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5th Battalion, Australian Imperial Force
| Want to know more about 5th Battalion, Australian Imperial Force? There are:48 items tagged 5th Battalion, Australian Imperial Force available in our Library
These include information on officers, regimental histories, letters, diary entries, personal accounts and information about actions during the Great War.
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Those known to have served with5th Battalion, Australian Imperial Force during the Great War 1914-1918. - Blackman Leslie Crompton. Pte. (d.29th Jun 1916)
- Booley George. L/Cpl.
- Bourke John Joseph. Lt. (d.20th Sep 1917 )
- Brabazon Ralph Austin. Sgt. (d.26th June 1918)
- Brabazon Ralph Austin. Sgt. (d.25th June 1918)
- Dickinson MID. Herbert Spencer. Capt. (d.25th Sep 1917)
- Earp George Howard. Lt.
- Ellis John Brabazon. Pte.
- Finlay MC. George Lush. Capt. (d.9th Feb 1919)
- Flockart Robert Pearce. Mjr. (d.15th July 1915)
- Grantham Walter Brabazon.
- Hodgman Harry. Pte. (d.25 April 1915)
- Hogan Arthur Douglas. Lt. (d.9th October 1917)
- Keown Albert William. Pte.
- Langley Ralph Argyle. Lt.
- Makin George Leslie. Lt. (d.25th Aug 1918)
- Olle Frank Jubilee . Sgt. (d.31st May 1915)
- Wilson Charles Alfred. Pte. (d.19th February 1917)
All names on this list have been submitted by relatives, friends, neighbours and others who wish to remember them, if you have any names to add or any recollections or photos of those listed,
please Add a Name to this List
Records of 5th Battalion, Australian Imperial Force from other sources.
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Pte. Charles Alfred "Charlie" Wilson 22nd Reinforcements 5th Battalion (d.19th February 1917)  Charles Alfred Wilson was born at Snapper Point (now Mornington), Victoria on 26th March 1892, son of Albert Edward Wilson and Anne (Absalom).
At the age of 23, he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force (5th Reinforcements of the 24th Battalion) on 14th July 1915, service number 2484. However, after 5 weeks in Egypt, Charlie experienced laboured breathing and collapsed during training. He was admitted to the 1st Auxiliary Hospital in Heliopolis on 24th November 1915, where it was discovered that he was suffering from mitral heart disease (possibly as a consequence of the rheumatic fever he had contracted 3 years prior to his enlistment). As a result, he was discharged from the Army as permanently unfit for service, and returned to Australia aboard HMHS Wandilla in December 1915.
After several months at home, Charlie re-enlisted in the AIF, hiding the fact of his former service in the Army and stating on his new application that he had been previously rejected on account of “teeth”. Knowing the somewhat precarious state of his health, he changed his civilian occupation from ‘butcher’ (as stated on his previous enlistment papers) to ‘motor driver’, and planned to transfer to the less physically-demanding Motor Transports Company of the AIF in which his brother Bert was already serving as an ambulance driver. Despite his heart condition, he was pronounced fit for active service (likely due to the AIF's desperate need for men in 1916) and duly accepted into the 22nd reinforcements of the 5th Battalion, with the new service number 6832.
With the rank of Acting Corporal, he boarded HMAT Ulysses in Melbourne on 25th of October and arrived at Plymouth on 28th of December 1916. After having joined his unit in England, Charlie was posted to the bleak Larkhill camp on Salisbury Plain and underwent training for the Western Front.
During the harsh mid-winter exercises that he described in a letter home, he contracted pneumonia and was transferred to the Fargo Military Hospital, where he died 5 days later on 19th February 1917. He is buried in the Larkhill Military Cemetery near Durrington, in Wiltshire.
Although Charlie never fired a shot in anger, he was certainly determined to do his duty for God, King and Empire, not once but twice!
