployed on 2 December. A Company scaled the mountains, having to make their way through a 200-metre-wide minefield of improvised mines made from unexploded U.S Air Force cluster bombs. On 8 December, D Company located the first major stores dump in a cave at the south of the mountains. It contained approximately 2,500 anti-personnel grenades, 22 anti-tank mines, 22 boxes of anti-watercraft mines and a large quantity of weapons, equipment and explosives. On the same day, B Company, on the north side of the mountain, found the first signs of the hospitals.


1st Australian Task Force, History, Operations
The following day they discovered a bunker system of 12 bunkers identified as part of K76A Hospital. On 11 December V Company, operating in the south-east, located another hospital with 17 large bunkers large enough to take up to 100 patients and identified it as also part of K76A. By this time all companies were discovering enemy signs and having contacts.


1st Australian Task Force, History, Operations
On the same day W Company, which was patrolling north-east of the Song Rai River, located a large enemy camp with 25–28 VC and at first light on 12 December attacked the group with one VC killed while the remainder escaped. A Company successfully scaled the western side and were able to establish a fire support base on the summit. On 16 and 17 December D Company located the K76A pharmacy, dental post, and orderly room. There they recovered a huge supply of medical drugs.


1st Australian Task Force, History, Operations
On 19 December, V Company discovered the major part of the hospital, a 200-bed complex complete with underground pharmacy, operating pits and convalescing wards. An enormous cache of medical supplies, food, tools, and equipment were found at the hospital and a large weapons cache was discovered nearby. Over the next week, all rifle companies conducted day and night search and destroy missions in their areas until 29 December 1969. 4 Australians were killed with 9 wounded during the operation. There were no New Zealand casualties. Enemy killed numbered 22 with 5 wounded and 21 prisoners, 14 of whom had been patients of the K76A Hospital. Between D Company's and V Company's finds, approximately 1.5 tonnes of pharmaceuticals had been captured, thought to be the largest amount ever seized in the war by allied forces.


1st Australian Task Force, History, Operations
Other significant Australian actions during this period included the Binh Ba in June 1969, and Long Khanh in June 1971.


1st Australian Task Force, History, Withdrawal
The Australian withdrawal started in November 1970. As a consequence of the overall US strategy of Vietnamization and with the Australian government keen to reduce its own commitment to the war, 8 RAR was not replaced at the end of its tour of duty. 1 ATF was again reduced to just two infantry battalions, albeit with significant armour, artillery and aviation support remaining. One of the New Zealand infantry companies—W Company—was also withdrawn at this time. Australian combat forces were further reduced during 1971 as part of a phased withdrawal.


1st Australian Task Force, History, Withdrawal
The Battle of Nui Le on 21 September proved to be the last major battle fought by Australian and New Zealand forces in the war, and resulted in five Australians being killed and 30 wounded. The New Zealand SAS troop was withdrawn in February and the artillery battery in May. Finally, on 16 October Australian forces handed over control of the base at Nui Dat to South Vietnamese forces, while 4 RAR, the last Australian infantry battalion in South Vietnam, sailed for Australia onboard HMAS Sydney on 9 December 1971.


1st Australian Task Force, History, Withdrawal
V Company and the New Zealand medical team were also withdrawn at this time. Meanwhile, D Company, 4 RAR with an assault pioneer and mortar section and a detachment of APCs remained in Vung Tau protect the task force headquarters and 1 ALSG until the final withdrawal of stores and equipment could be completed, finally returning to Australia on 12 March 1972.


1st Australian Task Force, History, Withdrawal
Although 1 ATF had been able to dominate its area of operations and successfully reduced the North Vietnamese and Viet Cong's ability to "influence and coerce" the population of the province, while affording the South Vietnamese government some degree of control, this did not last following their withdrawal, and communist forces began to move back into Phuoc Tuy following their departure. Ultimately, despite maintaining a reputation for professionalism, the operations of the task force had little impact on the final outcome of the war.


1st Australian Task Force, History, Withdrawal
Between June 1966 and December 1971, 1 ATF recorded at least 3,370 Viet Cong killed, the majority in Phuoc Tuy, while an unknown number were wounded. Total Australian Army casualties during the Vietnam War were 478 killed and 3,025 wounded, the bulk of which were sustained by 1 ATF. New Zealand casualties during the war were 37 killed and 187 wounded, the majority of which while serving in 1 ATF.


1st Australian Task Force, Order of battle
1 ATF's organisation varied as Australian and New Zealand units rotated through South Vietnam and the total size of the Australian and New Zealand force in South Vietnam changed. The task force typically consisted of:


1st Australian Task Force, Order of battle
The Australian Army Training Team Vietnam  (AATTV) was separate from 1 ATF and reported directly to the Australian Force Vietnam (AFV) headquarters located in Saigon which provided administrative support to all Australian forces in South Vietnam. The 1st Australian Civil Affairs Unit (1 ACAU) was established in 1967 and worked closely with 1 ATF; however, it was also under the command of AFV. No. 9 Squadron RAAF operating UH-1 Iroquois utility helicopters was based at Vung Tau and operated in support of 1 ATF.


1st Australian Tunnelling Company
The 1st Australian Tunnelling Company was one of the tunnelling companies of the Royal Australian Engineers during World War I. The tunnelling units were occupied in offensive and defensive mining involving the placing and maintaining of mines under enemy lines, as well as other underground work such as the construction of deep dugouts for troop accommodation, the digging of subways, saps (narrow trenches dug to approach enemy trenches), cable trenches, and underground chambers for signals and medical services.


1st Australian Tunnelling Company, Background
By January 1915 it had become evident to the BEF at the Western Front that the Germans were mining to a planned system. As the British had failed to develop suitable counter-tactics or underground listening devices before the war, field marshals French and Kitchener agreed to investigate the suitability of forming British mining units. Following consultations between the Engineer-in-Chief of the BEF, Brigadier George Fowke, and the mining specialist John Norton-Griffiths, the War Office formally approved the tunnelling company scheme on 19 February 1915.


1st Australian Tunnelling Company, Background
Norton-Griffiths ensured that tunnelling companies numbers 170 to 177 were ready for deployment in mid-February 1915. In the spring of that year, there was constant underground fighting in the Ypres Salient at Hooge, Hill 60, Railway Wood, Sanctuary Wood, St Eloi and The Bluff which required the deployment of new drafts of tunnellers for several months after the formation of the first eight companies. The lack of suitably experienced men led to some tunnelling companies starting work later than others.


1st Australian Tunnelling Company, Background
The number of units available to the BEF was also restricted by the need to provide effective counter-measures to the German mining activities. To make the tunnels safer and quicker to deploy, the British Army enlisted experienced coal miners, many outside their nominal recruitment policy. The first nine companies, numbers 170 to 178, were each commanded by a regular Royal Engineers officer. These companies each comprised 5 officers and 269 sappers; they were aided by additional infantrymen who were temporarily attached to the tunnellers as required, which almost doubled their numbers.


1st Australian Tunnelling Company, Background
The success of the first tunnelling companies formed under Norton-Griffiths' command led to mining being made a separate branch of the Engineer-in-Chief's office under Major-General S.R. Rice, and the appointment of an 'Inspector of Mines' at the GHQ Saint-Omer office of the Engineer-in-Chief. A second group of tunnelling companies were formed from Welsh miners from the 1st and 3rd Battalions of the Monmouthshire Regiment, who were attached to the 1st Northumberland Field Company of the Royal Engineers, which was a Territorial unit. The formation of twelve new tunnelling companies, between July and October 1915, helped to bring more men into action in other parts of the Western Front. Most British tunnelling companies were formed under Norton-Griffiths' leadership during 1915, and one more was added in 1916.


1st Australian Tunnelling Company, Background
On 10 September 1915, the British government sent an appeal to Canada, South Africa, Australia and New Zealand to raise tunnelling companies in the Dominions of the British Empire. On 17 September, New Zealand became the first Dominion to agree the formation of a tunnelling unit. The New Zealand Tunnelling Company arrived at Plymouth on 3 February 1916 and was deployed to the Western Front in northern France. The Royal Australian Engineers formed four mining units – initially grouped into the Australian Mining Corps – for the British Expeditionary Force, all of which were operational by March 1916.


1st Australian Tunnelling Company, Background
Three were specialist companies of tunnellers (1st, 2nd, 3rd), while the Australian Electrical Mechanical Boring and Mining Company was tasked with carrying out related repairs. A Canadian tunnelling unit was formed from men on the battlefield, plus two other companies trained in Canada and then shipped to France, resulting in 30 tunnelling companies being available by the summer of 1916.


1st Australian Tunnelling Company, Unit history, Formation
In early 1915, while the Royal Australian Engineers were deployed in Egypt, the battalion-sized "Australian Mining Corps" was assembled from men with a background in civilian mining. The intention was to employ this unit, which was at that time about 1,000 strong, with the ANZAC at Gallipoli, but instead it was moved to France in May 1916, where it also appeared as the "Australian Mining Battalion". Soon after arriving in western Europe in May 1916, the battalion was split into three tunnelling and one repairs company, and the corps headquarters dissolved.


1st Australian Tunnelling Company, Unit history, Hooge
Shortly after its formation, the 1st Australian Tunnelling Company relieved the British 175th Tunnelling Company in May 1916 in the Railway Wood-Hooge-Armagh Wood area of the Ypres Salient.


1st Australian Tunnelling Company, Unit history, Hill 60/Messines
On 7 November 1916, the 1st Australian Tunnelling Company took over the mines at Hill 60 from the 1st and 3rd Canadian tunnelling companies. The mines placed under the German lines by the 3rd Canadian Tunnelling Company had already been charged with explosives by the time the Australians arrived in the area. The first mine (Hill 60) contained 53,000 pounds (24,000 kg) of ammonal explosive and the second (The Caterpillar) contained 70,000 pounds (32,000 kg). The galleries formed part of the series of mines that was dug by the British 171st, 175th, 250th, 1st Canadian, 3rd Canadian and 1st Australian Tunnelling companies as part of the prelude to the Battle of Messines (7–14 June 1917), while the British 183rd, 2nd Canadian and 2nd Australian Tunnelling companies built deep dugouts (underground shelters) in the Second Army area.


