Duncan, G D (Lieutenant, 57th Bn. b.1886)

Collection of Lieutenant George Duncan of the 57 Australian Infantry Battalion detailing operations in the front line. The handwritten account, titled ‘Behind the Line, France 15/8/18’ is written a few days after the beginning of the August 1918 Allied offensive. The seven page account describes the advance through shattered villages vacated by the retreating enemy, with motor lorries, horse drawn transport, mule teams and guns. Lt Duncan notes the rapid repair of the railway, disabled allied aeroplanes from the recent fighting, numerous horses killed by shell fire, unburied bodies, the artillery sounds and shell fire, and his ‘providential escape’ before they are again behind the line when Australian troops pass through them and drive back the enemy.