Six battalions from the 1st Australian Division took part in the attack on Lone Pine. The 2nd, 3rd and 4th Battalions from the First Brigade launched the opening assault on 6 August, with the 1st Battalion reinforcing the front line soon after. Two companies of the 12th Battalion from the Third Brigade were in reserve, moving to the front line two-and-a-half hours after the offensive started. The 7th Battalion from the Second Brigade, initially slated to attack Johnston's Jolly on the morning of 7 August, were instead brought in to reinforce the troops at Lone Pine on 8 August.
The 1st , 2nd, 3rd and 4th Battalions were recruited for the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) in New South Wales in 1914 and together formed the First Brigade. They took part in the landing at ANZAC Cove on 25 April 1915 as part of the second and third waves, and served there until the evacuation in December. The 7th Battalion, raised in Victoria, participated in the landings at ANZAC, but ten days later was transferred to Cape Helles to help in the attack on the village of Krithia. The attack captured little ground but cost the brigade almost a third of its strength.
Half of the men in the 12th Battalion were recruited from Tasmania, with South Australia and Western Australia sharing the other half. It was one of the first battalions ashore on 25 April 1915 and the battalion commander Lieutenant Colonel Lancelot Clarke was killed by a sniper within hours of the landing. The battalion was heavily involved in establishing and defending the front line of the ANZAC position and served there until the evacuation in December.
