Desert Anzacs

Desert Anzacs

Author: Neil Dearberg

Publisher: Interactive Publications

Published: 2017-11-01

Total Pages: 320

ISBN-13: 1925231623

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

For 100 years, the astounding story of Anzac horsemen, cameleers, aviators, rough riders, medics, vets, light and armoured cars hasn’t been told. Until now. Championed by Australia’s Lieutenant General Sir Harry Chauvel they overcame early feeble British political and military incompetence. Fast, open conflict, rather than septic trenches, suited their outback upbringing. Part of the Egyptian Expeditionary Force, they recovered the Holy Land after 730 years of Muslim control, even saving Lawrence of Arabia and his cause. Their stunning victory at the Battle of Beersheba was the last mass mounted charge of modern times. The ‘great ride’ offensive of the Desert Mounted Corps, with 30,000 horsemen, destroyed the Ottoman Empire and wreaked vengeance for Gallipoli. This is the first detailed account of the extraordinary military campaign that set the stage for today’s Middle East. Dearberg’s Anzac trilogy on World War I is now complete – Gallipoli, France, Palestine.


The Last Charge of the Australian Light Horse

The Last Charge of the Australian Light Horse

Author: Peter FitzSimons

Publisher: Hachette Australia

Published: 2023-11-01

Total Pages: 668

ISBN-13: 0733646654

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

On 31st October 1917, as the day's light faded, the Australian Light Horse charged against their enemy. Eight hundred men and horses galloped four miles across open country, towards the artillery, rifles and machine guns of the Turks occupying the seemingly unassailable town of Beersheba. What happened in the next hour changed the course of history. This brave battle and the extraordinary adventures that led to it are brought vividly to life by Australia's greatest storyteller, Peter FitzSimons. It is an epic tale of farm boys, drovers, bank clerks, dentists, poets and scoundrels transported to fight a war half a world away, and is full of incredible characters: from Major Banjo Paterson to Lawrence of Arabia; the brilliant writer Trooper Ion Idriess and the humble General Harry Chauvel; the tearaway Test fast bowler 'Tibby' Cotter and the infamous warhorse, Bill the Bastard. All have their part to play in the enthralling, sprawling drama of the Australian Light Horse. Theirs was a war fought in an ancient land with modern weapons; where the men of the Light Horse were trained in sight of the pyramids, drank in the brothels of Cairo and fought through lands known to them only as names from the Bible. The Last Charge of the Australian Light Horse traces the hard path of the Light Horse from the bleakest of starts - being deprived of their horses and fighting at Gallipoli in the tragic Battle of the Nek - to triumph and glory in the desert. Revealing the feats of the Australians who built the legend, it is a brilliantly told tale of courage, resilience and derring-do from Australia's favourite storyteller.


ANZAC Soldier vs Ottoman Soldier

ANZAC Soldier vs Ottoman Soldier

Author: Si Sheppard

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2023-03-16

Total Pages: 81

ISBN-13: 1472849167

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

In 1915–18, ANZAC and Ottoman soldiers clashed on numerous battlefields, from Gallipoli to Jerusalem. This illustrated study investigates the two sides' fighting men. The Gallipoli campaign of 1915–16 pitched the Australian and New Zealand volunteers known as the ANZACs into a series of desperate battles with the Ottoman soldiers defending their homeland. In August 1915, the bitter struggle for the high ground known as Chunuk Bair saw the peak change hands as the Allies sought to overcome the stalemate that set in following the landings in April. The ANZACs also played a key part in the battle of Lone Pine, intended to divert Ottoman attention away from the bid to seize Chunuk Bair. The Gallipoli campaign ended in Allied evacuation in the opening days of 1916. Thereafter, many ANZAC units remained in the Middle East and played a decisive role in the Allies' hard-fought advance through Palestine that finally forced the Turks to the peace table. The fateful battle of Beersheba in October 1917 pitted Australian mounted infantry against Ottoman foot soldiers as the Allies moved on Jerusalem. In this book, noted military historian Si Sheppard examines the fighting men on both sides who fought at Lone Pine, Chunuk Bair and Beersheba. The authoritative text is supported by specially commissioned artwork and mapping plus carefully chosen archive photographs.


The Australian Army in World War I

The Australian Army in World War I

Author: Robert Fleming

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

Published: 2012-06-20

Total Pages: 50

ISBN-13: 1849086338

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The importance of the Australian contribution to the Allied war effort during World War I should never be underestimated. Some 400,000 Australians volunteered for active duty, an astonishing 13 per cent of the entire (white) male population, a number so great that the Australian government was never forced to rely on conscription. Casualties were an astonishing 52 per cent of all those who served, ensuring that the effects of the war would be felt long after the armistice. In particular, their epic endeavour at Gallipoli in 1915 was the nation's founding legend, and the ANZACs went on to distinguish themselves both on the Western Front and in General Allenby's great cavalry campaign against the Turks in the Middle East. Their uniforms and insignia were also significantly different from those of the British Army and provide the basis for a unique set of artwork plates.