![]() A further 76,000 Australians became casualties in battles at Bullecourt, Messines, and during the four month campaign known as the 3rd battle of Ypres, commonly also referred to as the Battle of Passchendaele.īullecourt is the site of two of the bloodiest battles involving Australians on the Western Front. The worst year for the AIF on the Western Front was 1917. On the Somme from late July into early September 1916, troops of the 1st, 2nd and 4th Australian Divisions attacked at Pozieres and Mouquet Farm, and although capturing some ground, this came at the cost of severe casualties. ![]() In less than 24 hours, the Australians suffered over 5,500 casualties and 470 becoming prisoners of war. The attack by the 5th Australian Division proved to be a complete failure. This attack was a feint in support of main British offensive on the Somme which had commenced on 1 July. The first major battle involving Australians on the Western Front was at the northern French village of Fromelles on 19 July 1916. Of the more than 295,000 Australians who served in that theatre, some 46,000 were killed in action or died from other causes. The AIF suffered its greatest losses on the Western Front during 1916-1918. Following the 1915 Gallipoli campaign, a large part of the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) transferred from Egypt to the Western Front in early 1916 where it would serve in France and Belgium.
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