1st Australian Tunnelling Company, Unit history, Hill 60/Messines
As part of the preparations for the Battle of Messines, the 1st Australian Tunnelling Company was tasked with ensuring that the tunnels and explosives beneath Hill 60 and The Caterpillar remained intact and undiscovered by the Germans over the next seven months. Drainage and ventilation shafts had to be dug in the unfamiliar blue clay, and there was a constant danger of collapse, particularly in the part of the gallery leading to The Caterpillar, which passed under the railway line. At the same time, listening posts had to be maintained to detect enemy action.


1st Australian Tunnelling Company, Unit history, Hill 60/Messines
These posts were only a few metres underground and therefore susceptible to collapse during bombardments. The German mining units were constantly trying to find British tunnels and numerous counter tunnels had to be dug towards the German excavations so that they could be mined with small charges and destroyed. In April 1917, German infantry conducted a raid into the British lines in an attempt to find the entrances to the British mine galleries but failed to do so. On 25 April 1917, a detonator exploded in the Australian underground HQ, killing ten men.


1st Australian Tunnelling Company, Unit history, Hill 60/Messines
The Official Australian History states that at Hill 60, "underground warfare reached a tension which was not surpassed anywhere else on the British front". It is estimated that altogether approximately thirty Australian tunnellers were killed at Hill 60. The mines at Messines were eventually detonated on 7 June 1917, creating 19 large craters.


1st Australian Tunnelling Company, Unit history, Hill 63/Ploegsteert
The 1st Australian Tunnelling Company also undertook work on the Catacombs inside Hill 63 at Ploegsteert.


1st Australian Tunnelling Company, Memorial
There is a memorial to the 1st Australian Tunnelling Company at the Hill 60 Memorial Park at Zillebeke. The current memorial was inaugurated in 1923 and replaces an earlier structure, which had been erected by the tunnellers themselves in 1919. The brass plaque on the front of the memorial bears an inscription and several bullet holes from the Second World War. The memorial is located next to the entrance gate of the Hill 60 Battlefield Memorial Park. The inscription reads:


1st Australian Tunnelling Company, Memorial
IN MEMORIAM OF OFFICERS AND MEN OF THE 1ST AUSTRALIAN TUNNELLING COY WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES IN THE MINING AND DEFENSIVE OPERATIONS OF HILL 60 1915-1918 / THIS MONUMENT REPLACES THAT ORIGINALLY ERECTED IN APRIL 1919 BY THEIR COMRADES IN ARMS / 1923


1st Australian Wireless Signal Squadron
The 1st Australian Wireless Signal Squadron was a unit of the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) which served in Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq) during World War I. Formed in late 1915, it took part in the Mesopotamian Campaign from 1916 to 1918, providing communications to British forces. Later, elements of the squadron served as part of Dunsterforce in 1918 and 1919, and in Kurdistan in 1919. The unit was also known as the 1st Wireless Signal Squadron and 1st Australian and New Zealand Signal Squadron.


1st Australian Wireless Signal Squadron, History, Formation
At the outbreak of World War I, the British Indian Army had a severe shortage of wireless equipment and trained operators. On 27 December 1915, the Australian government received a request for a troop of wireless signallers (approximately 50 soldiers) to be sent to Mesopotamia. The operators were raised from the Marconi School of Wireless in Sydney and the Broadmeadows depot in Victoria, while the drivers, who made up half of the unit, were raised from the Army Service Corps at Moore Park in Sydney. The troop, which became known as the 1st Australian Pack Wireless Signal Troop, sailed from Melbourne on 5 February 1916 and after stops at Bombay and Columbo, arrived in Basra on 19 March 1916. The New Zealand government sent an equivalent unit which, together with the Australians, formed "C" Troop of the 1st Wireless Squadron.


1st Australian Wireless Signal Squadron, History, Mesopotamian Campaign
On 25 April 1916, the first of the Australian wireless stations set off from Basra on a 140 miles (230 km) march north with the British 15th Indian Division. A month later the second station was sent by boat across Lake Hammar to Nasiriyah. Two New Zealand stations were sent to important locations on the Tigris.


1st Australian Wireless Signal Squadron, History, Mesopotamian Campaign
In March 1916, the Indian government requested that a third troop and headquarters unit be sent to reinforce these two Anzac troops to form a squadron. This squadron became known as the 1st (ANZAC) Wireless Signal Squadron and consisted of two Australian troops and one New Zealand troop. Each troop consisted of four stations. About half of these stations were more powerful transmitters carried on six-horse limbered wagons, while the other half remained pack stations. Two of the Australian stations were charged with intercepting all enemy wireless communications, while a cipher expert, Captain Clauson of the Somerset Light Infantry decoded the messages and passed them onto Intelligence Branch.


1st Australian Wireless Signal Squadron, History, Mesopotamian Campaign, Maude's offensive
In October 1916, the squadron was moved to the front in preparation for the British advance. Stations "A" through to "H" were Australian, while Stations "I" to "L" were New Zealand. The mobile Anzac stations allowed the commander of the British forces, General Frederick Stanley Maude, direct control over columns of cavalry out on operations. The column commanders were required to report via the wireless stations, to Maude every hour. The stations achieved reliable communications by using a series of relays, in which the rear most station would dismantle the moment the foremost station began to transmit. Although the rear station usually had a cavalry escort while it caught up with the main column, sometimes it had to depend on itself for protection. Stations "A" and "F" were on interception duties, while stations "B" and "E" were at the headquarters of the two British corps.


1st Australian Wireless Signal Squadron, History, Mesopotamian Campaign, Maude's offensive
The British offensive began on the night of 13 December with a short thrust across the desert to the Shatt al-Hayy, a channel connecting the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. The cavalry reached the channel by dawn and began advancing towards the Tigris. During this advance 'G' station came under fire from a Turkish monitor on the river and it and the cavalry were forced to withdraw back to the channel.


1st Australian Wireless Signal Squadron, History, Mesopotamian Campaign, Maude's offensive
Between January and February, a series of infantry attacks cleared the Turks from the right bank of the Tigris river. During this period, the wireless stations supported the cavalry, who conducted raids, screened artillery movements and tried to outflank the Suwaikiya marshes, a wide flanking maneuver which failed due to torrential rains.


1st Australian Wireless Signal Squadron, History, Mesopotamian Campaign, Maude's offensive
Kut fell on 23 February 1917 and the cavalry was ordered to cross the Tigris and cut off the retreating Turks. The Turkish rear-guard managed to check the pursuit of the cavalry, who were now too tired to cut off the Turks. However, British gunboats on the Tigris caught up with the retreat on the 26th and forced the Turks to abandon many gunboats, barges, land transport, ammunition and money. The cavalry entered Aziziyeh, 100 kilometres (62 mi) north of Kut on 29 February, where it was forced to break off the pursuit for a week while it waited for supplies.


1st Australian Wireless Signal Squadron, History, Mesopotamian Campaign, Fall of Baghdad
On 5 March 1917, Maude moved on Baghdad, but was checked on the Diyala River. Maude shifted a column to try to turn the Turkish left. The commander of the Turkish forces, Khalil Pasha, shifted his forces away from Diyala to mirror this move, allowing the 13th Division to cross the Diyala river on 10 March. Following his defeat, Khalil Pasha abandoned Baghdad the next day, destroying the German wireless station. The Anzac signallers were amongst the first Allied troops to enter the city and were able to establish communications with Basra. In the afternoon of the 11th they were able to relay the King's congratulations on Maude's success.


1st Australian Wireless Signal Squadron, History, Disbandment
The last members of the unit returned to Australia on 20 December 1919. In total, 558 Australian signallers were sent to Mesopotamia, however only a small fraction of that number were ever in country at one time. Although the squadron did not suffer any deaths from enemy fire, disease was responsible for the deaths of 20 soldiers from the wireless squadrons.


1st Avenue (Chicago)
1st Avenue, also known as Cumberland Avenue and Thatcher Avenue for parts of its northern segment, is a north-south street in Chicago and its western suburbs. It marks 8400 West in the Chicago address system, being located ten and one-half miles west of State Street.


1st Avenue (Chicago)
Its southern segment begins at an interchange with Interstate 55 (Stevenson Expressway) in Summit. At this point, it is called 1st Avenue and carries Illinois Route 171. In Lyons village, the road intersects U.S. Route 34 (Ogden Avenue). In North Riverside, 1st Avenue intersects 22nd Street. In Maywood, it intersects Roosevelt Road. 1st Avenue then intersects Interstate 290 (Eisenhower Expressway) in Maywood. While still in Maywood, 1st Avenue intersects Madison Street, crossing from the south side of the metropolitan area to the north side. Other streets that 1st Avenue intersects in Maywood are Lake Street and Chicago Avenue.


1st Avenue (Chicago)
In Melrose Park, 1st Avenue intersects Illinois Route 64 (North Avenue). In River Grove, the road intersects Fullerton Avenue and Grand Avenue. Between these two streets, 1st Avenue ends and continues as Thatcher Avenue, which splits to the southeast and continues until Hawthorne Avenue in River Forest. While still in River Grove, Thatcher Avenue intersects Belmont Avenue. It is at this point where Thatcher Avenue ends and Cumberland Avenue begins (the designation it will carry for the remainder of its routing). Next, Cumberland Avenue enters the city of Chicago and intersects the west end of Addison Street.


