3rd Battalion (Australia)

3rd Battalion (Australia)

The 3rd Battalion was an infantry battalion of the Australian Army. Originally raised as part of the First Australian Imperial Force for service during World War I, the battalion formed part of the 1st Brigade, attached to the 1st Division. It was formed shortly after the war broke out and was among the first Australian units to be sent overseas, arriving in Egypt in December 1914. In April 1915 the battalion participated in the Landing at Anzac Cove, coming ashore in the second and third waves. In December 1915 the 3rd Battalion was evacuated from the Gallipoli peninsula and withdrawn to Egypt again, where it took part in the defence of the Suez Canal before being sent to France to fight on the Western Front in March 1916. For the next two and a half years the unit would serve in the trenches in France and Belgium and would take part in many of the major battles fought during that time. In May 1919, following the end of the war, the battalion was disbanded and its personnel repatriated back to Australia.

In 1921, however, the AIF was officially disbanded and the previously-existing militia units of the Australian Military Forces were reorganised in order to perpetuate the designations and battle honours of their associated AIF units. As a result, the 3rd Battalion (The Werriwa Regiment), was raised around the area to the west of Sydney. Between 1921 and 1939 the battalion underwent a number of reorganisations and merges due to the economic pressures brought about by the Great Depression and subsequently in 1930 the battalion was merged with the 4th Battalion (Australian Rifles), before being delinked in 1937, when it was amalgamated with the 53rd Battalion (West Sydney Regiment).

Following the outbreak of World War II, many members of the battalion volunteered for service with the Second Australian Imperial Force and were allocated to the 2/3rd Battalion, with whom they served in North Africa, Syria, Greece, Crete and then later in New Guinea. In 1942, following the entry of Japan into the war, the 3rd Battalion (The Werriwa Regiment) was mobilised and brought up to its full wartime establishment with national servicemen. In May 1942 the battalion was sent to Port Moresby, where it joined the rest of the 30th Brigade, to undertake garrison duties. In July the Japanese landed around Gona and as reinforcements were brought up from Australia, elements of the 30th Brigade began a number of delaying actions around Kokoda. In September 1942, the 3rd Battalion was sent up the Kokoda Trail, where it had the distinction of being one of only two militia units to fight alongside its associated AIF unit. Over the next couple of months it assisted in the recapturing of Kokoda, before participating in the fighting around Buna and Gona. In 1943 the battalion was withdrawn to Australia along with the rest of the 30th Brigade, where it was subsequently disbanded in July and its personnel absorbed into its associated AIF unit, the 2/3rd Battalion.

In 1948, the battalion was re-raised as part of the Citizens Military Force, based around Canberra. In 1960, when the Australian Army was reorganised along Pentropic lines, the battalion was reduced to a company-sized unit and formed 'C' Company, 3rd Battalion, Royal New South Wales Regiment (3 RNSWR). In 1965, this company was expanded to become a full battalion again when the Pentropic divisional structure was abandoned; however, in 1987, 3 RNSWR was amalgamated with 4 RNSWR to form the 4th/3rd Battalion, Royal New South Wales Regiment.