Download or read book Bully Beef Balderdash written by Graham Wilson and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2012-03-15 with total page 448 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Australian Imperial Force, first raised in 1914 for overseas war service, became better known by its initials - the "AIF". There was a distinct character to those who enlisted in the earliest months and who were destined to fight on Gallipoli. During the war the AIF took its place among the great armies of the world, on some of history's oldest battlefields. The Australians would attack at the Dardanelles, enter Jerusalem and Damascus, defend Amiens and Ypres, and swagger through the streets of Cairo, Paris, and London, with their distinctive slouch hats and comparative wealth of six shillings per day. However, the legend of the AIF is shrouded in myth and mystery. Was Beersheba the last great cavalry charge in history? Did the AIF storm the red light district of Cairo and burn it to ground while fighting running battles with the military police? Was the AIF the only all-volunteer army of World War I? Graham Wilson's Bully Beef and Balderdash shines an unforgiving light on these and other well-known myths of the AIF in World War I, arguing that these spectacular legends simply serve to diminish the hard-won reputation of the AIF as a fighting force. Graham Wilson mounts his own campaign to rehabilitate the historical reputation of the force and to demonstrate that misleading and inaccurate embellishment does nothing but hide the true story of Australia's World War I fighting army. Bully Beef and Balderdash deliberately tilts at some well-loved windmills and, for those who cherish the mythical story of the AIF, this will not be comfortable reading. Yet, given the extraordinary truth of the AIF's history, it is certainly compelling reading.

Download or read book Bully Beef Balderdash Volume 2 written by Graham Wilson and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2017-03-02 with total page 301 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The late Graham Wilson delighted in his self-appointed role as the AIF’s myth buster. In this, his second and final volume of Bully Beef and Balderdash, he tackles another eight popularly accepted myths, exposing the ‘Water Wizard’ of Gallipoli who saved an army, dismissing the old adage that the ‘lions of the AIF’ were led by British ‘donkeys’, debunking the Gallipoli legends of the lost sword of Eureka and ‘Abdul the Terrible’, the Sultan’s champion marksman sent to dispose of AIF sniper Billy Sing, and unravelling a series of other long-standing fictions. Finally, he turns his formidable forensic mind to the ‘lost’ seven minutes at The Nek, the early cessation of the artillery barrage which led to the slaughter of the Light Horsemen immortalised in Peter Weir’s Gallipoli. Wilson’s crusade to debunk such celebrated fictions was born of the conviction that these myths do very real damage to the history of the AIF. To demythologise this nation’s Great War military history, he argues, is to encourage Australians to view the AIF’s record on its own merits. Such are these merits that they do not require any form of embellishment to shine for all time. This book is a tribute to Graham Wilson’s extraordinary passion for truth and fact and his drive to set the historical record straight.

Download or read book BULLY BEEF AND BALDERDASH written by GRAHAM. WILSON and published by . This book was released on 2016 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Bully Beef and Balderdash Volume II written by Graham Wilson and published by . This book was released on 2018-03-29 with total page 400 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The late Graham Wilson delighted in his self-appointed role as the AIF's myth buster. In this, his second and final volume of Bully Beef and Balderdash, he tackles another eight popularly accepted myths, exposing the 'Water Wizard' of Gallipoli who saved an army, dismissing the old adage that the 'lions of the AIF' were led by British 'donkeys', debunking the Gallipoli legends of the lost sword of Eureka and 'Abdul the Terrible', the Sultan's champion marksman sent to dispose of AIF sniper Billy Sing, and unravelling a series of other long-standing fictions. Finally, he turns his formidable forensic mind to the 'lost' seven minutes at The Nek, the early cessation of the artillery barrage which led to the slaughter of the Light Horsemen immortalised in Peter Weir's Gallipoli. Wilson's crusade to debunk such celebrated fictions was born of the conviction that these myths do very real damage to the history of the AIF. To demythologise this nation's Great War military history, he argues, is to encourage Australians to view the AIF's record on its own merits. Such are these merits that they do not require any form of embellishment to shine for all time. This book is a tribute to Graham Wilson's extraordinary passion for truth and fact and his drive to set the historical record straight.

