The 51st Battalion, Far North Queensland Regiment (51 FNQR) is an Australian Army Regional Force Surveillance Unit headquartered at Porton Barracks in Cairns. The battalion's primary role is to conduct reconnaissance and surveillance tasks in support of border security operations. Its area of operations includes the Torres Strait (especially Australia's border with Papua New Guinea) and the Cape York littoral environment. Additional tasks for 51FNQR include the collection and collation of military geographic information as well as community engagement and disaster relief operations. Soldiers in the unit are cross-trained in a variety of "low-visibility" skills such as weapons, survival, sniping, medic, small boat handling, driving, tracking, air operations. It is the only battalion of the Far North Queensland Regiment, and draws its lineage from an Australian Imperial Force (AIF) light infantry battalion, which was raised for service during World War I. History World War I The 51st Battalion was originally raised in Egypt in early 1916 as part of the reorganisation and expansion of the AIF following the Gallipoli campaign. This was achieved by transferring cadres of experienced personnel predominately from units of the 1st Division to the newly formed battalions and combining them with recently recruited personnel who had been dispatched as reinforcements from Australia. The unit's first intake of personnel were drawn from men originating from Western Australia, many of whom had already served with the 11th Battalion during the fighting in Turkey. As a result, at the time of its formation, it inherited the battle honour awarded to the mounted infantry from Western Australia who served during the Second Boer War. Under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Arthur Murray Ross, a regular British Army officer, the battalion—as part of the 13th Brigade attached to the 4th Australian Division—sailed for France, arriving in Marseilles on 12 June 1916. Shortly afterwards it was committed to the fighting, taking part in the Battle of Mouquet Farm during August and September. In three weeks, the battalion lost 650 men killed or wounded. Following this, it moved to Belgium where it saw service on the Hindenburg Line, participating in the battles at Messines and Polygon Wood in 1917. In early 1918, it assisted in the repulse of the major German offensive on the Western Front following the collapse of Russia. On the morning of 24/25 April 1918—Anzac Day—the battalion took part in an Allied counter-attack at Villers-Bretonneux, in France, where they suffered