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Lt. Arthur Douglas Hogan 21st Battalion (d.9th October 1917)  Arthur Hogan was born on 30th of November 1886 in Sydney, NSW, Australia. He was an optician and jewellery salesman by trade, and prior to enlisting in April 1915, had been living in the Riverina town Wagga Wagga for three years. There, he was employed by the town's oldest business, Messrs. Hunter Bros. (which still exists today), as Manager of their jewellery department. He was almost 29 years old when he enlisted.
He undertook his basic military training at Broadmeadows Camp in Victoria, where he also attended the 6th Officer's School of Instruction. After receiving his Commission (2nd Lieutenant) on 16 July 1915, he sailed from Melbourne aboard the 'Nestor' on 11 October, arriving in Suez two months later.
As part of the 5th Battalion, he was stationed in Egypt for the next three months. In February 1916, he was invalided back to Australia for 3 months' change, having contracted paratyphoid fever. On his arrival back in Australia, he returned to Broadmeadows, and transferred from the 5th Battalion to the 13th. On 3rd of July 1916, he once again left Australia, this time, bound for the battlefields of the Western Front.
On 11th of December 1916, Arthur was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant, serving with the 21st Battalion. In March 1917, during the fighting around Bapaume, Arthur was shot through the left thigh. Although a severe injury, he was lucky that it hit neither nerves nor bone. 8 days later, he was admitted to the 8th General Hospital at Rouen, before being shipped back to England and admitted to the Kitchener Military Hospital at Brighton. In May 1917, Arthur was transferred from Brighton to Cobham Hall, an Australian convalescent hospital in Kent. He was discharged from Cobham Hall in June 1917, and from there, travelled to Perham Downs near Tidmouth, where he finished his convalescence.
On 3rd of July 1917, Arthur returned to France. On 10 August, he was appointed Bombing Officer with the 6th Brigade.
Early on the morning of 4th of October 1917, the Battle of Broodseinde Ridge began. A large operation, involving 12 divisions, the Australian troops involved were shelled heavily on their start line, and one seventh of their number became casualties even before the attack began.
The cost of this battle for the Australians was high, with Australian divisions suffering 6,500 casualties.
Arthur fell on 9th of October 1917, most probably shot by a sniper. His Battalion Commander wrote, in a letter to his mother:
'I happened to be in command of the attack on 9th of October and unhesitatingly chose him for my central commander. He fell gallantly leading the attack on the German positions over Broodseinde Ridge between Dairy and Daisy Woods. He leaves a great gap in the battalion where he was admired, respected and even loved by all ranks. He had previously done splendid work for the battalion on the Somme and was certain to have secured fitting recognition for this work. He was a gallant soldier and met a gallant end.'
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Lt. Ralph Argyle Langley 57th Battalion  Ralph Langley served with the 5th Battalion, 2nd Brigade in Gallipoli and had trained at the 6th Officers Cadet Battalion at Balliol College, Oxford between 5th of November 1916 and 2nd of March 1917. He married his English bride Nancie Stimpson in February 1917. He was wounded on the Western Front on 25 October, 1917. He was wounded on the Western Front on 25 October, 1917
On the 5th of November 1917, Ralph embarked to England ex Liverpool Merchants Hospital. He was admitted to 3rd London General Hospital, Wandsworth. He had sustained a gunshot wound to his right thigh.
He spent time at Wandsworth receiving medical treatment and recuperating, until he returned to Australia in early December.
It was in Australia that Ralph had his leg amputated just below the knee.
His wife joined him in Australia in January, 1919.
having survived the horrors of Gallipoli (5th Battalion, 2nd Brigade) and of the Western Front, Ralph died in a motor car accident on the Hume Highway in December 1935, leaving his wife and 6 children, the youngest of whom were one year old twin boys.
