Fromelles & Pozières : in the trenches of hell / Peter FitzSimons. Fromelles and Pozières : in the trenches of hell

Collection type	Library
Author	FitzSimons, Peter, author.;
Call Number	940.4144 F562f
Document type	Monograph
Year	2015.
Pagination	xxi, 793 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, maps, portraits ; 25 cm.
Publisher	William Heinemann,
Note	Includes bibliographical references (pages 690-774) and index. On 19 July 1916, 7000 Australian soldiers -- in the first major action of the AIF on the Western Front -- attacked entrenched German positions at Fromelles, in northern France. By the next day, no fewer than 5500 were wounded and just under 1900 were dead -- a bloodbath that the Australian War Memorial describes as 'the worst 24 hours in Australia's entire history'. Just days later, three Australian Divisions attacked German positions at nearby Pozières, and over the next six weeks they suffered another 2 3,000 casualties. Of that bitter battle, the great Australian war correspondent Charles Bean would write, 'The field of Pozières is more consecrated by Australian fighting and more hallowed by Australian blood than any field which has ever existed...' Yet the sad truth is that, nearly a century on from those battles, Australians know only a fraction of what occurred. This book brings the battles back to life and puts the reader in the moment, illustrating both the heroism displayed and the insanity of the British plan. With his extraordinary vigour and commitment to research, Peter FitzSimons shows why this is a story about which all Australians can be proud. And angry.
Place made	North Sydney, N.S.W. :

Abstract

part 1: the battle knell is nigh -- 1. drums of war -- 2. reinstoushments to the fore -- 3. moi Aussie -- 4. Aux Armes Australiens, formez vos bataillons -- 5. with God on our side -- 6. on the road to Rouen -- part 2: hell's bells in Fromelles -- 7. the battle of the Somme -- 8. drifting to a decision -- 9. the horror of Pompey. 10. the battle of Fromelles -- 11. the battle proper -- 12. a land for no man -- 13. in the midnight hour -- 14. the aftermath -- part 3: end game -- 15. the battle of Pozieres -- 16. diggers can't be choosers -- 17. a tilt at the windmill --18. deja vu, all over again.0.