Interview with Lieutenant Colonel D F Rae 17 Battalion AIF for the 0-10 TV series Australians at war

Lieutenant-Colonel Rae comments on British military and political leaders of the time, reasons leading to war, the winters of 1916-1917 and 1917-1918 on the Somme and tells why he believed the Australians soldier to be superior to others. He goes on to describe conditions in New Guinea during the 1939-1945 war mentioning difficulties caused by the climate, lack of visibility and disease. He speaks of the Japanese as good jungle fighters and mentions an instance of cannibalism among them. He makes comparison between the two world wars. He recalls as his most vivid memory of Gallipoli the one pint daily water ration and tells how he took water from Battalion HQ cookhouse to douse fires started by Turkish flares. He mentions the discomfort of lice and the arrangement of trenches at Pozieres.