Goodbye Cobber, God Bless You

Goodbye Cobber, God Bless You PDF

Author: John Hamilton

Publisher: Pan Australia

Published: 2007-11-10

Total Pages: 381

ISBN-13: 1741970911

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On August 7th 1915, men of the 3rd Light Horse Brigade staged one of the most tragic, brave and futile charges of the First World War. Seeking to break out of the Anzac position at Gallipoli they attempted to storm an extraordinarily strong Turkish position, defended by artillery, machineguns and thousands of men, using nothing but fixed bayonets and raw courage. The first wave of Light Horsemen were killed within seconds of leaving their trench, yet over the course of the next few minutes, three more lines went over the top, across the bodies of their dead and dying comrades, only to be instantly cut down themselves. All of them knew they were about to die. None held back. It was a massacre immortalised in Peter Weir's film, Gallipoli. Just before the order was given to send the third line, Trooper Harold Rush turned to his mate standing next to him and said 'Goodbye cobber. God bless you'. These words appear on his headstone, in the little cemetery near the scene of the charge. John Hamilton's book follows the men who fought and died in this action from the recruiting frenzy of August 1914, to their training camps, to Egypt, to the peninsula itself, to that fatal morning. It is a work of meticulous research and detail, which puts flesh on the bones of long dead men and boys. We see through their eyes the excitement, fear and horror of a generation encountering the carnage of modern war for the first time. Goodbye Cobber, God Bless You is compelling, personal and painfully moving.

Walking Gallipoli

Walking Gallipoli PDF

Author: Stephen Chambers

Publisher: Pen and Sword

Published: 2019-12-19

Total Pages: 395

ISBN-13: 1473880866

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A walking tour guidebook for travelers and armchair historians interested in visiting the sites of the World War I campaign in Turkey. Gallipoli was a First World War tragedy, a side show that had ambitious hopes to end the war early. Despite the immense gallantry displayed by those fighting, from the beginning, this grand scale 1915 operation was plagued with mismanagement. Failure in high places betrayed the heroism in the field, resulting in casualties of over half a million. Those who visit the area today owe to those who served and died a conscious effort to see beyond the heartbreak and futility, to appreciate the what, the how, and the why. There is no better way to do this today than walking the battlefields with this invaluable guide. From the beaches and fields of Helles to the precipitous heights of Anzac and the plains of Suvla, this book guides the walker to the key points of the campaign. Infamous names that are synonymous with the fighting are covered: Sedd-el Bahr, Krithia, Achi Baba, the Vineyard, Gully Ravine, Kereviz Dere, Lone Pine, the Nek, Chunuk Bair, Lala Baba, Chocolate Hill, Kidney Hill and Kiretch Tepe. All of these features are set in a scene of beauty and tragedy that still pervades this eastern Mediterranean peninsula. In total there are ten walks, some challenging, others not, with a narrative that helps make sense of it all. “Whether you are looking for a guidebook or a concise introduction to the campaign, Chambers’s offering is well worth your attention.” —WW1 Geek

The Last Charge of the Australian Light Horse

The Last Charge of the Australian Light Horse PDF

Author: Peter FitzSimons

Publisher: Hachette Australia

Published: 2023-11-01

Total Pages: 668

ISBN-13: 0733646654

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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.

The Price of Valour

The Price of Valour PDF

Author: John Hamilton

Publisher: Macmillan

Published: 2012-09-01

Total Pages: 501

ISBN-13: 1466832770

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From the bestselling author of Goodbye Cobber, God Bless You and Gallipoli Sniper.When Hugo Throssell joined the 10th Light Horse Regiment in 1914, soon after the outbreak of the First World War, he was emblematic of the young Australian nation at that time: full of youth, vigour, courage and idealism. These traits were to see him awarded a Victoria Cross after the savage fighting for Hill 60 during the Gallipoli campaign. Badly wounded, Throssell was sent to England to recover. There he met his future wife, Katharine Susannah Prichard, journalist, novelist and committed socialist. It was the beginning of a relationship that changed the course of his life, for although he was to return to war and fight in Palestine, his view of the conflict and its terrible sacrifices began to turn. By 1919, Throssell – once hailed as an Australian hero – was ready to publicly denounce the war. His stance was to forever alienate him from former comrades and the political establishment. The war affected him in other ways too, as he found himself unable to hold down a job and increasingly prone to episodes of depression. In 1933, Throssell killed himself, leaving behind his beloved wife and only child. In his triumph and tragedy he remained as emblematic to his country as he’d been in those heady days of 1914, an example of courage and sacrifice whose youth and future had been forever darkened by the experience of war. Award-winning journalist and bestselling author John Hamilton has written a compelling narrative, giving us an extraordinary perspective of the Gallipoli battles for The Nek and Hill 60, combined with a compassionate and intimate account of the rise and fall of a real Australian hero.

