Proposed Australian and New Zealand Army

As a result, the plan was abandoned, and Australian and New Zealand divisions instead served as part of British field armies, for the remainder of World War I.

[4] During this period Birdwood also encouraged the formation of a Dominion Army which would have included the Canadian forces in France as well as the AIF and NZEF.

[6] Haig rejected this proposal, stating that the size of the Australian and New Zealand forces was insufficient to justify forming them into an army.

He also made a vague offer to potentially group the Australian divisions under Birdswood's tactical control "for some special operations" in the future.

[9] Writing in 2022, the Australian military historian David Horner judged that "there was an element of aggrandisement and delusion in Australia wanting to form an army of six divisions" in 1916.

Australian Prime Minister Billy Hughes (at left) with Lieutenant-General William Birdwood in early 1916. The two men were the main proponents of establishing an Australian and New Zealand Army.