1st Avenue (Chicago)
Then, it intersects Illinois Route 19 (Irving Park Road). The next road Cumberland Avenue intersects is Montrose Avenue, followed by Lawrence Avenue, and then Foster Avenue. Next, the road has an interchange with Interstate 90 (Kennedy Expressway). At the northernmost portion of the interchange, Cumberland Avenue intersects Illinois Route 72 (Higgins Road). Illinois Route 171 ends at this point as well. Further north into Park Ridge, the road intersects Devon Avenue and Touhy Avenue. The southern segment of Cumberland Avenue ends at Clifton Avenue and Cedar Street in Park Ridge.


1st Avenue (Chicago)
Cumberland Avenue resumes at Oakton Street while still in Park Ridge. Continuing north into Niles, the road intersects U.S. Route 14 (Dempster Street). Cumberland Avenue continues north until ending at Church Street in Niles.


1st Avenue (Chicago)
In the '20s, Chicago annexed the area of 84th Av and under the Brennan street name system (K-L-M-N-O-P) renamed it "Pueblo". When Chicago replaced their street signs in the 1970s, they replaced the "Pueblo" signs with "Cumberland Av".


1st Avenue (Seattle)
1st Avenue is a major street in Seattle, Washington, United States. It traverses Downtown Seattle, including Pioneer Square and Belltown, as well as the adjacent neighborhoods of SoDo and Lower Queen Anne. Numerous landmarks including parks, museums, and historic buildings are located along the street, including Pike Place Market. The Great Seattle Fire of 1889 destroyed much of it and it had to be rebuilt. Parades have taken place on it before and after the fire.


1st Avenue (Seattle), History
Seattle's original street system was a misaligned grid created by three of the original settlers. Today's 1st Avenue was Front Street north of Yesler in Arthur A. Denny's plat, and Commercial Street to its south in Doc Maynard's. The grid persists in the 21st century and 1st Avenue makes two 20-degree bends where it enters and exits the Downtown Seattle core, or Denny's plat.


1st Avenue (Seattle), History, Great Seattle Fire and Underground Seattle
1st Avenue South in Pioneer Square is built over and adjacent to "areaways" comprising Underground Seattle, dating to rebuilding following the Great Seattle Fire of 1889. The fire began where the Federal Office Building (Seattle) now stands. Street level was lifted one story in most of Pioneer Square.


1st Avenue (Seattle), History, Rebuilding
After the Great Fire, present-day Pioneer Square was rebuilt with fireproof materials including stone and brick, often with iron structural members. Historic buildings from this period on 1st Avenue that remained in the late 20th century include:


1st Avenue (Seattle), History, Rebuilding
Just north of Pioneer Square is the 1889 Colman Building.


1st Avenue (Seattle), History, Pike Place Market
Pike Place Market (opened 1907), "one of Seattle's most famous cultural and commercial institutions", faces 1st Avenue on its east side, between Pike Street and Virginia Street.


1st Avenue (Seattle), Street description, SoDo
1st Avenue South is an arterial through the center of the South of Downtown (SoDo) industrial area of Seattle. It is designated as one of three or four north-south "major truck streets" in the district. Starbucks Center, built in 1912 and headquarters of Starbucks since 1997, is on 1st Avenue South in SoDo. After it briefly joins State Route 99 then crossing the Duwamish River via the First Avenue South Bridge, the route becomes State Route 509 leading roughly to Seattle-Tacoma International Airport.


1st Avenue (Seattle), Street description, Downtown towers
Although the tallest Downtown towers are a few streets to the east in the Metropolitan Tract and elsewhere, 1st Avenue has some notable skyscrapers including the 37-story Henry M. Jackson Federal Building.


1st Avenue (Seattle), Street description, Stairclimbs
Owing to the hilly terrain of Downtown Seattle, several notable public stairways run east-west intersecting 1st Avenue: the Pike Street Hillclimb, Spring Street steps and Harbor Steps connecting the Central Waterfront downhill from First; and steps outside the Jackson Federal Building and the Seattle Art Museum leading uphill from First.


1st Avenue (Seattle), Crime
After World War II, 1st Avenue was nicknamed "Flesh Avenue", and from the 1950s to the 1980s, police raids at peep shows and other adult-oriented businesses in the First and Pike Street block were frequent and the corner was called a haven for "street crazies and druggies, prostitutes, players and partyers".


1st Avenue (Seattle), Crime
The Seattle Times said in 2006, "For decades, the Pike-Pine corridor between First and Third avenues has been known for run-down buildings, parking lots prone to drug deals and heroin addicts ... effectively a dam separating Pike Place Market and its 9 million annual visitors from the city's shopping and convention areas". 1st Avenue between Bell and Blanchard, where Belltown meets Downtown, was ranked as Seattle's third most dangerous block in 2013, with 135 violent crimes reported.


1st Avenue (Seattle), Gallery
Photo postcard of 1st Avenue from the early 20th century


1st Avenue Mall
1st Avenue Mall is a shopping mall in George Town, Penang, Malaysia. It is located at Magazine Road, next to Komtar and Prangin Mall, and is linked to both buildings via overhead bridges.


1st Avenue Mall
Initially planned as Phase 4 of the Komtar project, 1st Avenue Mall was eventually developed by a private developer and opened to the public in 2010. Upon its completion, it competes directly against the adjacent Prangin Mall and has since attracted a variety of well-known international fashion brands, including H&M, Skechers, Cotton On and Victoria's Secret.


1st Avenue Mall
At present, the mall has two anchor tenants - Parkson and TGV Cinemas. The latter operates a cineplex at the top floor of the shopping mall, also dubbed as Cloud 8.


1st Avenue Mall
1st Avenue Mall has a total of seven retail floors, including a sub-basement level.


1st Avenue Mall, Retail Outlets
One of the two main anchor tenants of 1st Avenue Mall, Parkson, occupies 95,000 sq ft of the first four floors within the mall. Other than Parkson, the major fashion names that have set up outlets within 1st Avenue Mall include H&M, Skechers, Cotton On, Victoria's Secret, Giordano, Charles & Keith and Hush Puppies.


1st Avenue Mall, Retail Outlets
In addition, there are a number of restaurants, cafes and beverage outlets within 1st Avenue Mall, including Texas Chicken, Starbucks, Baskin-Robbins, Kenny Rogers Roasters and Chatime.


1st Avenue Mall, Entertainment
1st Avenue Mall is home to a variety of entertainment options. The other main anchor tenant of the mall, TGV Cinemas, operates an eight-screen cineplex at Cloud 8, the top floor of the shopping mall. At the time of its launching, it was the first TGV Cinemas outlet on Penang Island.


1st Avenue Mall, Entertainment
Other entertainment outlets within the mall include a laser tag arena, an escape room and a karaoke joint. The laser tag and escape room outlets, which are run by Laser OPS and The Escape Room respectively, are located at the third floor, while the karaoke joint also shares the Cloud 8 with the TGV Cineplex.


1st Avenue Mall, Location
1st Avenue Mall is situated in the centre of George Town, along Magazine Road, next to Komtar and Prangin Mall.


1st Avenue Mall, Getting Here
1st Avenue Mall's location at the heart of George Town, right next to the Rapid Penang bus terminal in Komtar, makes it easily accessible to locals and tourists alike. One can take the free-of-charge Rapid Penang CAT bus from anywhere within George Town's UNESCO World Heritage Site to get to 1st Avenue Mall. As most Rapid Penang bus routes on Penang Island pass through the Komtar bus terminal, 1st Avenue Mall can also be reached via any Rapid Penang bus heading to Komtar.


1st Aviation Brigade
The 1st Aviation Brigade commands three distinctly different battalions—the 1st Battalion, 13th Aviation Regiment; the 1st Battalion, 145th Aviation Regiment; and the 2nd Battalion, 13th Aviation Regiment, the former Unmanned Aircraft Systems Training Battalion at Fort Huachuca, Arizona.


1st Aviation Brigade, History, Formation and Vietnam service
The 1st Aviation Brigade traces its origins to the Vietnam War. In April 1965 the U.S. Army Aviation Brigade (Provisional) was activated with the existing 13th, 14th, 52nd, and 145th Aviation Battalions, already in South Vietnam, reporting to it. In August 1965 it became the 12th Aviation Group, which then doubled in size and was used to form the 1st Aviation Brigade in March 1966. Dunstan, in Vietnam Choppers writes that the numerous independent aviation companies deployed during the war's early years had become difficult to move between sectors because they had developed 'individual means of operating in conjunction with the formations they supported.' Thus the brigade was formed to achieve standardization.


1st Aviation Brigade, History, Formation and Vietnam service
Brigadier General George P. Seneff, the Staff Aviation Officer at Military Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV), became the brigade commander. Because the requirements varied in each part of South Vietnam, the brigade tried to collocate one assault helicopter company with each U.S. brigade and in course of time each Republic of Korea brigade. The companies supporting Army of the Republic of Vietnam units were located in centralized positions to best provide support.


1st Aviation Brigade, History, Formation and Vietnam service
The brigade assigned one combat aviation battalion headquarters in direct support of each infantry division and this battalion headquarters normally worked with that division no matter how many companies might be assigned for a specific mission. The Brigade Headquarters and Headquarters Company was located in Saigon from May 1966 until August 1967. Then the HQ moved to Long Binh where it remained until Long Binh was closed in the early autumn of 1972. The HQ then moved to the MACV compound at Tan Son Nhut, where it stayed until withdrawal.


1st Aviation Brigade, History, Formation and Vietnam service
At this time the 52nd Aviation Battalion supported the 4th Infantry Division in the Central Highlands, the 10th Aviation Battalion supported the brigade of the 101st and the Republic of Korea division, the 11th Combat Aviation Battalion supported the 1st Infantry Division, the 214th—the 9th Division and the 269th Aviation Battalion the 25th Division. The 13th Battalion, which was later to become a full group, remained in the Mekong Delta. Two aviation groups, the 17th and the 12th, supervised the aviation assets in the II and III Corps Tactical Zones respectively. The aviation group commander was also the aviation officer for the U.S. Field Force commander.


