No Better Death

The story of Gallipoli has been told many times, but few first-hand accounts exist, and none shows such acute observation as this one by the commander who led the assault on Chunuk Bair: Lieutenant-Colonel W. G. Malone. His diary and letters reveal a man of honesty, wit, knowledge and courage — and tell a moving story we should never forget.

Lieutenant-Colonel W. G. Malone, commanding officer of the Wellington Battalion of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force at Gallipoli, is best known for his capture and heroic defence of Chunuk Bair on 8 August 1915. A gifted leader of men, he planned the action with his characteristic good sense and attention to detail. Chunuk Bair was held for two days before being lost in the last of a series of furious counter-attacks. By then William Malone was dead, and New Zealand had lost one of its finest officers.

It emerged later that Malone had left behind a detailed diary and a large number of letters to family members and friends. Always shrewd and observant, Malone charts almost daily the events in the year leading up to Chunuk Bair: his preparation for war, the training camps, the voyage to Egypt, landing at Gallipoli, and life on the peninsula during the eventful few months from April to August 1915. Renowned for his imposition of tight discipline, Malone was nevertheless a caring and thoughtful leader of his men, always concerned for their welfare. He also loved his family, and in particular his second wife Ida. His letters to her are among the most moving in this book, and his tender concern for their young family back home shines through. The story of his older sons, three of whom also served in the Great War, forms part of the narrative too, a family story which continues right up to 2012, when Malone’s great-great-grandson was killed on active service in Afghanistan.

John Crawford is the New Zealand Defence Force Historian and has written on many aspects of the history of the New Zealand Armed Forces and defence policy. In 2007 he edited, with Ian McGibbon, Exisle’s monumental book, ‘New Zealand’s Great War’, and in 2008 he edited ‘The Devil’s Own War: The First World War Diary of Brigadier-General Herbert Hart’. He has also written ‘To Fight for the Empire: An Illustrated History of New Zealand and the South African War, 1899-1902’, and is currently writing a volume for the forthcoming First World War Centenary History series. He lives in Wellington.

CONTENTS:

Foreword

Acknowledgements

Preface

Glossary

Introduction: A full and varied life

1 Saying goodbye and preparing for war: New Zealand to Egypt, August–December 1914

2 ‘In the cause of the age’: On active service, Egypt, December 1914 to April 1915

3 ‘The world never saw better men or braver’: Gallipoli: The landing and the struggle for Walker’s Ridge, April–May 1915

4 ‘It was hell’: The Second Battle of Krithia, May 1915

5 ‘Steady fighting work’: Courtney’s and Quinn’s Posts, June–July 1915

6 ‘My candle is all but burnt out’: Ordeal on Chunuk Bair, August 1915

Postscript: Chunuk Bair, 5–8 August

Conclusion

Notes

Select Bibliography

Index