Fromelles: French Flanders
Fromelles: French Flanders

Author: Peter Pedersen

Publisher: Casemate Publishers

Published: 2004-04-19

Total Pages: 269

ISBN-13: 1783379731

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Historian Peter Pedersen examines the World War I battle on the Western Front that decimated an Australian regiment in Fromelles: French Flanders. The attack at Fromelles is significant for a number of reasons. It was the Australians’ first major operation on the Western Front and pitted them against a part of the German line that was an object lesson in the siting of a defense. Before the battle, the Australian Gallipoli veterans had airily dismissed the fighting in the new theater as “pleasant”. After it, they said grimly that Anzac was “a picnic” compared to France. Fromelles came as a terrible shock and was a foretaste of things to come. Both the genesis and aftermath of the operation were controversial. The objectives and the tactics employed to achieve them were changed several times and the sufficiency of resources vigorously debated. After the war, the British and Australian Official Historians argued as to how the battle should be interpreted. Most of the correspondence that accompanied their exchange of drafts has not been published. Peter Pedersen’s thorough account of the battle explores the genesis of the operation through the aftermath covering this monumental moment in World War I history.

The Battles of French Flanders
The Battles of French Flanders

Author: Jon Cookset

Publisher: Pen and Sword

Published: 2015-04-30

Total Pages: 234

ISBN-13: 1473824036

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

The battles fought by the British army in 1915, in the second year of the First World War, are less well known than those fought immediately after the outbreak of war in 1914 and those that followed in 1916 which culminated in the Battle of the Somme. But the fighting at Aubers Ridge, Festubert, Neuve Chapelle and Loos was just as severe – as was the 1916 battle at Fromelles – and the battlefields are just as interesting to explore today. This volume in the Battle Lines series is the perfect guide to them.?Expert guides Jon Cooksey and Jerry Murland take visitors over a series of routes that can be walked, biked or driven, explaining the fighting that occurred at each place in vivid detail. They describe what happened, where it happened and why and who was involved, and point out the sights that remain for the visitor to see. Their highly illustrated guidebook is essential reading for visitors who wish to enhance their understanding of warfare on the Western Front.

On the Western Front
On the Western Front

Author: John Laffin

Publisher: The History Press

Published: 2004-08-19

Total Pages: 322

ISBN-13: 0752495259

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

A serious attempt to illustrate the humanity of the soldier on the Western Front, this title reflects World War I as they saw it: from first shot to last. These tales, told to fellow men in the trenches, behind the lines, at base hospitals and at the estaminets and billets during rest periods, have been recorded here.

Walking with the ANZACS
Walking with the ANZACS

Author: Mat McLachlan

Publisher: Hachette Australia

Published: 2010-11-01

Total Pages: 352

ISBN-13: 0733626033

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

'[Mat McLachlan's] knowledge of the front is comprehensive' - Sydney Morning Herald A complete guide to the Australian battlefields of the Western Front 1916-18. Walking with the ANZACs aims to become the new essential companion for Australians visiting the Western Front. Each of the 14 most important Australian battlefields is covered with descriptions of the battles and Australia’s involvement in it. The book presents a well-illustrated walking tour across the old battlefields. The tours are designed along easily accessible walking routes and show readers battlefield landmarks that still exist, memorials to the men who fought there and the cemeteries where many of them still lie. In this way the visitor will see the battlefield in much the same way as the original ANZACs did, and gain a greater appreciation of the site’s significance. Importantly, the tours are not written for military experts, but for ordinary visitors whose military knowledge may be limited. More than just a handy travel guide, Walking with the ANZACs is an absorbing read for armchair travellers and students of the First World War who may not have had the opportunity to visit the battle fields and walk in the footsteps of the first ANZACs.

Fromelles
Fromelles

Author: Patrick Lindsay

Publisher: Hardie Grant Publishing

Published: 2008

Total Pages: 514

ISBN-13: 1740666844

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

On 19 July 1916, in the northern French village of Fromelles, Australia suffered its worst-ever military defeat when a British officer ordered 15,000 of our best and bravest to go 'over the top' and attack the German lines. Eight hours later, more than 5500 Diggers lay dead or wounded: the equivalent of all Australian casualties from the Boer, Korean and Vietnam wars combined. In addition, some 400 of our boys were taken prisoner, but almost 200 vanished and remain missing to this day. Fromelles ranks as Australia's worst military disaster, yet it barely rates a mention in our history books and is absent from our war memorials. What happened to the Diggers who mysteriously disappeared? In an enthralling mix of detective story and passionate historical retelling, Patrick Lindsay travels across the world to the killing f elds of northern France in his quest to honour our fallen, and unravel one of the greatest unsolved mysteries of World War I. Fromelles tells the story of the painstaking detective work of a group of Australian amateur historians that led to the discovery of the location of the largest mass war grave site since the Second World War. It follows the story of the battle and why the historians believed the site was missed. It also takes us to the first inconclusive exploration of the site by archaeologists in 2007.