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Sgt. Frank Jubilee Olle 5th Infantry Battalion (d.31st May 1915) Frank Jubilee Olle was a 27 year old school teacher when he enlisted as a corporal with the 5th Infantry Battalion on 18 August 1914. Prior to enlistment, Olle was engaged in the Naval Reserve, training with them between 1907 and 1909. He embarked from Melbourne aboard HMAT Orvieto on 21 October 1914, and was present when the vessel took on German prisoners after the Sydney-Emden encounter. Soon after, Olle was promoted to lance sergeant and taken with the rest of the 5th Battalion to prepare for the Gallipoli landing. On 25 April 1915, Olle went ashore as part of the second wave, only to suffer a severe wound to his knee. He was evacuated to Heliopolis, Egypt, where he was unable to recover from his wound, and died a month later on 31 May 1915. Frank Jubilee Olle is buried in Cairo Memorial Cemetery, Egypt.
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Lt. George Leslie Makin 5th Infantry Battalion (d.25th Aug 1918)  George Leslie Makin was born in North Melbourne, Victoria, on 4 April 1894, and was educated at St. Alban's State School. He had served for three years with the 51st Regiment of the Citizen Forces at Albert Park by the time he enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) on 18 August 1914.
Makin was posted to the 5th Infantry Battalion, and embarked on-board HMAT Orvieto on 21 October 1914. He served at Gallipoli until October of 1915, when he was taken ill with enteric fever. After spending time in hospital on Lemnos, he was eventually evacuated to England, where he was hospitalised for several weeks. He re-joined his battalion in June 1916, by which time they were fighting on the Western Front, in France.
Makin wrote many letters home during his service, often expressing homesickness and worry for his mother. He also wrote of the trying conditions he faced in France, and was hospitalised with illness on several other occasions. Despite these difficulties, he was promoted a number of times, eventually being promoted to lieutenant on 9 September 1916.
On 25 August 1918, Makin was leading his company in an attack at St. Martin's Wood, when he was badly wounded. He was admitted to the 3rd Field Ambulance, before being transferred to the 61st Casualty Clearing Station, and finally to the 8th General Hospital in Rouen, France where he succumbed to his wounds on 8 September 1918. George Leslie Makin is buried at St. Sever Cemetery, Rouen.
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Pte. Albert William Keown 5th Infantry Battalion Albert William Keown was born in Brunswick, Melbourne in 1891. Before enlisting, he was an architectural apprentice at A.W. Purnell Architects, but postponed his apprenticeship to join the Australian Imperial Force (AIF). Keown joined the 5th Infantry Battalion on 17th August 1914 and left Melbourne aboard HMAT Orvieto on 21st October 1914. After spending four months training in Egypt, Keown was sent to Gallipoli with the 5th Infantry Battalion, landing as part of the second wave of attack on 25th April 1915. In May, during the 2nd Brigade's assault on Krithia, Keown suffered a shrapnel wound that badly affected his hand and chest. On 18th May he was admitted to St Andrews Hospital in Malta, and evacuated to England before being forced to return to Australia on 19th November 1915. On his discharge from the AIF on 25th May 1916, Keown quickly re-enlisted and worked as a temporary staff sergeant major at an Officer Training School at Port Melbourne and later as a District Area Officer for St. Kilda. In 1920, Keown finished his military service and returned to finish his articles at A.W. Purnell Architects.
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Pte. Harry Hodgman 5th Infantry Battalion (d.25 April 1915)  Harry Hodgman was born at Brighton, Tasmania on 12 August 1891 to parents Thomas and Robina Hodgman. Prior to the war his military experience came from his years with the Derwent Garrison in Tasmania.
A salesman by trade, Hodgman enlisted in Melbourne on 17 August 1914 and was assigned to the 5th Infantry Battalion. On 21 October 1914, Hodgman departed Melbourne aboard HMAT Orvieto. He was killed in action at Gallipoli on the day of the landing of 25 April 1915. According to an account by Lieutenant George Howard Earp (then a private), Hodgman was killed whilst participating in one of the last advances from the beach at ANZAC Cove. He had been shot through the head by a sniper along with 610 Private Reginald Clive Brownell at around 4.30pm. He was 23 years old. Hodgman is buried at Lone Pine Cemetery,Turkey.
