Fix Bayonets
The Unit History of the 51st Battalion Fix Bayonets is the unit history of the 51st Battalion, from its formation in Egypt from the Western Australian 11th Battalion in 1916, until the Battalion’s disbandment and return to Australia in 1919. After training in Egypt, the Battalion was sent to the Western Front, where it received its baptism of fire at Pozieres and Mouquet Farm in August and September of 1916.
The 51st fought in several major battles on the Western Front, including Noreuil, Messines, Passchendaele, Polygon Wood, Dernancourt and the Hindenburg Line, as well as the spectacular charge at Villers-Bretonneux where Lt Sadlier won the Victoria Cross.
Fix Bayonets includes a detailed Honour Roll of casualties, a list of officers, awards and unusually for a World War One unit history, a list of prisoners of war.
Front Cover:
51st Battalion Headquarters Officers, June 1917
Back: ES Smallpage, R Powell, TG Watkins, M Bergin, RC Keilar
Front: R Christie, JC Ridley, TS Louch