1st Aviation Brigade, History, Formation and Vietnam service
During June 1970, the 1st Aviation Brigade reached its largest size, at which point it contained four combat aviation groups, 16 combat aviation battalions and 83 companies totaling over 4,000 aircraft and 27,000 personnel. The 34th General Support Group (Aviation Maintenance and Supply) was transferred to the control of 1st Aviation Brigade in November 1971 where it continued in operation well into 1972. On the signing of the cease-fire on 28 January 1973, the Brigade strength had been reduced to 5,000 personnel and 420 aircraft in four combat aviation groups. The brigade was returned to Fort Rucker, Alabama, on 24 March 1973, and was deactivated on 6 April 1973.


1st Aviation Brigade, History, Formation and Vietnam service
According to Shelby Stanton's Vietnam Order of Battle, subordinate brigade units in South Vietnam included:


1st Aviation Brigade, History, Current formation
On 18 February 1977 the brigade was reactivated at Fort Rucker as a training formation.


1st Aviation Brigade, History, Current formation
Vietnam War combat veteran John Bahnsen commanded the 1st Aviation Brigade in the late 1970s and early 1980s.


1st Aviation Brigade, History, Current formation
The 1st Aviation Brigade’s primary mission has been to train and develop future aviation warfighting leaders. Including the lessons learned from deployed units, instructors and students write, review, and coordinate Army Aviation combined arms doctrine for aviation units below brigade level.


1st Aviation Brigade, History, Current formation
The course curriculum consists of a wide range of professional military education subjects, with emphasis on combined arms battlefield integration. The tactical training is further reinforced with state-of-the-art simulation, allowing students to assume various command and staff positions at all command levels while fighting simulated battles throughout a wide spectrum of tactical scenarios. Equally important is the initial entry training (IET) taught to entry level Aviation Branch Soldiers. IET teaches fundamental skills for U.S. Army personnel to perform their occupational specialties in an aviation unit.


1st Aviation Brigade (Poland)
The 1st Aviation Brigade (Polish: 1 Brygada Lotnictwa Wojsk Lądowych (1 BLWL)) is a brigade of the Polish Armed Forces, headquartered in Inowrocław. The brigade is designed to provide military aviation support to the Polish Land Forces.


1st Aviation Brigade (Poland), History
The 1st Aviation Brigade was formed in 2011 based on the decision of the Minister of National Defense. Elements of the brigade took part in the War in Afghanistan, providing air support for Polish ground contingents. The brigade's anniversary was set to 6 June while a commemorative badge of the 1st Air Force Brigade was also introduced by the Minister of National Defense in April 2012.


1st Aviation Brigade (South Korea)
The 1st Aviation Brigade (Korean: 제1항공여단) is a military formation of the Republic of Korea Army. The brigade is subordinated to the Army Aviation Operations Command (Republic of Korea).


1st Aviation Brigade (South Korea), History
It was founded on June 1, 1978 with the 202nd and 203rd aviation battalions, operating UH-1H, were established at the 61st Aviation Group.


1st Aviation Brigade (South Korea), History
In order to suppress the Gwangju Uprising in 1980, in accordance with the “Helicopter Operation Plan” of the Army Headquarters, Brigadier General Song Jin-won of the 1st Aviation Brigade, ordered the unit to  deployed to Gwangju city on 22 May.


1st Aviation Brigade (South Korea), Organization
It is a joint unit of the 6th Marine Brigade stationed on Baengnyeongdo Island.


1st Aviation Brigade (United Kingdom)
The 1st Aviation Brigade is an aviation brigade of the British Army. Most of its units are from the Army Air Corps (AAC). It was stood up on 1 April 2020 by combining the Wattisham Flying Station Headquarters (WFS HQ), formerly the Attack Helicopter Force (AHF) at Wattisham and the Aviation Reconnaissance Force at the Royal Naval Air Station Yeovilton. It will reach initial operating capability on 1 April 2021 and full operating capability by 1 January 2023.


1st Aviation Brigade (United Kingdom), Structure
As of May 2021 the units of the brigade are as follows:


1st Aviation Regiment (Australia)
The 1st Aviation Regiment is one of the Australian Army's three Army Aviation regiments and provides aerial reconnaissance and fire support to the Australian Army. The 1st Aviation Regiment, equipped with Eurocopter Tiger attack helicopters, forms part of the 16th Aviation Brigade and is based at Gaza Lines, Robertson Barracks, Darwin.


1st Aviation Regiment (Australia), History
The Regiment was formed on 26 April 1966 as the 1st Division Army Aviation Regiment and was re-designated the 1st Aviation Regiment on 31 March 1967. The regiment had historically operated a mix of fixed-wing and rotary aircraft. In late 2004, the regiment was re-organised for its new role to operate the Tiger Armed Reconnaissance Helicopter (ARH).


1st Aviation Regiment (Australia), History
As part of this restructure, 171st Operational Support Squadron and 173rd Surveillance Squadron were placed as direct command units of the 16th Aviation Brigade.


1st Aviation Regiment (Australia), History
During 2005 and 2006, the regiment consolidated all of the remaining squadrons into one location for the first time, at Gaza Lines, in Darwin's Robertson Barracks.


1st Aviation Regiment (Australia), History
In 2012 after three incidents with cockpit fumes that endangered aircrew, pilots voted to not fly until all safety concerns were addressed.


1st Aviation Regiment (Australia), History
The Tiger ARH reached its full operational capability on 18 April 2016 with minor caveats. This process took much longer than expected, due in part to the complexity of the helicopters and shortages of spare parts. The 2016 Defence White Paper stated that the Tigers would be retired early, and be replaced with different aircraft during the mid-2020s.


1st Aviation Regiment (Australia), History
On 15 January 2021, Minister for Defence Linda Reynolds announced that the Boeing AH-64E Apache Guardian had been selected for Project Land 4503 to replace the Tiger ARH. A fleet of up to 29 Apaches will be acquired with a planned initial operational capability of 12 helicopters in 2026 and full operational capability in 2028.


1st Aviation Regiment (United States)
The 1st Aviation Regiment is a task force and is a unit in the First Infantry Division's Combat Aviation Brigade, composed of three battalion units of pilots, crews, and teams within the United States Army.


1st Aviation Regiment (United States), History, 1st Battalion
The unit was redesignated as Aviation Company, 1st Infantry Division and activated at Fort Riley, Kansas on 21 April 1972. On 2 September 1981 the unit was reorganized and redesignated as 1st Aviation Battalion at Fort Riley, Kansas. On 16 November 1987, the 1st Aviation Regiment was relieved from assignment to the 1st Infantry Division. Its headquarters was concurrently reorganized and redesignated as the 1st Aviation, a parent regiment in the United States Army Regimental System. 2nd Battalion, 1st Aviation Regiment was activated at Katterbach Kaserne, Federal Republic of Germany, under the 1st Armored Division (Old Ironsides)


1st Aviation Regiment (United States), History, 1st Battalion
On 16 November 1987, the unit was reorganized and redesignated as 1st Battalion, 1st Aviation. It remained assigned to the 1st Infantry Division. The 1st Battalion, 1st Aviation was later reorganized and completed its AH-64 Apache unit training plan fielding on 23 April 1990. On 8 November 1990, the 1st Battalion, 1st Aviation, as part of the 1st Infantry Division, was alerted and deployed to Saudi Arabia. On 24 February 1991, the 1st Battalion, 1st Aviation helped the 1st Infantry Division spearhead the VII Corps attack into Iraq. Upon return to Fort Riley, Kansas, the unit continued training until it was inactivated 15 September 1995.


1st Aviation Regiment (United States), History, 1st Battalion
On 16 February 1996, the 1st Battalion, 1st Aviation was reactivated and restationed at Katterbach, Germany, as part of 4th Brigade (Aviation), 1st Infantry Division. On 24 December 1996, the 1st Battalion, 1st Aviation was alerted and deployed to the former Republic of Yugoslavia to conduct operations as part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization's (NATO) Stabilization Force (SFOR) Operational Reserve. On 31 October 1997, the 1st Battalion, 1st Aviation returned to Katterbach, Germany, where the unit provided invaluable reconnaissance and lethal attack helicopter fires for the soldiers of the Big Red One.


1st Aviation Regiment (United States), History, 3rd Battalion
3rd Battalion, 1st Aviation Regiment started in Ft. Hood, then deployed to 4th Brigade, 1st Aviation Regiment in Katterbach, Germany with the new AH-64 Apache. 2/1 Avn came after.


1st Aviation Regiment (United States), History, 3rd Battalion
The 3rd Battalion lead TF Nightmare for TAAC – South in Afghanistan for 7 months in 2016–2017.


1st Aviation Regiment (United States), Distinctive unit insignia, Description
A silver color metal and enamel device 1+1⁄8 inches (2.9 cm) in height overall consisting of a shield blazoned: Per nebuly Argent and Azure (Ultramarine Blue) in base a mullet of 11 points of the first and in chief an alerion Gules. Attached below the shield a silver scroll inscribed "SUPER PRIMUM" in black letters.


1st Aviation Regiment (United States), Distinctive unit insignia, Symbolism
Ultramarine blue is traditionally associated with Aviation units. The alerion (a heraldic eagle without beak or talon) is symbolic of flight and further suggests the fixed-wing variety of aircraft. The star, a symbol of achievement, also represents rotary-winged aircraft. The nebuly partition line is suggestive of clouds and sky.


1st Aviation Regiment (United States), Distinctive unit insignia, Background
The distinctive unit insignia was originally approved for the 1st Aviation Battalion on 17 February 1964. It was rescinded on 8 July 1976. On 1 September 1981, it was reinstated for the 1st Aviation Battalion and amended to change the color of the shield. The insignia was redesignated on 16 November 1987 for the 1st Aviation with the description and symbolism revised.