The Hodgman family was to suffer the loss of two more sons. Harry s brother 4325 Corporal Alan Gunn Hodgman of the 52nd Infantry Battalion was killed on 7 June 1917 at the battle of Messines in Belgium. His brother, 4923 Lance Corporal Frank Rule Hodgman, served with the 52nd Infantry Battalion and was discharged and sent back to Australia due to a head wound sustained at Mouquet Farm. A mariner by trade, after returning to Australia on 4 May 1917 he resumed his naval career. Frank Hodgman was the captain of the transport ship Southern Cross that was lost in 1920 off the coast off King Island, Tasmania.
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Mjr. Robert Pearce Flockart 5th Battalion (d.15th July 1915)  Robert Pearce Flockart was born at Ballarat, Victoria, on 14th of November 1886 and received his education at Scotch College, Melbourne. Although employed as a clerk before the First World War, Flockart had a long involvement with the military. He was active in the Senior Cadets then in the Victorian Rifles and from 1912 was an area officer at Coburg. On joining the Australian Imperial Force on 25 August 1914, he was appointed a captain in the 5th Battalion. This was one of the first infantry units raised for the Australian Imperial Force during the First World War and Flockart departed for Egypt on HMAT Orvieto with this battalion just two months later in October 1914.
The 5th Battalion took part in the second wave of the Anzac landing on 25th of April 1915. Flockart was evacuated to Alexandria soon afterward for treatment of the 'slight' wounds to the face he received on 26th of April 1915. Promoted to major on 27 April 1915, he returned to the battalion on 17th of May and received temporary command of the battalion between 18th & 27th May 1915. Flockart was wounded again on 12th of July when he received a gunshot wound to the head. He was evacuated to the Hospital Ship Gascon but died on 15th of July 1915. Robert Flockart was buried at sea and is commemorated on the Lone Pine Memorial, Turkey.
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Capt. George Lush Finlay MC. 5th Battalion (d.9th Feb 1919)  George Lush Finlay was born on 12th October 1891 to William Seymour and Margaret Finlay at Albert Park, Victoria. He received his education at Hawthorn College and became a qualified accountant. On 12th May 1915 he became a commissioned officer in the Australian Imperial Force after training at the Officer's Training School, Broadmeadows. Finlay departed Australia for Alexandria with the 5th Battalion, 7th Reinforcements aboard HMAT Demosthenes on 16 July 1915.
Finlay joined the battalion at Gallipoli but was hospitalised on 18 January 1916 with enteric fever and returned to Australia for three months aboard HS Nestor. Finlay departed Australia again on 28th July 1916 aboard HMAT Themistocles with 5th Battalion, 19th Reinforcements and re-joined his unit on the Somme during October 1916. It was at this time that he was also promoted to lieutenant. Finlay stayed with this unit when they moved to Ypres in 1917 and was awarded the Military Cross for his actions at Ypres on 3rd of June 1918.
Between January and August 1918, Finlay was attached for duty to the 1st Division Headquarters and 2nd Australian Infantry Brigade. He returned to the 5th Battalion in October 1918 and was promoted to captain on 27 October 1918. Finlay became ill during January 1919 and was admitted to the 20th General Hospital with influenza on 4 February 1919. George Lush Finlay did not recover from his illness and died on 9 February 1919 at 20th General Hospital in Camierts, France. He is buried in Etaples Military Cemetery, France.
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Lt. George Howard Earp 5th Infantry Battalion George Howard Earp was born at Marlborough, New Zealand in 1891 to parents Charles and Annie. An architectural draughtsman by trade, he enlisted at Prahran in Victoria on 17th August 1914 at the age of 23. Earp departed Melbourne with the 5th Infantry Battalion aboard HMAT Orvieto on 21st October 1914.
