From the battalion history site: http://www.41bnassoc.com.au/history.php

 

 

1917

The battalion rotated through the frontline around Armentieres in France and across the Lys River in Belgium for most of the first half of 1917. 

The first major offensive of the war occurred in June at the Battle of Messines, where the battalion held the entire 11th Brigade frontage before the mines were set off and the assault began. The battalion was then involved in a series of smaller "Bite and Hold" attacks to exploit the gains from the Battle of Messines. 

Most notable of these was the assault against the 'Windmill' position of the Germans near Warneton, Belgium.

The previous British battalion has stopped short of their intended objective, due to navigational errors on the churned up battlefield.

The 41st Battalion thus had to assault across a longer than expected area, then hold on to their gains. The wet and saturated soils meant that trenches were nearly impossible to dig, so the position was merely a series of linked up flooded shell craters, from which the battalion repulsed several counter attacks over the next 18 days. 

Military Medals were awarded to two soldiers during this action for the heroic and near impossible act of being able to bring rations up to the frontline.

After this action, the battalion was withdrawn from the frontline to the northern France and was brought back up to strength and under went further training. 

The next major battle was the participation in the Battle of Broodseinde and Passchendaele in September and October. This saw the battalion leap-frogging the 42nd Bn AIF, to continue the assault, north of the Ypres–Roulers railway. It linked up with the 40th Bn AIF near the present day Tyne Cot Cemetery. The battalion then was used to press home further attacks, until relieved by Canadian forces who went on to capture Passchendaele.

1918

In early 1918, the battalion was resting and refitting in northern France, preparing to return to the Belgian battlefields near Ypres, when the German Spring Offensive occurred and caught the Entente forces off guard. 

The battalion was hastily ordered south from their rest camp at Quesques to stop the German advance. In the move south, they encountered thousands of fleeing refugees and disorganised retreating British units. At Doullens, the battalion took up defensive positions whilst the Doullens Conference took place, putting all allied Entente forces under French command.After which, the battalion was sent forward to defend beside the Bray–Corbie Road, near Amiens, remaining in the frontline against constant German attack for 39 days before being relieved.

 It also took part in fighting around Morlancourt at this time.

The battalion then took its turn in manning the frontline, including at Villers-Bretonneux, where 'A' Company was essentially wiped out in a German gas attack. Thus to reinforce the battalion before the Battle of Hamel, it was linked up with the American 131st Regiment of the Illinois National Guard, forming a new 'X' Company. However, General John Pershing forbade any American soldiers to fight under foreign command and they were withdrawn shortly before the battle commenced. The battalion then took part in the Allied Hundred Days Offensive which ultimately brought about an end to the war. 

The 41st Battalion's final involvement in the fighting came in early October when they took part in the joint Australian–US operation along the St Quentin Canal.

After finishing the Hundred Days Offensive near Bony, France, near the present Somme American Cemetery and Memorial, the battalion had been reduced to a strength of less than 250 men, from a normal strength of over 1,000. Due to falling recruitment numbers and the failure of the two conscription referendums in Australia, it was decided to merge the 42nd Bn AIF into the 41st. However, this was met with strong resentment and resistance, in a near mutinous atmosphere, it took three attempts for the units to parade as one, with the 42nd Bn becoming 'B' Company of the 41st Bn.

It was out of the line resting when the Armistice was signed in November 1918, yet it took three days for official news of the Armistice to reach them in Saint-Maxent, France. 

The unit was slowly sent home in a series of groups and was formally disbanded in May 1919.