1st Aviation Regiment (United States), Coat of arms, Blazon, Shield
Per bend nebuly Argent and Azure (Ultramarine blue) in base a mullet of 11 points of the first and in chief an alerion Gules.


1st Aviation Regiment (United States), Coat of arms, Blazon, Crest
On a wreath of the colors, Argent and Azure, issuant out of a cloud proper, four crossed lightning bolts their points in base, two at center Gules between Gold.


1st Aviation Regiment (United States), Coat of arms, Symbolism, Shield
Ultramarine blue is traditionally associated with Aviation units. The alerion (a heraldic eagle without beak or talon) is symbolic of flight and further suggests the fixed-wing variety of aircraft. The star, a symbol of achievement, also represents rotary-winged aircraft. The nebuly partition line is suggestive of clouds and sky.


1st Aviation Regiment (United States), Coat of arms, Symbolism, Crest
The lightning bolts issuing from a cloud refers to the mission and capabilities of the 1st Aviation Battalion in combat service. Yellow and scarlet, the colors of the Republic of Vietnam flag, refer to the 1st Aviation Battalion's service in 11 campaigns there. Two awards of the Meritorious Unit Commendation are represented by the scarlet lightning bolts at center, and the two yellow bolts connote awards of the Republic of Vietnam Cross of Gallantry with Palm and Civil Action Honor Medal, First Class.


1st Aviation Regiment (United States), Coat of arms, Background
The coat of arms was originally approved for the 1st Aviation Battalion on 17 February 1964. It was rescinded on 8 July 1976. On 1 September 1981 the coat of arms was reinstated and amended to change the color of the shield and to add a crest. The coat of arms was redesignated to the 1st Aviation with the symbolism revised on 16 November 1987.


1st Award Show (Rajasthan Film Festival)
An awards ceremony where the Cinema of Rajasthani was honored at the Rajasthan Film Festival.


1st Award Show (Rajasthan Film Festival)
Kanchan Cassette and Series organized the first Rajasthan Film Festival Award Ceremony to honor Rajasthan Cinema, Art, Culture, and Artists at Deep Smriti Auditorium in Jaipur, India.


1st Award Show (Rajasthan Film Festival)
The ceremony began with a documentary of 70 years of Cinema of Rajasthani. The artists, producers, directors and others associated with cinema, saluted and applauded the roots and significance of Rajasthan. Attendees expressed their heartfelt feelings and progressed to the development of film industry.


1st Award Show (Rajasthan Film Festival)
Artists of Hindi and Rajasthani Cinema in all categories were given awards. In addition O.P. Vyas, Gulabo Sapera, Mohan Singh Rathore, Veena Cassettes, Modern Videos, Neelu Wagela, Khistiz Kumar, and Ramesh Tiwari were awarded with " Life Time Achievement " Awards. Dr. Mahesh Joshi presided the function.


1st Awit Awards (1969)
The 1st Awit Awards were held on March 23, 1969, in Makati. These awards recognized musical achievements for the year 1968. This was the only award ceremony organized by the Awit Awards Executive Committee after the Philippine Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences (PARAS) took charge the next year.


1st Awit Awards (1969)
A total of 28 awards were presented that night. Another category, the Visiting Recording Artist of the Year, would be given in the foreign division supposedly but due to lack of nominees, it was not awarded. Pauline Sevilla won the most awards with three.


1st Awit Awards (1969), Winners, Special awards
It is currently unknown which album of Leopoldo Silos won the "Best Instrumental Album". Although this single was originally released in 1965, it was included in the album, The Graduate, which, on the other hand, was released in 1968.


1st Ayrshire and Galloway Artillery Volunteers
The 1st Ayrshire and Galloway Artillery Volunteer Corps was formed in 1859 as a response to a French invasion threat. It transferred to the Territorial Force (TF) in 1908 and its successor units fought with the 52nd (Lowland) Infantry Division in Palestine during World War I, and in North West Europe and Burma during World War II. It continued in the Territorial Army (TA) until amalgamation in 1967.


1st Ayrshire and Galloway Artillery Volunteers, Artillery Volunteers
The enthusiasm for the Volunteer movement following an invasion scare in 1859 saw the creation of many Rifle and Artillery Volunteer Corps composed of part-time soldiers eager to supplement the Regular British Army in time of need. The 1st Administrative Brigade of Ayrshire Artillery Volunteers was formed with its headquarters (HQ) at Irvine, North Ayrshire, in November 1860. It comprised the following Ayrshire Artillery Volunteer Corps (AVCs):


1st Ayrshire and Galloway Artillery Volunteers, Artillery Volunteers
In 1863, the following corps were added to the brigade:


1st Ayrshire and Galloway Artillery Volunteers, Artillery Volunteers
The first commanding officer (CO) of the administrative brigade was Major Sir Edward Hunt-Blair, 4th Baronet of Dunskey, Wigtown, appointed on 8 May 1861, who was replaced on 17 July 1863 by Lieutenant-Colonel the Hon Greville Vernon, whose his second-in-command (with the rank of major) was Captain (later Admiral) John Eglinton Montgomerie, Royal Navy. Hunter-Blair was reappointed (with the rank of lieutenant-colonel) on 4 September 1866.


1st Ayrshire and Galloway Artillery Volunteers, Artillery Volunteers
In 1863, brigade HQ moved from Irvine to Ayr, and in May 1880 the brigade was consolidated as the 1st Ayrshire & Galloway Artillery Volunteers, with headquarters at Ayr and 11 batteries as follows:


1st Ayrshire and Galloway Artillery Volunteers, Artillery Volunteers, Position artillery
The AVCs were intended to serve as garrison artillery manning fixed defences, but a number of the early units manned semi-mobile 'position batteries' of smooth-bore field guns pulled by agricultural horses. At that time they were not officially supported by the War Office (WO). The concept was revived in 1888 when some Volunteer batteries were reorganised as position artillery to work alongside the Volunteer infantry brigades. In 1889, a position battery of 16-pounder Rifled Muzzle Loading (RML) guns was issued to the 1st Ayrshire & Galloway and manned by the two Kilmarnock batteries. In that year the HQ moved to Kilmarnock.


1st Ayrshire and Galloway Artillery Volunteers, Artillery Volunteers, Position artillery
In 1892, the existing position battery took the number 1, absorbing the 6th and 7th Companies. In 1901, two more batteries of 9 Pounder Rifled Muzzle Loading (RML) guns were issued to the corps, which took the numbers 2 and 3 and absorbed the Irvine and Ayr Companies, and an extra personnel formed as a 6th Company at Kilmarnock. The 8th to 11th Companies took the numbers 7 to 10.


1st Ayrshire and Galloway Artillery Volunteers, Artillery Volunteers, Royal Garrison Artillery
In 1882 all the AVCs were affiliated to one of the territorial garrison divisions of the Royal Artillery (RA) and the 1st Ayrshire & Galloway AVC became part of the Scottish Division. In 1889 the structure was altered, and the corps joined the Southern Division. In 1899 the RA was divided into separate field and garrison branches, and the artillery volunteers were all assigned to the Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA). When the divisional structure was abolished their titles were changed, the unit becoming the 1st Ayrshire and Galloway Royal Garrison Artillery (Volunteers) on 1 January 1902, with its HQ at Kilmarnock. The following year the position batteries were redesignated as heavy batteries.


1st Ayrshire and Galloway Artillery Volunteers, Artillery Volunteers, Royal Garrison Artillery
In 1903, 4.7-inch Quick Firing (QF) guns replaced the RML armament of all three heavy batteries. The final organisation of the unit until 1908 was as follows:


1st Ayrshire and Galloway Artillery Volunteers, Artillery Volunteers, Royal Garrison Artillery
The corps carried out its gun practice at Irvine. It used the Ayrshire Rifle Association range at Irvine for musketry, except the 7th to 10th Companies, which had ranges near their own headquarters.


1st Ayrshire and Galloway Artillery Volunteers, Artillery Volunteers, Royal Garrison Artillery
In 1900, over 600 men of the unit volunteered to serve in the Second Boer War, but as artillery men were not required they were not accepted. Twenty-eight men served in South Africa during the war with other units.


1st Ayrshire and Galloway Artillery Volunteers, Territorial Force
When the Volunteers were subsumed into the new Territorial Force in 1908 under the Haldane Reforms, the 1st Ayrshire and Galloway RGA (V) formed the II (or 2nd) Lowland Brigade in the Royal Field Artillery (RFA). It also provided a nucleus for the Lowland Mounted Brigade Transport & Supply Column, Army Service Corps. The new unit had the following organisation:


1st Ayrshire and Galloway Artillery Volunteers, Territorial Force
The II Lowland Brigade was part of the TF's Lowland Division. The batteries were each issued with four 15-pounder guns.


1st Ayrshire and Galloway Artillery Volunteers, World War I, Mobilisation
The Lowland Division had been attending annual camp on the Ayrshire coast when the order to mobilise was received at 17.25 on Tuesday August 1914. Mobilisation began the following day at unit drill halls. On 12 August the division was ordered to concentrate at Bedford and entrainment began on 15 August. Concentration was completed by 17 August and the division formed part of First Army (Home Forces) in Central Force.


1st Ayrshire and Galloway Artillery Volunteers, World War I, Mobilisation
On the outbreak of war, units of the TF were invited to volunteer for Overseas Service. On 15 August the WO issued instructions to separate those men who had signed up for Home Service only, and form these into reserve units. Then on 31 August the formation of a reserve or 2nd Line unit was authorised for each 1st Line unit where 60 per cent or more of the men had volunteered for Overseas Service. The titles of these 2nd Line units would be the same as the original, but distinguished by a '2/' prefix. In this way duplicate batteries, brigades and divisions were created, mirroring those TF formations being sent overseas.