Download or read book The Man who Carried the Nation s Grief written by Carol Rosenhain and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2016-11-05 with total page 529 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ‘I do feel the loss of my two boys, they was my all …’ wrote grieving father Ernest Watts following the death of his two sons. Like thousands of Australians during World War I, Ernest Watts received his tragic news through the office known as ‘Base Records’. This letter was just one in a series of correspondence that lasted the duration of the war and well into the post-war period. Every letter was answered with patience and courtesy and every response carried the same signature: J.M. Lean. The Man who Carried the Nation’s Grief describes the extraordinary work of James Lean, whose office at times received over 100 letters a day from distressed families. The letters selected by author Carol Rosenhain are quoted verbatim in all their rawness, the grief, anger and disbelief of the writer signifying wounds that would take years to heal while others never would. Like those of Ernest Watts, the letters often form part of a chain of correspondence that lasted well beyond the Armistice of 1918. For one shattered father, the fate of his missing boy would never be resolved, his son’s final resting place only discovered in Pheasant Wood almost a century after he met his death. Given his crucial role as the link between anxious families and the bureaucracy of the AIF, James Lean’s remarkable work is a surprising omission from the vast body of World War I literature. Carol Rosenhain’ s book rectifies this omission with a portrait of Lean himself and the grim task at which he excelled. This is a book that describes the impact of war on families in all its devastating reality.

Download or read book Food in Memory and Imagination written by Beth Forrest and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2022-01-13 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: How do we engage with food through memory and imagination? This expansive volume spans time and space to illustrate how, through food, people have engaged with the past, the future, and their alternative presents. Beth M. Forrest and Greg de St. Maurice have brought together first-class contributions, from both established and up-and-coming scholars, to consider how imagination and memory intertwine and sometimes diverge. Chapters draw on cases around the world-including Iran, Italy, Japan, Kenya, and the US-and include topics such as national identity, food insecurity, and the phenomenon of knowledge. Contributions represent a range of disciplines, including anthropology, history, philosophy, psychology, and sociology. This volume is a veritable feast for the contemporary food studies scholar.

Download or read book The Oxford History of British and Irish Catholicism Volume V written by Alana Harris and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2023-09-01 with total page 417 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The fifth volume of The Oxford History of British & Irish Catholicism—covering the period from the Great War, through the Second World War and the Second Vatican Council—surveys the transformed ecclesial landscape between the papacies of Benedict XV and Pope Francis. It explores the efforts of bishops, priests and people in Ireland and Scotland, Wales and England to respond to modern challenges and reintegrate the experiences and expertise of the laity into the ministry of the Church. Alongside the twentieth century's designation as an era of technological innovation, war, peace, globalization, decolonization and liberation, this period has also been designated 'the People's Century'. Viewed through the lens of the Catholic church in Britain and Ireland, these same dynamics are explored within thematic, synoptic chapters by leading scholars. As a century characterized by the rise, or better renewal of the apostolate of the laity, this edited collection traces the struggles to reconcile tradition, re-evaluate hierarchical authority, adapt to social and educational mobility, as well as to adjudicate serious challenges from outside and within—including inflammatory biopolitics and clerical sexual abuse—to religious belief and the legitimacy of the Church as an institution.

Download or read book Artillery at Anzac written by Chris Roberts and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2021-04-07 with total page 384 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A Simon & Schuster eBook. Simon & Schuster has a great book for every reader.

Download or read book Captains of the Soul written by Michael Gladwin and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2013-12-19 with total page 321 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Known affectionately as ‘Padres’, chaplains have been integral to the Australian Army for a century. From the legendary William ‘Fighting Mac’ McKenzie, whose friendships with diggers in the trenches of Gallipoli and France made him a national figure in 1918, to Harold Wardale-Greenwood, who died caring for the sick while a POW on the brutal Sandakan ‘death march’ in July 1945, this book assesses the contribution of Australian Army chaplains in conflicts and peacekeeping missions, in barracks and among service families. Drawing on a wealth of original archival material and little known published sources, Captains of the Soul represents the first comprehensive account of Australian Army chaplains. It surveys their changing role and experience from the Great War of 1914–18 to the recent conflict in Afghanistan; charts the evolution of the Royal Australian Army Chaplains’ Department across its first century; and addresses the significance of Army chaplaincy for Australia’s military, religious and cultural history. It is a story of personal conviction and selfless devotion.

