Editing First Australian Imperial Force (section)

==Formation==
{{main|Military history of Australia during World War I|Australian Army during World War I}}
At the start of the war, Australia's military forces were focused upon the part-time [[Citizens Military Force|Militia]]. The small number of [[Regular army|regular]] personnel were mostly [[artillerymen]] or [[Military engineers|engineers]], and were generally assigned to the task of coastal defence.{{sfn|Scott|1941|pp=191–235}} Due to the provisions of the [[Defence Act 1903]], which precluded sending conscripts overseas, upon the outbreak of war it was realised that a totally separate, all volunteer force would need to be raised.{{sfn|Grey|2008|p=85}} The Australian government pledged to supply 20,000 men organised as one [[infantry]] [[division (military)|division]] and one [[Australian Light Horse|light horse]] [[brigade]] plus supporting units, for service "wherever the British desired", in keeping with pre-war Imperial defence planning.{{sfn|Grey|2008|p=85}}{{refn|These arrangements conformed with agreements reached during the [[1911 Imperial Conference]].{{sfn|Grey|2008|p=85}}|group=Note}} The Australian Imperial Force (AIF) subsequently began forming shortly after the outbreak of war and was the brain child of [[Brigadier General]] [[William Throsby Bridges]] (later Major General) and his chief of staff, Major [[Brudenell White]].{{sfn|Grey|2008|p=88}} Officially coming into being on 15 August 1914,{{sfn|Fleming|2012|p=3}} the word 'imperial' was chosen to reflect the duty of Australians to both nation and empire.{{sfn|Dennis et al|2008|p=62}} The AIF was initially intended for service in Europe.{{sfn|Stevenson|2013|p=15}} Meanwhile, a separate 2,000-man force—known as the [[Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force]] (AN&MEF)—was formed for the task of capturing [[German New Guinea]].{{sfn|Grey|2008|p=86}} In addition, [[World War I defences of Australia|small military forces]] were maintained in Australia to defend the country from attack.{{sfn|Palazzo|2001|pp=70–76}}

Upon formation, the AIF consisted of only one infantry division, the [[1st Division (Australia)|1st Division]], and the [[1st Light Horse Brigade]]. The 1st Division was made up of the [[Australian 1st Brigade|1st Infantry Brigade]] under Colonel [[Henry Normand MacLaurin|Henry MacLaurin]], an Australian-born officer with previous part-time military service; the [[2nd Brigade (Australia)|2nd]], under Colonel [[James Whiteside McCay]], an Irish-born Australian politician and former [[Minister for Defence (Australia)|Minister for Defence]]; and the [[Australian 3rd Brigade|3rd]], under Colonel [[Ewen Sinclair-Maclagan]], a British regular officer seconded to the Australian Army before the war. The 1st Light Horse Brigade was commanded by Colonel [[Harry Chauvel]], an Australian regular, while the divisional artillery was commanded by Colonel [[Talbot Hobbs]].{{sfn|Grey|2008|p=88}}{{sfn|MacDougall|1991|p=31}} The initial response for recruits was so good that in September 1914 the decision was made to raise the [[4th Brigade (Australia)|4th Infantry Brigade]] and [[2nd Light Horse Brigade|2nd]] and [[3rd Light Horse Brigade]]s.{{sfn|Bean|1941a|pp=38–41}} The 4th Infantry Brigade was commanded by Colonel [[John Monash]], a prominent Melbourne civil engineer and businessman.{{sfn|Bean|1941a|p=137}} The AIF continued to grow through the war, eventually numbering five infantry divisions, two mounted divisions and a mixture of other units.{{sfn|Palazzo|2001|p=68}}{{sfn|Dennis et al|2008|p=187}}<ref name=ORBAT>{{cite web|last=Mallett|first=Ross|url= http://www.aif.adfa.edu.au:8888/main.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150228202933/http://www.aif.adfa.edu.au:8888/|title=Part B: Branches&nbsp;– Infantry Battalions|work=First AIF Order of Battle 1914–1918|publisher=Australian Defence Force Academy|access-date=27 December 2014|archive-date=28 February 2015}}</ref> As the AIF operated within the British war effort, its units were generally organised along the same lines as comparable [[British Army]] formations. However, there were often small differences between the structures of British and Australian units, especially in regards to the AIF infantry divisions' support units.{{sfn|Grey|2001|pp=66–67}}

Hastily deployed, the first contingent of the AIF was essentially untrained and suffered from widespread equipment shortages.{{sfn|Palazzo|2001|pp=67–68}} In early 1915 the AIF was largely an inexperienced force, with only a small percentage of its members having previous combat experience. However, many officers and non-commissioned personnel (NCOs) had previously served in the pre-war permanent or part-time forces, and a significant proportion of the enlisted personnel had received some basic military instruction as part of Australia's [[Conscription in Australia#Universal Service Scheme|compulsory training scheme]].{{sfn|Kuring|2004|p=47}} Predominantly a fighting force based on infantry [[battalion]]s and light horse [[regiment]]s—the high proportion of close combat troops to support personnel (e.g. medical, administrative, logistic, etc.) was exceeded only by the [[New Zealand Expeditionary Force]] (NZEF)—this fact at least partially accounted for the high percentage of casualties it later sustained.{{sfn|Scott|1941|p=874}}{{sfn|Kuring|2004|p=85}} Nevertheless, the AIF eventually included a large number of logistics and administrative units which were capable of meeting most of the force's needs, and in some circumstances provided support to nearby allied units.{{sfn|Wilson|2012|p=504}} However, the AIF mainly relied on the British Army for medium and heavy artillery support and other weapons systems necessary for [[combined arms]] warfare that were developed later in the war, including aircraft and [[tank]]s.{{sfn|Beaumont|2013|p=518}}