Before proceeding to England to establish the new department, I issued the following Farewell Order:
Upon relinquishing the command of the Australian Army Corps, in order to take up the important and difficult work of the Repatriation and Demobilization of the Australian Imperial Force, which has been entrusted to me by the Commonwealth Government, I desire to offer to all ranks of the Corps a heartfelt expression of my gratitude to all for the splendid and loyal support which they have rendered to me during the past six months.
It has been the period during which the Corps has attained its highest development, as a fighting organism, of cohesion and efficiency. This has been brought about alike by the valour of the troops of all arms and services, and by the splendid devotion of Commanders, Staffs, and Regimental Officers, and has resulted in the series of brilliant victories which have contributed in so high a measure to the overthrow and utter collapse of our principal enemy.
For the remainder of the period during which the Corps will continue to act as a military body, held in readiness for any emergency that may arise during the peace negotiations, I am confident that every man will strive to do all in his power to uphold the great renown which the Corps has so worthily won.
But, having completed our task in the main object which brought us from our distant homeland, and having thereby safeguarded the future of our Nation by the conquest of our most formidable enemy, we are now faced with another and an equally important task, namely, to prepare ourselves to resume our duties of citizenship and to assist individually and collectively in the reconstruction of the Australian Nation. Our numbers and our prestige place this opportunity in our hands, and impose upon us this great responsibility.
I feel sure that every man in the Corps will in this also worthily respond to the call of duty, and will co-operate loyally and self-sacrificingly in the realization of all plans and projects which will be developed to so worthy an end.
CHAPTER XVII
RESULTS
The time has arrived when it is proper to take stock of gains and losses, and to endeavour to appraise, at its true value, the work done by the Australian Army Corps during its long-sustained effort of the last six months of its fighting career.
It has become customary to regard the actual captures of prisoners and guns as a true index of the degree of success which has attended any series of battle operations. Every soldier knows, however, that such a standard of judgment, applied alone, would render but scant justice. The actual captures in any engagement depend more upon the state of moral of the enemy and the temperament of the attacking troops than upon the military quality of the battle effort considered as a whole. While large captures necessarily imply great victories, it does not by any means follow that small captures imply the reverse.
Nevertheless, judged by such a purely arbitrary standard, the performances of the Australian Army Corps during the period under review are worthy of being set out in particular detail.
From March 27th, when Australian troops were for the first time interposed to arrest the German advance, until October 5th, when they were finally withdrawn from the line, the total captures made by them were:
| Prisoners | 29,144 |
| Guns | 338 |