City Libraries, City of Gold Coast

Snowy to the Somme:, a muddy and bloody campaign, 1916-1918, Timothy J. Cook

eng

Includes bibliographical references and index

illustrationsplatesportraits

index present

non fiction

Snowy to the Somme:

Timothy J. Cook

a muddy and bloody campaign, 1916-1918

In 1915, news of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps landing, and the slaughter at Gallipoli stirred tens of thousands of young men to go to war. They answered the call and formed battalions of the Australian Imperial Force. By the time the new recruits were combat ready, the campaign at Gallipoli had ended. Their battlefields became the muddy paddocks of France and Belgium. This book traces the story of one of these battalions, the 55th, from its birth in the dusty camps of Egypt through three years of brutal, bloody conflict on the bitter Western Front. When the Great War ended in 1918, over 500 of the 3,000 men who served in the 55th had been slain and another 1,000 wounded. Author Tim Cook shares personal stories of Australian men as they stared down the horrors of war with determination, courage and mateship. He devotes chapters to the significant battles at Fromelles, Doignies, Polygon Wood, Péronne and Bellicourt. He tells the story of one battalion, but in doing so encapsulates the experiences of many Australians on the Western Front

adult

Muddy and bloody campaign, 1916-1918