ANZACS on the Western Front
ANZACS on the Western Front

Author: Peter Pedersen

Publisher: John Wiley & Sons

Published: 2018-02-14

Total Pages: 825

ISBN-13: 0730337383

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

A newly updated, lavishly illustrated account of the ANZACs involvement in the Western Front—complete with walking and driving tours of 28 battlefields. With rare photographs and documents from the Australian War Memorial archive and extensive travel information, this is the most comprehensive guide to the battlefields of the Western Front on the market. Every chapter covers not just the battles, but the often larger-than-life personalities who took part in them. Following a chronological order from 1916 through 1918, the book leads readers through every major engagement the Australian and New Zealanders fought in and includes tactical considerations and extracts from the personal diaries of soldiers. Anzacs On The Western Front: The Australian War Memorial Battlefield Guide is the perfect book for anyone who wants to explore the battlefields of the Western Front, either in-person or from the comfort of home. It does far more than show where the lines that generals drew on their maps actually ran on the ground and retrace the footsteps of the men advancing towards them. It is a graphic and wide-ranging record of the Australian and New Zealand achievements, and of the huge sacrifices both nations made, in what is still arguably the most grueling episode in their history. A complete guide to the ANZAC battlefields on the Western Front—featuring short essays on important personalities and events, details on relevant cemeteries, museums, memorials and nearby places of interest, and general travel information. Carefully researched and illustrated with colorful maps and both modern and period photographs. Includes information about the Sir John Monash Centre near Villers-Bretonneux in France—a new interpretative museum set to open on Anzac Day 2018, coinciding with the centenary of the Year of Victory 1918. Anzacs On The Western Front: The Australian War Memorial Battlefield Guide is the perfect book for historians, history buffs, military enthusiasts, and Australians and New Zealanders who want to explore the military history and battlefields of their heritage.

The Medics of World War One
The Medics of World War One

Author: Kevin Hargreaves

Publisher: Lulu.com

Published: 2018-12-22

Total Pages: 360

ISBN-13: 024474422X

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

'Medics' takes a look at the role men played in the care of the sick and wounded during World War One. There is a certain perception, and certainly if one looks at the so-called docudramas related to the injured servicemen during World War One, it would appear that men played no role in the sick and injured men's care. It would be very easy to get the impression that all the care was given by the Queen Alexandra's Imperial Military Nursing Service. This is not the case; the care of the sick and wounded actually started in no man's land where they were cared for by the regimental stretcher-bearers and the RAMC orderlies all the way down the line to the Casualty Clearing Stations and even in the General Hospitals. Throughout the text we follow the journey of the wounded from no man's land, down the evacuation chain to the general hospital in England and the colonies, and illustrate the role that the male caregivers undertook in the care of the wounded.

An Australian Family Poignancy in WWI
An Australian Family Poignancy in WWI

Author: Bob East

Publisher: Cambridge Scholars Publishing

Published: 2019-11-12

Total Pages: 145

ISBN-13: 1527543285

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Australia’s participation in World War I—and subsequent casualties—was unparalleled in its short history, and, it is fair to say, will never be repeated again. Briefly, out of just over 1,000,000 men who were eligible to enlist and fight overseas, 420,000 did just that. Of this number, over 62,000 were killed and a further 156,000 were wounded—56.7%. If that was translated into Australia’s population today—approximately twenty-five million—it would equate into over one million casualties. This was over a period of just over four years. This publication traces the enlistment and subsequent deaths on the Western Front, France, of two Australian brothers—James and George Stevens—from a rural town in South-East Queensland, Australia. The book is rich in primary evidence, such as correspondence to their families. It also covers the main battles on the Western Front and includes the various memorials—national and international—dedicated to Australia’s losses. Students of Australia’s military history, as well as people who try to make some sense of these enormous losses, will find this book invaluable.

The Legend of Albert Jacka
The Legend of Albert Jacka

Author: Peter FitzSimons

Publisher: Hachette Australia

Published: 2024-10-30

Total Pages: 611

ISBN-13: 0733646719

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Our heroes can come from the most ordinary of places. As a shy lad growing up in country Victoria, no one in the district had any idea the man Albert Jacka would become. Albert 'Bert' Jacka was 21 when Britain declared war on Germany in August 1914. Bert soon enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force and the young private was assigned to 14th Battalion D Company. By the time they shipped out to Egypt he'd been made a Lance Corporal. On 26 April 1915, 14th Battalion landed at Gallipoli under the command of Brigadier General Monash's 4th Infantry Brigade. It was here, on 20 May, that Lance Corporal Albert Jacka proved he was 'the bravest of the brave'. The Turks were gaining ground with a full-scale frontal attack and as his comrades lay dead or dying in the trenches around him, Jacka single-handedly held off the enemy onslaught. The Turks retreated. Jacka's extraordinary efforts saw him awarded the Victoria Cross, the first for an Australian soldier in World War I. He was a national hero, but Jacka's wartime exploits had only just begun: moving on to France, he battled the Germans at Pozières, earning a Military Cross for what historian Charles Bean called 'the most dramatic and effective act of individual audacity in the history of the AIF'. Then at Bullecourt, his efforts would again turn the tide against the enemy. There would be more accolades and adventures before a sniper's bullet and then gassing at Villers-Bretonneux sent Bert home. The Legend of Albert Jacka is an unforgettable story of the bravery and sacrifice of one extraordinary soldier that takes us from the shores of Gallipoli to the battlefields of France, all brought to vivid life by Australia's greatest storyteller, Peter FitzSimons.