Whilst serving at Gallipoli, Earp was struck down by gastroenteritis and in July 1915 was evacuated to Malta and then to Egypt for treatment. The following year he was sent to the Western Front in France and in April 1916 was transferred to the 1st Pioneer Battalion. In that same month he was promoted to the rank of second lieutenant and then again to lieutenant later that year. Afterwards he served with the 1st Pioneer Battalion for the remainder of the war, George Earp returned to Australia on 9th March 1919.
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Capt. Herbert Spencer Dickinson MID. 5th Infantry Battalion (d.25th Sep 1917) Herbert Spencer Dickinson was born at Thorpdale, Victoria on 20 December 1891 to parents Thomas and Clara. An accountant by trade, he enlisted at Prahran on 17th of August 1914 at the age of 22. Enlisting with the 5th Infantry Battalion, Dickinson was allocated the rank of private. He departed Melbourne aboard HMAT Orvieto on 21st October 1914.
After serving with his unit at Gallipoli, he was transferred in February 1916 to the 57th Infantry Battalion and sent to the Western Front in France. Dickinson was quickly promoted through the ranks, gaining his first promotion to lance corporal in September 1914 and becoming a captain by May 1916. Whilst serving with the 57th Infantry Battalion he was mentioned in the despatches of General Douglas Haig on 9 April 1917. Dickinson was killed in action at Polygon Wood in Belgium on 25th of September 1917. He was 25 years old. Herbert Dickinson is buried at The Huts Cemetery, Belgium.
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Lt. John Joseph Bourke 5th Infantry Battalion (d.20th Sep 1917 ) John Joseph Bourke was born at Edi, Victoria in 1892 and worked as a miner before the outbreak of the First World War. He was 22 years old when he enlisted in the 5th Infantry Battalion on 17th August 1914. He departed Melbourne aboard HMAT Orvieto on 21st October 1914. Bourke landed at Gallipoli late on 25th April 1915 with the 5th Infantry Battalion, suffering a head wound in the process. After recuperating in Alexandria, Bourke re-joined his unit on the Gallipoli peninsula in June, but only served two months before returning to Egypt to recover from fever.
In 1916, Bourke moved to France and was transferred to the 2nd Machine Gun Company and received two quick promotions. In August 1916, he was promoted to corporal and then again to sergeant in November. In early 1917, Bourke attended the Australian Machine Gun Training Depot at Belton Park in England and then transferred to 21st Machine Gun Company.In the process, he become a second lieutenant. After returning to active duty in France in March 1917, Bourke fell ill, forcing a return to England. On 20th September 1917, a little over a month after becoming a lieutenant, he was killed in the fighting at Menin Road. John Bourke is commemorated on the Ypres (Menin Gate) Memorial, Belgium.
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L/Cpl. George Booley 5th Infantry Battalion George Booley was born in Kew, Victoria in 1890 and enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force at Melbourne on 19th August 1914. Prior to the outbreak of the First World War, Booley worked as a farmer in the Banyan area. He was assigned to the 5th Infantry Battalion and departed Melbourne on 21st October 1914 aboard HMAT Orvieto. After a short time in Egypt, Booley was transferred to Gallipoli where he served as part of the second wave of attacks on 25th April 1915. During the landing, he was wounded and invalided to Mudros and then Helipolis, Egypt.
After recovering from his wounds, Booley joined the 5th Infantry Battalion in France. In July 1916 he received a recommendation for a Mention in Orders as part of signals group that risked their lives to keep communications open during heavy shelling at Pozieres. By 1917, Booley had been commissioned as a lance corporal and spent time in England on leave.
After returning to the front in early 1918, he was struck down by illness and remained in hospital until September. George Booley briefly returned to the front before leaving to return to Australia on 8th October 1918.