Gallipoli Sniper

Gallipoli Sniper PDF

Author: John Hamilton

Publisher: Pan Australia

Published: 2008-11-01

Total Pages: 354

ISBN-13: 1741982227

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The Anzac battlefield on Gallipoli was made for snipers. Scrub, cliffs, spurs and hills meant that both Anzac and Turkish positions often overlooked one another. The unwary or unlucky were prey to snipers on both sides, and the sudden crack of a gunshot and instant death were an ever-present menace. The most successful and most feared sniper of the Gallipoli campaign was Billy Sing, a Light Horseman from Queensland who was almost unique among the Australian troops in having a Chinese-born father. A combination of patience, stealth and an incredible eye made him utterly deadly, with the incredible – and horrifying – figure of over 200 credited "kills". John Hamilton, author of the bestselling Goodbye Cobber, God Bless You, has written an extraordinary account of a hidden side of the campaign – the snipers' war. Following Sing from his recruitment onwards, Hamilton takes us on a journey into the squalor, dust, blood and heroism of Gallipoli, seen from the unique viewpoint of the sniper. Gallipoli Sniper is a powerful and very different account of war and its effect on those who fight.

Gallipoli

Gallipoli PDF

Author: Peter Hart

Publisher: Oxford University Press

Published: 2011-10-07

Total Pages: 544

ISBN-13: 0199911878

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One of the most famous battles in history, the WWI Gallipoli campaign began as a bold move by the British to capture Constantinople, but this definitive new history explains that from the initial landings--which ended with so much blood in the sea it could be seen from airplanes overhead--to the desperate attacks of early summer and the battle of attrition that followed, it was a tragic folly destined to fail from the start. Gallipoli forced the young Winston Churchill from office, established Turkey's iconic founder Mustafa Kemal (better known as "Ataturk"), and marked Australia's emergence as a nation in its own right. Drawing on unpublished eyewitness accounts by individuals from all ranks--not only from Britain, Australia and New Zealand, but from Turkey and France as well--Peter Hart weaves first-hand stories into a vivid narrative of the battle and its aftermath. Hart, a historian with the Imperial War Museum and a battlefield tour guide at Gallipoli, provides a vivid, boots-on-the-ground account that brilliantly evokes the confusion of war, the horrors of combat, and the grim courage of the soldiers. He provides an astute, unflinching assessment of the leaders as well. He shows that the British invasion was doomed from the start, but he places particular blame on General Sir Ian Hamilton, whose misplaced optimism, over-complicated plans, and unwillingness to recognize the gravity of the situation essentially turned likely failure into complete disaster. Capturing the sheer drama and bravery of the ferocious fighting, the chivalry demonstrated by individuals on both sides amid merciless wholesale slaughter, and the futility of the cause for which ordinary men fought with extraordinary courage and endurance--Gallipoli is a riveting account of a battle that continues to fascinate us close to a hundred years after the event.

Our Friend the Enemy

Our Friend the Enemy PDF

Author: David W. Cameron

Publisher: Simon and Schuster

Published: 2014-10-01

Total Pages: 651

ISBN-13: 1922132756

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Our Friend the Enemy is the first detailed history of the Gallipoli campaign at Anzac since Charles Bean’s Official History. Viewed from both sides of the wire and described in first-hand accounts. Australian Captain Herbert Layh recounted that as they approached the beach on 25 April that, once we were behind cover the Turks turned their .. [fire] on us, and gave us a lively 10 minutes. A poor chap next to me was hit three times. He begged me to shoot him, but luckily for him a fourth bullet got him and put him out of his pain. Later that day, Sergeant Charles Saunders, a New Zealand engineer, described his first taste of battle, The Turks were entrenched some 50-100 yards from the edge of the face of the gully and their machine guns swept the edges. Line after line of our men went up, some lines didn’t take two paces over the crest when down they went to a man and on came another line. Gunner Recep Trudal of the Turkish 27th Regiment wrote of the fierce Turkish counter-attack on 19 May designed to push the Anzac’s back into the sea, It started at morning prayer call time, and then it went on and on, never stopped. You know there was no break for eating or anything … Attack was our command. That was what the Pasha said. Once he says “Attack”, you attack, and you either die or you survive.

Who's who in Australia 2009

Who's who in Australia 2009 PDF

Author:

Publisher:

Published: 2007

Total Pages: 2300

ISBN-13:

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A biographic reference to notable people in Australia. Entrants are drawn from all areas of Australian life, including the arts, politics, education, medicine, defence, business, diplomatic service, and recipients of honours and awards.