1st Ayrshire and Galloway Artillery Volunteers, World War I, 1/II Lowland Brigade
1/II Lowland Brigade embarked with the rest of the division for the Mediterranean in May 1915, and landed at Alexandria the following month. However, it was not employed in the Gallipoli Campaign and remained in Egypt. It rejoined the rest of the division at El Qantara in March 1916 and the following month it was re-armed with 18-pounder guns. It was redesignated CCLX (or 260) Brigade, RFA, on 25 May 1916, and renumbered CCLXI (261) Brigade on 15 September. It  transferred to 7th (Meerut) Division when the 52nd left for the Western Front in April 1918 and served with this Indian Army formation in Palestine until the end of the war. It was placed in suspended animation in 1919.


1st Ayrshire and Galloway Artillery Volunteers, World War I, 2/II Lowland Brigade
2/II Lowland Brigade served with the 2nd Lowland Division (65th (2nd Lowland) Division from August 1915) in Scotland and England. It was redesignated CCCXXVI (or 326) Brigade, RFA, in May 1916. Early in 1917 the division was sent to Ireland. It was broken up in early 1918, but 326 Bde remained at Kildare until 27 October 1919 when it completed its disbandment.


1st Ayrshire and Galloway Artillery Volunteers, Interwar years
The 2nd Lowland Brigade reformed in 1920, and was redesignated as the 79th (Lowland) Brigade, RFA, the following year when the TF was reconstituted as the Territorial Army (TA). It became a 'Field Brigade, RA', when the RFA was subsumed into the Royal Artillery in 1924. It continued to be part of 52nd (Lowland) Division and had the following organisation:


1st Ayrshire and Galloway Artillery Volunteers, World War II, Mobilisation
The TA was doubled in size following the Munich Crisis of 1938, with existing units splitting to form duplicates before the outbreak of World War II. 79th Field Regiment reorganised as follows:


1st Ayrshire and Galloway Artillery Volunteers, World War II, Mobilisation
The establishment of a field battery was increased to 12 guns organised into three Troops.


1st Ayrshire and Galloway Artillery Volunteers, World War II, 79th (Lowland) Field Regiment
79th Field Regiment mobilised in 52nd (Lowland) Infantry Division. Apart from a period in June 1940 when the rest of the division was briefly deployed to France, the regiment served with the 52nd (L) Division throughout the war, including the campaign in North West Europe from October 1944 to VE Day. It was placed in suspended animation in 1946


1st Ayrshire and Galloway Artillery Volunteers, World War II, 130th (Lowland) Field Regiment
130th Field Regiment mobilised in 15th (Scottish) Infantry Division (the duplicate of 52nd (Lowland)) and served with it through the early years of war. The regiment received its  'Lowland' subtitle in 1942. It left the 15th (S) Division on 4 January 1942 and sailed to India, where it joined first 14th Indian Infantry Division and later 36th Indian Division, with which it served in the Burma Campaign. 36th Indian Division became 36th British Division in September 1944 and continued fighting in Burma.


1st Ayrshire and Galloway Artillery Volunteers, Postwar
When the TA was reconstituted in 1947, the 79th reformed at Ayr as 279th (Lowland) Field Rgt, while 130th reformed at Troon (later returning to Kilmarnock) as 330th (Lowland) Medium Rgt. Both were in 85 (Field) Army Group Royal Artillery, which was redesignated HQ RA 52nd (Lowland) Division in 1950.


1st Ayrshire and Galloway Artillery Volunteers, Postwar
In 1961 the TA was reduced, and most of 279th Fd Rgt amalgamated with 280th (Lowland – City of Glasgow) Medium Rgt to form 279th (City of Glasgow & Ayrshire) Fd Rgt with the following organisation:


1st Ayrshire and Galloway Artillery Volunteers, Postwar
Surplus personnel of 279th (Ayrshire) Fd Rgt were transferred to 576 (General Transport) Company, Royal Army Service Corps.


1st Ayrshire and Galloway Artillery Volunteers, Postwar
When the TA was reduced to the Territorial and Army Volunteer Reserve in 1967, the regiment merged with 277th (Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders) Field Rgt and 278th (Lowland) Field Rgt to form 'S (Ayrshire)' and 'T (Glasgow)' Btys in the Glasgow-based Lowland Regiment, RA. The Lowland Regiment was reduced to a cadre in 1969 and disbanded in 1975, but in 1986  105 (Scottish) Air Defence Regiment was designated as its successor unit.


1st Ayrshire and Galloway Artillery Volunteers, Uniforms
The original uniform of the 1st and 2nd Ayrshire AVCs was blue tunics with red collars, cuffs, and piping, edged all round with black braid and with four rows of black braid across the chest. Blue trousers with black stripe with red piping were also worn, along with blue peaked caps with a black lace band, scarlet piping, and a silver grenade in front. Black waist-belts were worn. The original uniform of the 1st Wigtown was blue with scarlet facings, white belts, and silver badges.


1st BRIC summit
The inaugural BRIC summit took place in Yekaterinburg, Russia on June 16, 2009. The four heads of government from the BRIC countries attended.


1st BRIC summit, Overview
The acronym BRIC (for Brazil, Russia, India, China) was first used in a Goldman Sachs thesis projecting that the economic potential of Brazil, Russia, India and China is such that they may become among the five most dominant economies by the year 2050. Today, the four countries produce about 15 percent of the world’s gross domestic product and hold about 40 percent of the gold and hard currency reserves.


1st BRIC summit, Overview
Political dialogue between the BRIC countries began in New York in September 2006, with a meeting of the BRIC foreign ministers. Four high-level meetings have followed, including a full-scale meeting in Yekaterinburg, Russia, on May 16, 2008.


1st BRIC summit, Participants
The heads of state and heads of government of the four countries participated.


1st BRIC summit, Issues
The leaders discussed the current global financial crisis, global development, and further strengthening of the BRIC group.


1st BRIC summit, Issues, World economy
The BRIC leaders called for increased economic reform, demanding a "greater voice and representation in international financial institutions, and their heads and senior leadership should be appointed through an open, transparent and merit-based selection process."


1st BRIC summit, Issues, World economy
They urged the international community to push for comprehensive results of the Doha Round.


1st BRIC summit, Issues, Political issues
Amongst the important issues discussed were United Nations reform. "We reiterate the importance we attach to the status of India and Brazil in international affairs, and understand and support their aspirations to play a greater role in the United Nations."


1st BRIC summit, Issues, Food crisis
Regarding the 2007–2008 world food price crisis, the leaders issued a joint statement on global food security, calling for "action by all governments and the relevant international agencies"; and reaffirmed "their commitment to contribute to the efforts to overcome the global food crisis".


1st Baltic Front
The First Baltic Front (Russian: Пéрвый Прибалтийский фронт) was a major formation of the Red Army during the Second World War. It was commanded by Army General Andrey Yeryomenko, succeeded by Army General Bagramyan. It was formed by renaming the Kalinin Front on 12 October 1943, and took part in several important military operations, most notably Bagration in the summer of 1944. The 1st Baltic Front also assisted in lifting the siege of Leningrad on 27 January 1944, as well as in Operation Samland, at that time known as the Samland Group, captured Königsberg in April 1945.


1st Baltic Front, Composition
As of 23 June 1944, the First Baltic Front consisted of the following units and their commanders:


1st Baltic Front, Composition
Baltic Front, led by front commander Army General Hovhannes Bagramyan


1st Baltic Front, Composition
3rd Air Army, led by General Lieutenant N. F. Papivin


1st Banffshire Artillery Volunteers
The 1st Banffshire Artillery Volunteers was a part-time unit of the British Army's Royal Artillery founded in Banffshire in Scotland in 1859. Through various reorganisations it served as auxiliary garrison artillery until 1908.


1st Banffshire Artillery Volunteers, Volunteer Force
The enthusiasm for the Volunteer movement following an invasion scare in 1859 saw the creation of many Rifle and Artillery Volunteer Corps composed of part-time soldiers eager to supplement the Regular British Army in time of need. By 1861 five Artillery Volunteer Corps (AVCs) had been formed in Banffshire:


1st Banffshire Artillery Volunteers, Volunteer Force
On 22 October 1861 these units were brought together into the 1st Administrative Brigade, Banffshire Artillery Volunteers, with its headquarters (HQ) at Banff. In 1863 the brigade was joined by the 1st Elgin AVC, which had been formed at Lossiemouth in Elginshire on 26 March 1860. A 2nd Elgin AVC was formed at Burghead on 16 October 1872 and was also included in the 1st Banff Admin Brigade. On 13 November 1875 a new 3rd Banffshire AVC was formed at Gardenstown to replace the unit disbanded in 1864.


1st Banffshire Artillery Volunteers, Volunteer Force, Reorganisation
In December 1876 the artillery volunteers in North East Scotland were reorganised. The five Banff units joined the 1st Aberdeenshire Administrative Brigade and the two Elgin units joined the 1st Inverness-shire Administrative Brigade.


1st Banffshire Artillery Volunteers, Volunteer Force, Reorganisation
When the administrative brigades were consolidated in May 1880, the Banffshire AVCs were included in the new 1st Aberdeenshire AVC as Nos 9–13 Batteries. However, in May 1882 they were withdrawn, together with two Aberdeenshire batteries and the Lossiemouth battery from Elgin, to form the 1st Banffshire AVC with the subtitle 'Aberdeen, Banff and Elgin', and the following organisation:


1st Banffshire Artillery Volunteers, Volunteer Force, Reorganisation
The unit carried out its annual practice camp at Barry Buddon, and had five carbine ranges near company HQs.


1st Banffshire Artillery Volunteers, Volunteer Force, Royal Garrison Artillery
In 1882 all the AVCs were affiliated to one of the territorial garrison divisions of the Royal Artillery (RA) and the 1st Banffshire AVC became part of the Scottish Division. In 1889 the structure was altered, and the corps joined the Southern Division. In 1899 the RA was divided into separate field and garrison branches, and the artillery volunteers were all assigned to the Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA). When the divisional structure was abolished the unit titles were changed on 1 January 1902, the Banff unit becoming the 1st Banffshire Royal Garrison Artillery (Volunteers).


