It was re-formed in 1973 as a full division based in Queensland and in the decades that followed it formed the Australian Army's main formation, including both Regular and Reserve personnel.

Throughout this period, the division's component units undertook multiple operations, mainly focused on peacekeeping in Africa, Asia and the Middle East.

The division consisted of around 18,000 men, organised into three infantry brigades, each of four battalions, and various supporting units including artillery, light horse, engineers and medical personnel.

[9] Critical fights developed on the left, over the hill known as Baby 700, and on the right on 400 Plateau,[10] but stalemate set in and little further progress would be made for the remaining eight months of the campaign.

[11] On 15 May 1915, after Bridges was mortally wounded by a sniper,[12] an English officer, Brigadier General Harold Walker was given temporary command while a replacement was dispatched from Australia.

[19] On 7 August, the 6th Battalion from the 2nd Brigade made an unsuccessful attempt to capture the German Officers' Trench as a preliminary operation to other assaults by light horsemen at Quinn's Post and the Nek.

[24] After reorganising in Egypt, where it was briefly employed to defend the Suez Canal against an Ottoman attack that never came,[25] the 1st Division was transferred to France in mid-March.

Arriving in Marseilles, they were moved by train to northern France where it was initially sent to a quiet sector south of Armentières to acclimatise to the Western Front conditions.

When the 1st Division attacked shortly after midnight on 23 July, it succeeded in capturing half of the village but failed to make progress in the neighbouring German trench system.

[27] The division rotated through the line, conducting patrols and raids until 5 September when I Anzac Corps was withdrawn from the Somme and sent to Ypres for rest.

The battlefield had been reduced to a slough of mud but the 1st Division was required to mount a number of attacks around Gueudecourt during the Battle of Le Transloy; all ended in failure which was inevitable in the conditions.

[29] The division advanced against the German screen towards Bapaume and, on the night of 26 February, the 3rd Brigade captured the villages of Le Barque and Ligny-Thilloy.

[32] For actions during the fighting at Boursies, Captain James Newland and Sergeant John Whittle, both of the 12th Battalion (3rd Brigade), were awarded the Victoria Cross.

[34] Once the first attempt on Bullecourt had failed, British attention concentrated on Arras and the Fifth Army's front was stretched thin with the 1st Division having to cover more than 12,000 yards (11,000 m).

The German attempts to drive the British from their gains finally ceased on 17 May and the 1st Division was withdrawn for an extended rest, having suffered 2,341 casualties.

[43] The division remained active in Flanders from May to July, engaging in a process of informal but carefully planned raiding known as peaceful penetration.

[46] The 1st Division continued the attack for the next three days, driving towards Lihons, but progress was slow as the Australians moved beyond their supporting guns and tanks.

[32] In early October, the rest of the Australian Corps, severely depleted due to heavy casualties and falling enlistments in Australia, was also withdrawn upon a request made by Prime Minister Billy Hughes, to re-organise in preparation for further operations.

[50] On 11 November, an armistice came into effect, and as hostilities came to an end, the division's personnel were slowly repatriated back to Australia for demobilisation and discharge.

The memorial lists the division's main battles as: Pozières, Mouquet Farm, Le Barque, Thilloy, Boursies, Demicourt, Hermies, Lagnicourt, Bullecourt, Third Ypres, Menin Road, Broodseinde Ridge, Poelcapelle, Second Passchendaele, Hazebrouck, Second Somme, Lihons, Chuignolles, Hindenburg Line and Épehy.

[55] Thus the 1st Division was re-raised as a reserve formation, initially under the command of Colonel Charles Brand, composed primarily of infantry units based in New South Wales and Queensland.

[56] During the inter-war years, the assignment of battalions to brigades and divisions varied considerably within the Army and as a result the 1st Division's composition was changed a number of times; its initial order of battle included three infantry brigades – the 1st, 7th and 8th – each of four infantry battalions, and various supporting elements including engineers, field ambulance, artillery, signals, transport, medical, veterinarians and service corps troops.

[58] At this stage the division was partly mobilised, although as the provisions of the Defence Act (1903) precluded the deployment of the Militia to fight outside of Australian territory, it was decided to raise an all volunteer force for overseas service.

After fighting broke out in the Pacific, however, in December 1941 members of the Militia were prevented from joining the AIF and were called up for full-time service to bolster defences in Australia in an effort to counter the possibility of attacks by Japanese land forces against the Australian mainland.

[59] Later a number of Militia formations took part in the fighting against the Japanese in the Pacific, notably in New Guinea and Borneo, however, the 1st Division remained in Australia throughout the war.

[61] As manpower restrictions in the Australian economy forced the early demobilisation of large numbers of men, the majority of which came from infantry units in Australia that were not involved in fighting overseas.

In November the following year, the division was established at Enoggera Barracks in Brisbane, Queensland, and was re-formed as the Australian Army's "main striking force".

[60] Throughout the Cold War era, the division grew into a formation of over 13,000 personnel, which, at its peak in the early 2000s consisted of four brigades: two Regular, one integrated and one Reserve spread across Queensland, New South Wales and the Northern Territory.

These include peacekeeping operations in Namibia, Western Sahara, Cambodia, Somalia, Rwanda, East Timor, and the Solomon Islands.

[66] Following the establishment of Forces Command, in 2009, and the implementation of the "Adaptive Army" initiative it was decided that no combat units would be directly assigned to the 1st Division on a permanent basis.