90th Anniversary of the Second DivisionPrint Page

The Lone Pine tree commemorates the 90th anniversary of the Second Division which served in World War One.

In June 1915, the General Officer Commanding the Australian Imperial Force, Major General John Gordon Legge, put forward a proposal to form a Second Division from units training in Egypt. This proposal was accepted by the Australian government on 10 July 1915 and Legge designated Brigadier General James W. McCay to command it. Unfortunately, McCay broke his leg the next day. Legge then took on the job himself.

The Division was formed in Egypt July 1915 and moved to Gallipoli in August, serving there until the withdrawal to Egypt in December 1915. In March 1916 it was the first division to move to France, taking over part of the "nursery" sector around Armentieres. On 27 July 1916, it relieved the First Division at Pozieres and captured the Pozieres Heights at great cost. Two more tours of the Somme followed in August and November.

In March 1917 a flying column of the Second Division pursued the Germans to the Hindenburg Line. At Lagnicourt on 15 April 1917, it struck by a powerful German counterattack, which it repelled. On 3 May 1917 the Division assaulted the Hindenburg Line in the Second Battle of Bullecourt, holding the breach thus gained against furious counterattacks. During the Third Battle of Ypres, it fought with great success at Menin Road in September and Broodeseinde in October.

In March 1918 the Second Division helped halt the German offensive in the Somme region and fought in the Battle of Hamel in July and the Battle of Amiens in August.

In September 1918 it took Mont Saint Quentin by storm in one of the finest feats of fighting of the war. It fought on to the Hindenburg Line and beyond, becoming the last division to be withdrawn.

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