1st Banffshire Artillery Volunteers, Territorial Force
When the Volunteers were subsumed into the new Territorial Force (TF) under the Haldane Reforms of 1908, the personnel of the 1st Banffshire and most of the 1st Aberdeenshire RGA (V) were combined to form a new I (or 1st) Highland Brigade, Royal Field Artillery. The new unit included a Banffshire Battery and the Banffshire Small Arms Ammunition Section of the Brigade Ammunition Column. However, the Banffshire Battery was disbanded in 1911 and replaced by another Aberdeen Battery.


1st Banffshire Artillery Volunteers, Uniforms and insignia
The original five Banff AVCs wore a uniform that closely followed that of the Royal Artillery, except that white/silver lace was worn in place of yellow/gold. After 1882 the 1st Banff AVC was one of the few Scottish artillery corps to have a Pipe band, which wore the Duff tartan of its Honorary Colonel.


1st Banffshire Artillery Volunteers, Honorary Colonel
Alexander Duff, Earl of Fife (later the 1st Duke of Fife, KT, GCVO, VD), was appointed Honorary Colonel of the unit on 15 March 1884.


1st Bangladesh National Film Awards
The 1st Bangladesh National Film Awards (Bengali: জাতীয় চলচ্চিত্র পুরস্কার) presented by Ministry of Information to felicitate the best of Bangladeshi Cinema censored in the year 1975. Every year, a national panel appointed by the government selects the winning entry and awards were given by then President of Bangladesh. It was the first ceremony of National Film Awards and presented on 4 April 1976. Director Zahir Raihan was awarded a special awards.


1st Bangladesh National Film Awards, List of winners
This year awards were given in total 12 categories out of 19 categories.


1st Bangor Old Boys F.C.
1st Bangor Old Boys Football Club, also known as 1st Bangor O.B., is a Northern Irish, intermediate football club playing in the Premier Division of the Northern Amateur Football League.


1st Bangor Old Boys F.C.
A club of the same name was in existence from 1938–1965, but the present club was founded in 1967, and joined the Amateur League in 1979, winning the Junior Cup in the same season.


1st Bangor Old Boys F.C.
Originally from Bangor, County Down, the club is now based at the Drome in Newtownards.


1st Banino
1st Banino (Russian: 1-е Банино) is a rural locality (a selo) in Baninsky Selsoviet of Fatezhsky District, Russia. The population was 164 as of 2010.


1st Banino, Geography
1st Banino is located 15 km northeast of Fatezh (the district's administrative centre) by road.


1st Bassman
1st Bassman is an album by jazz bassist Paul Chambers, recorded at Bell Sound Studios on May 12, 1960 and released by the Vee-Jay label. This album is notable for its featured use of the acoustic bass as the lead instrument.


1st Bassman, Critical reception
AllMusic reviewer Michael G. Nastos stated "Chambers was allowed to put his bass on top, become a leader in his own right, and play lead melodies with a clear, ringing, well enunciated tone. 1st Bassman is anchored by rising stars from Detroit such as Yusef Lateef, Curtis Fuller ... The emphasis on the compositions of Lateef all display a spare construct, rearing the horns to a marginal level except for solos, allowing Chambers to take care of business and control the shaping of the melodies, with little unison play involved. ...


1st Bassman, Critical reception
This CD and its companion piece Go complement the preceding Blue Note sessions, comprising a small but potent body of work that few bassists have produced in modern jazz". Reviewing The Complete Vee Jay Paul Chambers/Wynton Kelly Sessions 1959-61 for All About Jazz C. Michael Hovan said "there seems to be some very perceptible growth in Chamber’s ability to move the date beyond your average blowing session. All the tunes are by Yusef Lateef and he manages to develop interesting structures that stimulate the creative juices of a fantastic sextet". In JazzTimes Harvey Pekar wrote "The soloists here do a fine job of making their work consistent with the character of the compositions. Chambers’ work is prominently featured, and he plays thoughtfully as well as exhibiting his vaunted chops".


1st Battalion (Australia)
The 1st Battalion was an infantry battalion of the Australian Army. Although its numerical name was designated during the First World War, the 1st Battalion can trace its lineage back to 1854, when a unit of the Volunteer Rifles was raised in Sydney, New South Wales. This unit has since been redesignated a number of times, but through its links with the units of the colonial NSW defence force, the battalion's history includes services in Sudan and South Africa.


1st Battalion (Australia)
During the First World War, the 1st Battalion was raised for overseas service in 1914 as part of the First Australian Imperial Force. Attached to the 1st Brigade, the battalion served in Egypt initially before taking part in the fighting in Gallipoli against the Turks. Later the battalion was sent to the Western Front where it fought in the trenches in France and Belgium as part of the Australian Corps. Following the end of the war the battalion was disbanded in 1919.


1st Battalion (Australia)
In 1921, the battalion was reformed as part of the Militia as the "1st Battalion (East Sydney Regiment)". Throughout the interwar years the unit's designation changed a couple of times and for a time it was amalgamated with the 19th Battalion. During the Second World War the battalion served as garrison force in Australia before being disbanded in 1944 due to manpower shortages.


1st Battalion (Australia)
Following the war the 1st Battalion was not re-raised until 1957 when it was reformed as a commando unit in Sydney as the "1st Infantry Battalion (Commando) (City of Sydney's Own Regiment)" before being reduced to a company-sized element in the Pentropic 1st Battalion, Royal New South Wales Regiment. In 1965, the battalion was reformed as the non-Pentropically established "1st Battalion, Royal New South Wales Regiment (Commando)". It maintained the commando role until 1971 when it was amalgamated once again with the 19th Battalion to become the 1st/19th Battalion, Royal New South Wales Regiment, a unit of the Australian Army Reserve that remains in existence today.


1st Battalion (Australia), History, Lineage
Although the 1st Battalion was not technically established until 1914, the unit takes its lineage from units that were raised in Sydney, New South Wales sixty years before then. Indeed, the 1st Battalion was the oldest infantry battalion from New South Wales and is a successor unit of the Sydney Volunteer Rifles which were raised in 1854 in the then colony of New South Wales in response to concerns about possible threats posed by Russian naval forces in the Pacific during the Crimean War.


1st Battalion (Australia), History, Lineage
Following that the unit went through a number of changes in composition and designation as the various colonial defence forces were reorganised during the mid to late 19th Century. By 1860 the unit had become known as the "Sydney Battalion", but in 1878 following the decision to introduce a system of partial payment for volunteer soldiers, the unit was absorbed into the 1st Regiment of New South Wales Volunteer Infantry.


1st Battalion (Australia), History, Lineage
In 1885, the 1st Regiment provided a detachment of one officer and 75 men to serve in Sudan during the Mahdist War, for which they received the battle honour "Suakin 1885". During the Second Boer War 12 officers and 91 men from the regiment served in South Africa as part of the New South Wales contingent, for which they were later recognised with the battle honour of "South Africa 1899–1902". Following Federation the regiment became the 1st Australian Infantry Regiment. A system of universal training was introduced in 1911. Due to the large increase in the size of the Army the existing regiments were reorganised and redesignated. As a result, the regiment was split into three units—the 21st, 24th and 26th Infantry.


1st Battalion (Australia), History, First World War
Following the outbreak of the First World War the decision was made to raise an expeditionary force known as the First Australian Imperial Force (AIF) which would exist alongside the Militia units that already existed. This was largely because the provisions of the Defence Act 1901 prohibited sending conscripts overseas to fight, but was also in part due to the need to maintain a military presence in Australia in case of emergency or attack while the 1st AIF was deployed overseas.


1st Battalion (Australia), History, First World War
Although initially there were limits placed upon the numbers of militiamen that could enlist as there was a requirement to man coastal defences and guard vital installations, large numbers of militiamen did enlist and were largely allocated to AIF units based upon locality. As a result, many of the AIF units became associated with the Militia units from where they were located and to some extent there was an attempt to maintain the identity of these units within the AIF. Up to 100 men from the pre-war 1st Infantry Regiment are believed to have served in various AIF units during the war, including the 1st Battalion. Some prominent members include William Holmes, Sydney Herring and James Heane.


1st Battalion (Australia), History, First World War
Among the units raised by the AIF, the 1st Battalion was one of the first infantry units raised in New South Wales, being formed at Randwick in Sydney in August 1914, within the first fortnight of the war. After a brief period of basic training the 1st Battalion was among the first Australian troops to be deployed overseas, arriving in Egypt on 2 December 1914.


1st Battalion (Australia), History, First World War
After undertaking further training and serving in a static defence role around the Suez Canal, the battalion took part in the Landing at Anzac Cove, coming ashore with the second and third waves on 25 April 1915. Following the initial battle for the heights overlooking the beachhead in which the battalion took part in the attack on the hill known as Baby 700, the Turks regained control of the heights and the battalion was forced to withdraw to Russel Top and then later to the southern flank near Gaba Tebe. On 27 April, the battalion carried out a desperate bayonet charge for which one of the battalion's officers, Alfred Shout received a Military Cross and was Mentioned in Despatches.


1st Battalion (Australia), History, First World War
In August, the Allies went on the offensive on the Gallipoli peninsula launching the August Offensive. As part of this offensive, the 1st Division was called upon to launch a diversionary attack on Lone Pine. It was during this battle that the battalion took part in arguably its most notable engagement of the campaign. The attack began early on 6 August and after only an hour, the Australians had captured the Turkish positions at Lone Pine.


