User:Familyties2016/sandbox

Three cousins are going on a trek together to follow their Grandfathers Footprints in the 41st Battalion  in the first World War. "Want to go to France?" cousin number one asked cousin number three and she got on board and invited others. That's how we got cousin number two to say yes and buy tickets for this special trek. We have planned and organised for 6 months and now it is time to reap the rewards. 

41st Australian Infantry Battalion The 41st Battalion was raised at Bell's Paddock Camp in Brisbane in February 1916 with recruits from Brisbane, northern Queensland and the northern rivers district of New South Wales. It formed part of the 11th Brigade of the 3rd Australian Division.

After training in Australia and Britain, the 41st Battalion arrived in France on 25 November 1916. It entered the front line for the first time on Christmas Eve and spent the bleak winter of 1916-17 alternating between service in the front line, and training and labouring in the rear areas.

Compared to some AIF battalions, the 41st's experience of the battles in Belgium during 1917 was relatively straightforward. It had a supporting role at Messines on 7 June, captured its objectives at Broodseinde on 4 October with little difficulty, and was spared the carnage of Passchendaele on 12 October. It was some of the battalion's more "routine" tasks that proved its most trying experiences. At the end of June 1917, the 11th Brigade was ordered to establish a new front line west of Warneton, in full view of the Germans. Work carried on night and day under heavy shellfire and the period became known to the battalion as "the 18 days". The start of August found the 41st holding ground captured by two of its sister battalions in a feint attack on 31 July. Enduring continual rain, flooded trenches and heavy shelling many of the battalion's platoons dwindled from 35 men to less than ten.

Belgium remained the focus of the 41st Battalion's activities for the five months after its action in October 1917 as it was rotated between service in the rear areas and the front line. When the German Army launched its last great offensive in March 1918, the battalion was rushed south to France and played a role in blunting the drive towards the vital railway junction of Amiens.

The Allies launched their own offensive on 8 August 1918, and the 41st played an active role both in the initial attack and the long advance that followed throughout August and into September. The 41st participated in its last major action of the war between 29 September and 2 October 1918 as part of the Australian-American operation that breached the formidable defences of the Hindenburg Line along the St Quentin Canal. The battalion was out of the line when the war ended, and was disbanded in May 1919. References The Forty First, (St Maxen: 41st Battalion, A.I.F, 1919). AWM4/23/58/1-23/58/31 Category Unit Related conflicts First World War, 1914-1918

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Frederick MEREDITH Regimental number 3340 Place of birth Georgetown Queensland Religion Church of England Occupation Labourer Address Kelvin Grove, Queensland Marital status Single Age at embarkation 22 Next of kin Friend, George Gilbert, Darkham, Georgetown, Queensland Enlistment date 16 May 1917 Rank on enlistment Private Unit name 41st Battalion, 8th Reinforcement

AWM Embarkation Roll number 23/58/3 Embarkation details Unit embarked from Sydney, New South Wales, on board HMAT A20Hororata on 14 June 1917 Rank from Nominal Roll Private Unit from Nominal Roll 41st Battalion Fate Returned to Australia 21 December 1918