The 26th Battalion was an infantry battalion of the Australian Army. Originally raised in April 1915 for service in World War I as part of the Australian Imperial Force (AIF), it was assigned to the 7th Brigade and consisted of personnel recruited from the states of Queensland and Tasmania. The battalion fought at Gallipoli in the latter stages of that campaign before being withdrawn to Egypt in late 1915. In mid-1916, it was sent to Europe where it served in the trenches of the Western Front in France and Belgium for the rest of the war, fighting in most of the battles that the Australians took part in between 1916 and 1918. At the end of the war, it was disbanded in May 1919 as part of the demobilisation of the AIF. During the inter-war years, the 26th Battalion was re-raised as a part-time unit of the Citizens Forces, known as the 26th Battalion (Logan and Albert Regiment), based in Queensland. In 1934, the 26th was merged with another Queensland-based infantry battalion, the 15th Battalion, to become the 15th/26th Battalion. The two units were subsequently delinked in 1939 when the new 26th Australian Infantry Battalion was raised in Queensland as Australia mobilised for war. The battalion was assigned to the 11th Brigade at this time and used in various garrison roles in the early part of World War II before a detachment was sent to the Dutch East Indies as part of Merauke Force in 1943. Later in the war, the entire 26th Battalion, along with the rest of the 11th Brigade, was committed to the Bougainville campaign where they saw action against the Japanese from late 1944 until the end of hostilities in August 1945. After the war, the 26th Battalion was used to guard Japanese prisoners on Rabaul, remaining there until March 1946, before returning to Australia for demobilisation. It was subsequently disbanded in August 1946. History World War I The 26th Battalion was originally raised in April 1915 as part of the all-volunteer Australian Imperial Force (AIF). Drawing recruits from Tasmania and Queensland, the battalion concentrated at Enoggera, Queensland, where it formed part of the 7th Brigade, which was attached to the 2nd Division. The battalion's first commanding officer was Lieutenant Colonel George Ferguson. With an authorised strength of 1,023 men, after a short period of basic training, the battalion's first draft – consisting of two companies