1st Battalion (Australia), History, First World War
The Turks counterattacked almost immediately and for the course of the next three days the fighting continued, during which time two members of the battalion, Alfred Shout and Leonard Keysor, performed acts of valour for which they were later awarded the Victoria Cross. The Allies evacuated Gallipoli in December 1915 and the 1st Battalion returned to Egypt. While in Egypt the AIF underwent a period of expansion and re-organisation, during which time a number of men from the 1st Battalion were transferred to the newly formed 53rd Battalion. In early 1916, the AIF's infantry divisions were sent to France where over the course of the next two-and-a-half years they would take part in the fighting against the Germans on the Western Front.


1st Battalion (Australia), History, First World War
The battalion's first major action in France was at Pozières in July 1916. Later the battalion fought at Ypres, in Belgium, before returning to the Somme in winter. At Bullecourt in May 1917, George Howell became the third member of the battalion to receive the Victoria Cross. In 1918, the 1st Battalion helped to stop the German spring offensive in March and April before taking part in the Hundred Days Offensive that was launched near Amiens on 8 August 1918 and ultimately brought an end to the war.


1st Battalion (Australia), History, First World War
The battalion remained in the line until late September 1918, when they were withdrawn from the front along with the rest of the Australian Corps for rest and retraining in anticipation of further operations. On 21 September all but one member of "D" Company refused to take part in an attack as a protest against the battalion being sent back into combat when it had been about to be relieved.


1st Battalion (Australia), History, First World War
The members of the company were subsequently imprisoned for desertion; this was the AIF's largest incidence of "combat refusal" during the war and formed part of a general weakening in the force's discipline due to the stresses of prolonged combat. The battalion was out of the line when the Armistice was declared on 11 November 1918. Following the end of hostilities, the process of demobilisation began and slowly the battalion's numbers dwindled as its personnel were repatriated to Australia. They were finally disbanded in May 1919.


1st Battalion (Australia), History, First World War
Throughout the course of the war, the 1st Battalion suffered a total of 1,165 men killed and 2,363 wounded. Members of the battalion received the following decorations: three Victoria Crosses, two Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George, seven Distinguished Service Orders with one Bar, 40 Military Crosses with one Bar, 29 Distinguished Conduct Medals, 131 Military Medals, nine Meritorious Service Medal and 57 Mentions in Despatches.


1st Battalion (Australia), History, Inter war years
In 1918, the pre-war Militia units were re-organised once more into multi-battalion regiments. It was decided that the reconstituted regiments would be numbered after AIF battalions and that each would comprise three to six battalions with the first battalion being formed from inactive ex-AIF soldiers, members of the Citizen Military Force forming the second and senior cadets forming the third. As a result of this, the 21st Infantry Regiment was re-designated as the 1st Infantry Regiment.


1st Battalion (Australia), History, Inter war years
A further review of defence requirements was carried out in 1920, after which it was determined that the Militia should be further reorganised to perpetuate the battle honours and designations of the AIF. On 1 April 1921 the AIF was officially disbanded and a month later the new organisation of the Militia was adopted. As a part of this reorganisation, the Citizen Force battalion of each regiment was separated and adopted the numerical designation of the AIF battalion with which it was associated, as well as its unit colour patch and battle honours.


1st Battalion (Australia), History, Inter war years
As a result of this the 5th Battalion, 1st Infantry Regiment was redesignated the 1st Battalion and was attached to the 9th Brigade, 2nd Division. In 1927, territorial titles were introduced and the battalion officially adopted the designation of 1st Battalion (East Sydney Regiment), which it had unofficially used since 1921. In 1929, following the election of the Scullin Labor government, the compulsory training scheme was abolished and in its place a new system was introduced whereby the Citizens Forces would be maintained on a part-time, voluntary basis only. It was also renamed the "Militia" at this time.


1st Battalion (Australia), History, Inter war years
The decision to suspend compulsory training, coupled with the economic downturn of the Great Depression meant that the manpower of many Militia units dropped considerably and as a result the decision was made to amalgamate a number of units. On 1 July 1930, the 1st Battalion was amalgamated with the 19th Battalion, later adopting the title of the 1st/19th Battalion (City of Sydney's Own Regiment). The two battalions remained linked until 1939 when due to the prospects of war a number of Militia battalions were delinked in preparation for an expansion of the Army. For a brief period after this the battalion was known as the 1st Battalion (City of Sydney Regiment), however, this was short lived as it was soon amalgamated once more, this time with the 45th Battalion.


1st Battalion (Australia), History, Second World War and later
With the outbreak of the Second World War once again the government made the decision to form an overseas expeditionary force outside of the pre-existing Militia units. In order to maintain the ability of the Army to defend Australia should Japan enter the war, it was decided once again to limit the number of militiamen that were allowed to enlist in the Second Australian Imperial Force (2nd AIF) to roughly one quarter.


1st Battalion (Australia), History, Second World War and later
While the units of the 2nd AIF were sent overseas to England, North Africa and the Middle East, the militia remained in Australia to carry out various garrison duties and training in order to improve the nation's overall readiness. Following Japan's entry into the war in December 1941 this changed and over the course of 1942–45 many Militia units were mobilised and deployed to fight in New Guinea, New Britain, Bougainville and Borneo. In any case over 207,000 militiamen transferred from the Militia to the AIF throughout the course of the war.


1st Battalion (Australia), History, Second World War and later
As a result of this, and the serious manpower shortages experienced by the Australian economy from October 1942 onwards eight Militia battalions were disbanded while another eleven more were broken up and their personnel distributed to other units. The 1st/45th Battalion was one of the battalions that were disbanded, doing so in 1944 having not deployed overseas. Prior to this, though, the battalion was reorganised  in August 1942 with its machine gun company being transferred to form the 6th Machine Gun Battalion along with several other Militia machine gun companies.


1st Battalion (Australia), History, Second World War and later
After World War II the Citizens Military Force was reformed in 1948, although the 1st Battalion was not re-raised at that time. In 1957, it was decided to expand the 1st Commando Company as a full battalion named the 1st Infantry Battalion (Commando), City of Sydney's Own Regiment. When the CMF was reorganised in 1960 along Pentropic lines this unit was once more reduced to company size, forming No. 1 Commando Company (The City of Sydney Company), 1st Battalion, Royal New South Wales Regiment.


1st Battalion (Australia), History, Second World War and later
In 1965, when the Pentropic establishment was discontinued this company was once again raised to a full battalion sized unit, forming the non-Pentropic 1st Battalion, Royal New South Wales Regiment (Commando). The battalion maintained the commando role until 1971 when it was amalgamated with the 19th Battalion to become 1st/19th Battalion, Royal New South Wales Regiment, a unit which remains in existence today and perpetuates the honours of the 1st Battalion and its predecessor units as well as that of the 19th Battalion. The 1st Commando Company was subsequently re-raised as a separate unit and later subsumed into the 1st Commando Regiment.


1st Battalion (Ontario Regiment), CEF
The 1st Canadian Infantry Battalion was a battalion of the Canadian Expeditionary Force that saw service in the First World War.


1st Battalion (Ontario Regiment), CEF, History
The battalion was created on 2 September 1914 with recruits from "Military District 1" which was Western Ontario. The battalion set off for England on board the Laurentic berthed in Quebec. They arrived in England on 14 October 1914 with a strength of 45 officers and 1121 men. The battalion became part of the 1st Canadian Division, 1st Canadian Infantry Brigade where it saw action at Ypres and along the Western Front.


1st Battalion (Ontario Regiment), CEF, History
The battalion returned to Canada on 21 April 1919, was demobilized on 24 April 1919, and disbanded soon after. The 1st Canadian Infantry Battalion was initially perpetuated by The Canadian Fusiliers (City of London Regiment), and is currently perpetuated by The Royal Canadian Regiment.


1st Battalion (Ontario Regiment), CEF, History
Lieutenant Frederick William Campbell was awarded the Victoria Cross for his heroism in action 15 June 1915 at Givenchy, France; he died of wounds four days later.


1st Battalion New York Volunteer Sharpshooters
The 1st Battalion New York Volunteer Sharpshooters was a battalion of sharpshooters in the Union Army during the American Civil War. Fighting in the Eastern Theater it was attached to the 1st United States Sharpshooters.


1st Battalion New York Volunteer Sharpshooters, History
Major William S. Rowland received authority from the War Department to recruit a regiment of sharpshooters in the States of New York and Pennsylvania on October 10, 1862. When the regimental organization failed in sufficient numbers a battalion was organized into four companies, the 6th, 7th, 8th and 9th. A tenth company was considered, but never created.


1st Battalion New York Volunteer Sharpshooters, Company Commanders and Recruiting areas
6th Company, Flank Company, L 108 N. Y. Volunteers: Captain Abijah C. Gray - Rochester - Mustered for three years on September 13, 1862


1st Battalion New York Volunteer Sharpshooters, Company Commanders and Recruiting areas
7th Company, Company L, 112th N. Y. Volunteers: Captain Joseph S. Arnold, Captain Clinton Perry - Elicottt, Kian-tone, Busti, Ellington, Ellery, Carroll and Jamestown


1st Battalion New York Volunteer Sharpshooters, Company Commanders and Recruiting areas
8th Company: Captain Edward G. Robinson - Buffalo, Hudson and Chatham


1st Battalion New York Volunteer Sharpshooters, Company Commanders and Recruiting areas
9th Company: Captain Thomas S. Bradley - Albany, Hudson, Canaan, Hinsdale and New Lebanon


1st Battalion New York Volunteer Sharpshooters, Company Commanders and Recruiting areas
10th Company - Capt. Charles M. White - organized January 13, 1863; was originally intended for a service of nine months, on April 21, 1863 the term of service was changed to three years; the company was not completed and the enlisted men were transferred


1st Battalion New York Volunteer Sharpshooters, Casualties
Out of a total of 157 casualties, the regiment suffered 27 men killed or mortally wounded, 68 officers and men wounded but recovered, and 62 officers and men missing in action .