 As the war continued , the manpower shortages continued . Wounded men were being pressed back into service , and there were cases of " combat refusal " by the 1st and 59th Battalions . On 23 September 1918 , Monash ordered the breakup of some under @-@ strength battalions to reinforce others . In the AIF the battalion was the source of pride and identification for the men , rather than the regiment as in the British Army , so in some cases this order was defied – some men , who were not eligible to draw rations as their unit no longer officially existed , lived by stealing food or sharing with other units . Monash rescinded the order for a while but eventually " the Heads " ( as Australians called their senior officers ) enforced the change by marching off companies by night into different battalions . The change ultimately proved unnecessary as the war ended shortly after . 
