how many australian soldiers died in the battle of fromelles
Battle of Fromelles The battle caused one of the greatest numbers of Australian deaths in action in 24 hours, surpassed only at the Battle of Bullecourt in 1917.[g] The 5th Australian Division lost 5,513 casualties, 2,000 men in the 8th Brigade, 1,776 men of the 15th Brigade, 1,717 men in the 14th Brigade and 88 men from the divisional engineers; two battalions had so many casualties that they had to be rebuilt. Of 887 personnel from the 60th Battalion, only one officer and 106 other ranks survived unwounded and the 32nd Battalion suffered 718 casualties. The 31st Battalion had 544 casualties and the 32nd Battalion lost 718 men killed and wounded.[41][42] The 61st Division was already under strength before the battle, engaged half as many men as the 5th Australian Division and lost 1,547 casualties. German casualties in the 6th Bavarian Reserve Division were 1,600–2,000 men.[22] Allied soldiers killed in the area that was re-taken by the Germans, were buried shortly after the battle. The burial pits were photographed from a British reconnaissance aircraft on 21 July but marked as dugouts or trench-mortar positions. The bodies were taken by narrow gauge trench railway on 22 July and buried in eight 10 m × 2.2 m × 5 m (32.8 ft × 7.2 ft × 16.4 ft) pits.[43]
Military history of Australia during World War I After the Gallipoli Campaign, Australian troops returned to Egypt and the AIF underwent a major expansion, which involved the raising of another three infantry divisions—the 3rd, 4th and 5th—and the establishment of the Anzac Mounted Division.[56] In March 1916, the infantry began to move to France while the cavalry units stayed in the area and fought Turkish troops and the Senussi Arab tribes that were threatening British control of Egypt.[65][66] Mounted troops were particularly important in the defence of Egypt and Australian troops of the Anzac Mounted Division saw action in all the major battles of the campaign, first seeing combat in the Battle of Romani.[67] Apart from the horsemen, the mounted troops included the 1st Imperial Camel Corps Brigade. This was organised as a mounted infantry brigade. Of its four battalions, the 1st and 3rd were composed of Australians, the 2nd was British, and the 4th was half Australian and half New Zealand.[68] The cameliers participated in most of the fighting in Egypt and Palestine until the brigade was disbanded in July 1918. The Australian and New Zealand components then traded their camels for horses and became the 5th Light Horse Brigade.[69]