2nd Pioneer Battalion (Australia)

2nd Pioneer Battalion
Pioneers from the 2nd Pioneer Battalion at Bapaume, March 1917
Active	1916–19
Country	Australia
Branch	Australian Army
Role	Pioneer
Size	Battalion
Part of	2nd Division
Colours	Purple and White
Engagements	First World War Western Front
Insignia
Unit Colour Patch

The 2nd Pioneer Battalion was an Australian infantry unit raised for service during the First World War as part of the all volunteer Australian Imperial Force (AIF). Trained as infantrymen, they were also tasked with some engineer functions, with a large number of personnel possessing trades from civilian life. As such, they were designated as pioneer units. The concept had existed within the British Indian Army before the war, but was adopted by the Australian Army in early 1916 to meet a need for troops with construction and engineering skills to assist with digging trenches, labouring, constructing strong points and battlefield clearance, at a time when the AIF was being reorganised as part of plans to transfer it from the Middle East to the Western Front in Europe.^[1]

A total of five pioneer battalions were raised by the AIF during the war, with one each being assigned to each of the five infantry divisions that the Australians deployed to the battlefield in France and Belgium. The 2nd Pioneers were raised in Egypt, on 10 March 1916, from volunteers drawn from the state of Victoria were subsequently assigned to the 2nd Division.^[2][3] Its first commanding officer was Lieutenant Colonel Frederick Annand, a Royal Australian Engineers officer.^[4]

The battalion consisted of four companies, under a headquarters company.^[1] The battalion subsequently served on the Western Front from mid-1916 until the end of the war.^[2] The battalion was involved in the following actions: the Battle of Pozieres, the Battle of Mouquet Farm, the Battle of Bullecourt, the Third Battle of Ypres, the Spring Offensive, and the Hundred Days Offensive.^[5]

References

Citations

1. Dennis et al 1995, p. 465.
2. Mallett 2003.
3. Kuring 2004, pp. 83, 90–92.
4. Laverty 1979.
5. Returned and Services League.

Bibliography

• "2nd Pioneer Battalion". RSL Virtual War Memorial. Returned and Services League. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
• Dennis, Peter; et al. (1995). The Oxford Companion to Australian Military History (1st ed.). Melbourne, Victoria: Oxford University Press Australia & New Zealand. ISBN 0-19-553227-9.
• Kuring, Ian (2004). Redcoats to Cams: A History of Australian Infantry 1788–2001. Loftus, New South Wales: Australian Military Historical Publications. ISBN 1876439998.
• Laverty, John (1979). "Annand, Frederick William Gadsby (1872–1958)". Australian Dictionary of Biography. Australian National University. Retrieved 13 December 2011.
• Mallett, Ross (2003). "Pioneer Battalions". AIF Project. University of New South Wales. Archived from the original on 12 November 2009. Retrieved 26 April 2016.

Further reading

• Walsh, Leo (1993). The Nominal Roll: 2nd Pioneer Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division, Australian Imperial Force 1916–1919 (1st ed.). Brisbane, Queensland: Victoria Barracks Historical Society. ISBN 978-0-64611-259-6.