Download or read book Dust Donkeys and Delusions written by Graham Wilson and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2012-05-08 with total page 296 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Dust, Donkeys and Delusion examines and clinically debunks the myth that has grown up around Private John Simpson Kirkpatrick, the so-called `Man with the Donkey', the quintessential Australian `hero' of Gallipoli. While the various elements of the Simpson myth have now become popularly accepted as `history', Dust, Donkeys and Delusion shows clearly, based on historical documents, both official and unofficial, that almost every word ever spoken or written about Simpson following his death is false.

Download or read book Pioneers of Australian Armour written by David A. Finlayson and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2015-08-05 with total page 377 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Pioneers of Australian Armour tells the story of the only Australian mechanised units of the Great War. The 1st Australian Armoured Car Section, later the 1st Australian Light Car Patrol, and the Special Tank Section were among the trailblazers of mechanisation and represented the cutting edge of technology on the Great War battlefield. The 1st Armoured Car Section was raised in Melbourne in 1916, the brainchild of a group of enthusiasts who financed, designed and then built two armoured cars. Having persuaded the Australian Army of the vehicles’ utility in the desert campaign, the Armoured Car Section, later re-equipped with Model T Fords and retitled the 1st Australian Light Car Patrol, provided valuable service until well after the Armistice. The First World War also saw the emergence of the tank which, despite unpromising beginnings, was to realise its potential in the crucial 1918 battles of Hamel and Amiens. A British Mark IV tank which toured Australia in 1918 demonstrated the power of this new weapon to an awestruck Australian public. Much of the story of the armoured cars is told in the voices of the original members of the section and in newspaper articles of the time which highlight the novelty of these vehicles. Painstaking research has produced a remarkable collection of images to accompany the narrative, many never previously published. Biographies of the members of these extraordinary units are also a feature of this book, their stories told from the cradle to the grave. Appendixes provide a wealth of supporting biographical and technical information that enriches the text and adds factual detail.

Download or read book A Greater Sum of Sorrow written by David Coombes and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2016-03-05 with total page 516 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In April-May 1917 the sleepy hamlet of Bullecourt in northern France became the focus of two battles involving Australian and British troops. Given the unique place in this nation’s military history that both battles occupy, surprisingly little has been written on the AIF’s achievements at Bullecourt. A Greater Sum of Sorrow seeks to remedy this gaping omission. The First Battle of Bullecourt marked the Australians’ introduction to the latest battlefield weapon — the tank. This much-lauded weapon failed dismally amid enormous casualties. Despite this, two infantry brigades from the 4th Australian Division captured parts of the formidable Hindenburg Line with minimal artillery and tank support, repulsing German counter-attacks until forced to withdraw. In the second battle, launched with a preliminary artillery barrage, more Australian divisions were forced into the Bullecourt ‘meat-grinder’ and casualties soared to over 7000. Again Australian soldiers fought hard to capture parts of the enemy line and hold them against savage counter-attacks. Bullecourt became a charnel-house for the AIF. Many who had endured the nightmare of Pozières considered Bullecourt far worse. And for what? While Field Marshal Sir Douglas Haig considered its capture ‘among the great achievements of the war’, the village that cost so many lives held no strategic value whatsoever.

Download or read book Lessons Learned written by Geoffrey Grant Quail and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2017-01-05 with total page 368 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Historically, prolonged campaigns have been frequently lost or won because of the greater fitness of one of the combatant armies. In the twentieth century, infection was still a major problem, leading to withdrawal from Gallipoli, and the near defeat of the Allies due to malaria early in the Second World War’s Pacific campaign. Malaria emerged again as a major problem in the Vietnam War. The Australian Army Medical Corps, founded in 1901, learned from past medical experience. However, errors leading to significant morbidity did occur mainly in relation to malaria. These errors included lack of instruction of doctors sent to New Guinea with the Australian Force in the Great War, inadequate prophylactic measures against malaria in New Guinea early in World War Two, failure to perceive the threat of emerging resistant strains of malaria in the 1960s, and military commanders not fully implementing the recommendations of their medical advisers. Many Australian campaigns have taken place in tropical locations; a substantial amount of scientific work to prevent and manage tropical diseases has therefore been conducted by the Army Medical Corps’ medical researchers—particularly in the Land Headquarters Medical Research Unit and the Army Malaria Institute. Their work extends well beyond the military, greatly improving health outcomes throughout the world. This book recognises the efforts of both.

