The 19th Battalion was an infantry battalion of the Australian Army. Although the unit's numerical designation was bestowed upon it during World War I, the unit can trace its origins back to 1860 when a Volunteer Rifle corps was raised in South Sydney. During World War I, the 19th Battalion was raised as a unit of the Australian Imperial Force, attached to the 5th Brigade, of the 2nd Division. The unit was formed in 1915 and was first sent to Gallipoli where it fought against the Turks, before being withdrawn from the peninsula and being sent to France in early 1916, where it served in the trenches along the Western Front. Over the next two years the battalion fought in many major battles and won numerous battle honours. In April 1918 it took part in defending against the German Spring Off