<P> The 1st Division entered the line on 23 July 1916, taking part in the assault on Pozières . Initially they succeeded in carrying the German positions with relatively small losses, however, once the Germans had recovered they directed an intense artillery barrage upon the town which resulted in heavy losses . By the time that they were relieved by the 2nd Division on 27 July, they had suffered 5,286 casualties . Two days after taking over the line, the 2nd Division was thrown into a hastily planned attack that resulted in further casualties when the Germans spotted the Australians forming up and once again subjected them to the weight of their artillery and machine guns . Another attack was launched on 4 August which, although it met with success, resulted again in such heavy casualties--almost 7,000--that the division was relieved the next day . </P> <P> Following the attack on Pozières the Australians were called upon to attack Mouquet Farm in August . All three divisions of I Anzac Corps were committed in an effort to force a breach in the German lines behind Thiepval, to the north of Pozières . The task of the initial advance fell to the 4th Division on 10 August, which had already suffered 1,000 casualties resisting the final German counter-attack, but in the ensuing battle it would lose a further three times that number as the Australians once again suffered at the hands of the German artillery, finding themselves squeezed into a frontage of less than 1.5 kilometres (0.93 mi) against which the Germans were able to concentrate the weight of their defence . Three more attacks were made over the course of the next three weeks as the Australians fought their way across the shell - pocked countryside to the farm, only to be forced out again shortly after by the concentration of German artillery . The other two divisions of I Anzac fared only slightly better in these attacks and at the end of the engagement, Australian casualties at Mouquet Farm totalled 6,300 men . </P> <P> As that battle on the Somme dragged on, the Canadian Corps was brought up and the AIF was withdrawn from the line to re-organise and reform, having suffered almost 23,000 casualties over the course of the 45 days that they had been involved . The 5th Division had been so badly mauled, having been incapacitated by the losses they had suffered at Fromelles, that it was not until October that the 5th Division finally returned to the line and joined the 1st, 2nd and 4th Divisions on the Somme near Flers . </P> <P> In March 1917 two' flying columns' from the 2nd and 5th Divisions pursued the German back to the Hindenburg Line, capturing the town of Bapaume . On 11 April, the 4th Division, consisting of the 4th and 12th Brigades, assaulted the Hindenburg Line in the First Battle of Bullecourt . The battle was a disaster, with over 3,000 casualties and 1,170 taken prisoner by the Germans . On 15 April the 1st and 2nd Divisions were struck by a German counterattack at dawn near the town of Lagnicourt, by a force of up to 23 battalions as the Germans attempted to take advantage of the weakness that had developed in the Allied line following the British offensive at Arras . The Australians were initially forced to abandon the town to the Germans and in the process several artillery batteries were lost, however, at 7: 00 am a successful counterattack was launched by four Australian battalions, resulting in the town being recaptured and the guns reclaimed . Later, on 3 May two brigades of the 2nd Division--the 5th and the 6th--took part in the Second Battle of Bullecourt, where they succeeded in taking sections of the Hindenburg Line and eventually managed to hold most these gains until they were relieved by the 1st Division . On 7 May the 5th Division was committed to relieve the 1st, remaining in the line until the battle ended in mid May . While the battle resulted in a victory for the Allies, the effort cost the AIF some 7,482 casualties and ultimately ended plans to expand the AIF to a sixth division . </P>

Where did australia fight in the western front