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Sgt. Ralph Austin Brabazon 5th Battalion (d.25th June 1918) Ralph Brabazon embarked from Melbourne on HMAT 'Runic' on 19th February 1915 and disembarked Egypt, 3 April 1915. He was taken on strength of 5th Btn, in Gallipoli on 5th March 1915; He was promoted to rank of Lance Corporal, 16 July 1915; Then promoted to rank of Corporal, 23 July 1915 and promoted to rank of Sergeant, 1 September 1915.
Ralph was admitted to Sarpi Camp, Mudros West, 19th September 1915 and transferred to No 3 Stationary Hospital, Mudros, the same day then to No 2 Stationary Hospital, Mudros (diarrhoea). He was discharged to his unit ar Lemnos, 4th October 1915 but five days later was admitted to 2nd Field Ambulance, Mudros West on 9th October 1915, and transferred to 2nd Australian Stationary Hospital then to 3rd Australian General Hospital, Lemnos, 16 October 1915; He was discharged to duty on 28th October 1915 and rejoined his unit the following day.Ralph was temporarily promoted to rank of Company Sergeant Major on 29 October 1915 and reverted to permanent rank of Sergeant, 24 November 1915. He disembarked HMT 'Empress of Britain' at Alexandria, 7 January 1916 as part of the general Gallipoli evacuation.
On the 20th of January 1916 he was admitted to 2nd Australian Field Ambulance at Tel-el-Kebir, and transferred to 2nd Casualty Clearing Station (gastritis) he was sent to 2nd Australian General Hospital, Cairo, 24 January 1916 then to 3rd Auxiliary Hospital, Heliopolis, 15 February 1916 and was discharged to Overseas Base, Ghezirah, 26 February 1916 then he marched out to unit, Serapeum, 15 March 1916 and was taken on strength of 2nd Training Bn at Overseas Base, Tel-el-Kebir, 18 April 1916. He embarked from Alexandria on HT 'Caledonia' and proceeded to join British Expeditionary Force on the 9th of May 1916, he disembarked at Marseilles, 17 May 1916 and after a train journey marched into 1st Divisional Base Depot, Etaples, on 20 May 1916. Ralph was admitted to 26th General Hospital on 29th May 1916 and embarked from Boulogne on HS 'Caledonian' and proceeded to England on 12th June 1916 (influenza). he was admitted to 3rd London General Hospital the next day then transferred to 1st Auxiliary Hospital, Harefield on the 16th June 1916. he transferred to Woodcote Park Convalescent Depot, Epsom, 27th June 1916 (bronchitis) and was discharged to No 1 Command Depot, Perham Downs, 25 September 1916, and taken on strength, 26 September 1916. He marched into Infantry Drafting Depoton the 3rd of February 1917.
He proceeded to France from Southampton on 10th June 1917 and the next day marched into 1st Australian Divisional Base Depot, Havre. He marched out to 5th Bn and was taken on strength, 21 June 1917. He was admitted to 6th Australian Field Ambulance, 20 September 1917, and transferred to 10th Casualty Clearing Station (gun shot wound, head) transferring via Ambulance Train '5' on the 20th September 1917 to 25th General Hospital, Hardelot. He was discharged to duty, 13 October 1917 and marched into 1st Australian Divisional Base Depot, Havre, 18 October 1917, he marched out to rejoin his unit and was taken on strength on the 1st of November 1917.He was admitted to 3rd Australian Field Ambulance, 14 June 1918, and transferred to 15th Casualty Clearing Station (gun shot wound, thigh and forearm) he was transferred to 2nd Australian General Hospital, 15 June 1918. Ralph proceeded to England on HS 'Cambria' on 17 June 1918, and was admitted to Herne Bay Military Hospital (severe wounding). He died of wounds, on the 25th of June 1918 adn was buried at Eddington Cemetary, Herne Bay.
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Sgt. Ralph Austin Brabazon 5th Bn. (d.26th June 1918) Son of John & Hannah Jane Austin Brabazon of Westmeath, Ireland. Husband of Adelaide Brabazon of Portsea, Victoria, Australia.
He died at age 37 and is buried in Herne Bay Cemetery, Kent, England
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