48th Battalion (Australia)

48th Battalion (Australia)
Soldiers from the 48th Battalion before their final attack at Le Verguier, September 1918
Active	1916–1919 1921–1930 1930–1939 (43rd/48th Battalion) 1939–1942 1942–1945 (10th/48th Battalion) 1952–1960 (43rd/48th Battalion)
Country	Australia
Branch	Australian Army
Type	Infantry
Size	~800–1,000 officers and men
Part of	12th Brigade 4th Division
Nickname(s)	"Joan of Arc Battalion"[1]
Engagements	World War I Western Front World War II
Insignia
Unit colour patch

The 48th Battalion was an infantry battalion of the Australian Army. It was originally raised in 1916 for service during World War I and took part in the fighting in the trenches of the Western Front in France and Belgium, before being disbanded in early 1919. After the war, the battalion was re-raised as a part-time unit based initially in Victoria and later in South Australia. In 1930 it was amalgamated with the 43rd Battalion and remained so until late 1939, subsequently being linked with the 10th Battalion in 1942. The battalion did not see combat during World War II, and after the war was re-raised as an amalgamated unit, again with the 43rd Battalion, in 1952. They remained linked until 1960 when the 43rd/48th Battalion was subsumed by the Royal South Australia Regiment.