Download or read book High Life of Oswald Watt written by Chris Clark and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2016-08-05 with total page 413 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: ‘Father of the Flying Corps’ and ‘Father of Australian Aviation’ were two of the unofficial titles conferred on Oswald (“Toby”) Watt when he died in tragic circumstances shortly after the end of the First World War. He had become the Australian Army’s first qualified pilot in 1911, but spent the first 18 months of the war with the French Air Service, the Aéronautique Militaire , before arranging a rare transfer to the Australian Imperial Force. Already an experienced combat pilot, he rose quickly through the ranks of the Australian Flying Corps, becoming a squadron leader and leading his unit at the battle of Cambrai, then commander of No 1 Training Wing with the senior AFC rank of lieutenant colonel. These were elements in a colourful and at times romantic career long exciting interest and attention—not just during Watt’s lifetime but in the interval since his death nearly a century ago. His name had been rarely out of Australian newspapers for more than a decade before the war, reflecting his wealthy lifestyle and extensive and influential social and political connections. But this focus has enveloped Watt’s story with an array of false and misleading elements verging on mythology. For the first time, this book attempts to establish the true story of Watt’s life and achievements, and provide a proper basis for evaluating his place in Australian history.

Download or read book Irish Jesuit Chaplains written by Damien Burke and published by Messenger Publications. This book was released on 2021-05-03 with total page 221 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "Standing as I was between the guns and the trenches..." Henry Gill SJ "Life here is very pleasant and interesting, provided one does not mind being killed..." John Gwynn SJ Catholic chaplains in the First World War served alongside the troops at the Front, both in the trenches and on the battlefields, exposed to the same dangers. Many Jesuit chaplains were highly decorated and recognised for their exceptional bravery by both men and commanding officers Irish Jesuit Chaplains in the First World War, edited by Damien Burke, is a collection of articles describing the wartime experiences of eleven of these brave men. Illustrated with letters, photographs and telegrams from the Irish Jesuit Archives, this is a fascinating insight into the experiences and thoughts of men who expected to spend their lives in priestly ministry in schools, parishes, churches and universities - not on the battlefield.

Download or read book Medical Emergency written by Ian Howie-Willis and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2012-03-15 with total page 328 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Major-General `Ginger' Burston led the Army Medical Service throughout the Pacific campaigns. This pivotal book explains how Burston and his medical team kept Allied troops healthy in primitive and hostile conditions and during the greatest medical emergency of World War II - the struggle against malaria. By keeping the soldiers healthy, and particularly by reducing malaria infection rates from 100 to less than one case per 1000 troops per week, the Army Medical Service assured an Allied victory over Japan. A Medical Emergency tells this remarkable story for the first time. In engrossing detail and using contemporary accounts, veteran historian Ian Howie-Willis brings to life the struggle of `Ginger' Burston and his Medical Service to fight a deadly opponent that decimated the ranks of friend and foe alike. Their victory was key to the ultimate Allied success.

Download or read book Accommodating the King s Hard Bargain written by Graham Wilson and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2016-02-05 with total page 654 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Like all crime and punishment, military detention in the Australian Army has a long and fraught history. Accommodating The King’s Hard Bargain tells the gritty story of military detention and punishment dating from colonial times with a focus on the system rather than the individual soldier. World War I was Australia’s first experience of a mass army and the detention experience was complex, encompassing short and long-term detention, from punishment in the field to incarceration in British and Australian military detention facilities. The World War II experience was similarly complex, with detention facilities in England, Palestine and Malaya, mainland Australia and New Guinea. Eventually the management of army detention would become the purview of an independent, specialist service. With the end of the war, the army reconsidered detention and, based on lessons learned, established a single ‘corrective establishment’, its emphasis on rehabilitation. As Accommodating The King’s Hard Bargain graphically illustrates, the road from colonial experience to today’s tri-service corrective establishment was long and rocky. Armies are powerful instruments, but also fragile entities, their capability resting on discipline. It is in pursuit of this war-winning intangible that detention facilities are considered necessary — a necessity that continues in the modern army.