The 17th Battalion was an infantry battalion of the Australian Army. Although its numerical designation was bestowed upon in during World War I, the 17th Battalion can trace its lineage back to 1860, when a unit of the New South Wales Volunteer Rifles was raised in St Leonards, New South Wales. This unit has since been disbanded and reformed a number times. Through its links with the units of the colonial NSW defence force, the battalion's history includes service in the Sudan and South Africa. During World War I, the 17th Battalion was raised for overseas service as part of the First Australian Imperial Force. Attached to the 5th Brigade, 2nd Division, the battalion was raised in 1915 and sent to Egypt initially, before taking part in the fighting at Gallipoli against the Turks. Later the