PROLOGUE
Page
6. ‘Hell, I can’t go back …’: Major Sidney Rogerson, ‘Australia in France: Some Candid Recollections’, Reveille, April, 1937.
6. ‘By jove…’, Bulletin, August 1, 1918.
10. ‘I have one puttee …’: John Raws, letter July 25, 1916, Australian War Memorial.
11. ‘They’d been trained to identify …’: Pat Barker, Regeneration, p. 48.
12. ‘I hope the officers …’: quoted in Tim Travers, The Killing Ground: The British Army, the Western Front and the Emergence of Modern War 1900–1918, p. 39, from Napoleon as a General, by Major W.H. James (ed), Vol 1, p. v, by Count Yorck von Warlenburg (1902).
14. ‘Each day …’: Robin Corfield, Don’t forget me, cobber, p. 404.
PART ONE: 1916
Chapter 1
Page
24. ‘dear, bright eyes …’ and ‘our dear little pets’: Pompey Elliott letters December 1, 1914, and July 19, 1916, AWM.
26. ‘born soldier …’: Bulletin, October 8, 1930.
27. ‘completely lost’ and ‘wanted to know …’: quoted in Denis Winter, 25 April 1915: The Inevitable Tragedy, p. 166.
29. ‘old woman’: Earl Sir Douglas Haig Diary, August 13, 1914, National Library of Scotland.
30. ‘most backward in training …’: C.E.W. Bean, Official History of Australia in the War 1914–18, Vol III, p. 62.
34. ‘For days I have seen nothing …’: quoted in Martin Gilbert, First World War, p. 233.
36. ‘From Marseilles …’: Arthur Thomas, letter April 3, 1916, AWM.
37. ‘We wanted to climb out of the train …’: Gordon Maxfield, letter April 29, 1916, AWM.
37. ‘the only hope …’, ‘It seemed such a pity …’ and ‘a frightful amount of dog …’: Raws, letters July 12, 1915, May 29, 1916 and June 6, 1916, AWM.
37. ‘Beautiful match’: Ivor Margetts, diary entry, December 6, 1915.
38. ‘You pull up at a large farm house …’: F.M. Cutlack (ed), War Letters of General Monash, letter, June 12, 1915.
38. ‘with any amount of ladies aboard’ and ‘God! Sergeant …’: Cyril Lawrence (ed Peter Yule), Sergeant Lawrence Goes to France, p. 4, p. 26.
38. ‘and one good thing about the beer …’: William Barry, diary entry, AWM.
39. ‘This is a most gorgeous country …’: Geoffrey McCrae, letter July 13, 1916, AWM.
Chapter 2
Page
42. Commanding generals were not even spectators: John Keegan, The First World War, p. 341.
42. ‘I don’t know what is to be done …’: quoted in J.F.C. Fuller, The Decisive Battles of the Western World, Vol III, p. 233.
43. ‘We would rather have a classically educated …’: quoted in Travers, p. 41, from Evidence of Lt-Col A.M. Murray to Report of the Committee Appointed to Consider the Education and Training of Officers of the Army, Cmnd Paper 983 (1902).
44. ‘With affected calm …’: Charles de Gaulle quoted in Richard Holmes, The Western Front, p. 38.
44. ‘No-one would have described …’: Robert Rhodes James, A Spirit Undaunted: The Political Role of George VI, p. 36.
45. ‘for the sake of the empire’: Haig Diary, October 24, 1915, NLS.
45. ‘was not to expend itself …’: Sir John Monash, Australian Victories in France 1918, p. 96.
46. ‘Bloody lot of use that is …’: Robert Graves, Goodbye to All That, p. 103.
47. ‘You bloody cowards …’: Graves, p. 140.
47. ‘a much over-rated weapon’: quoted in A.J.P. Taylor (ed), History of World War I, p. 107.
48. ‘unreasoning brain’: Haig Diary, October 2, 1915, NLS
48. ‘I therefore thought …’: Haig Diary, October 24, 1915, NLS.
48. ‘duty’ to refrain from visiting casualty clearing stations: in Robert Blake, The Private Papers of Douglas Haig, p. 9.
51. Philip Game’s opinion of Richard Haking, Game Papers, IWM.
52. ‘no doubt to render the maps …’ and ‘At this moment …’: Edmund Blunden, Undertones of War, p. 60 and p. 67.
53. ‘It is a mixture of damp earth …’: A.D. Ellis, The Story of the Fifth Australian Division, p. 78.
53. ‘… it remained only in the vague rumour …’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol III, p. 109.
54. ‘I hate these unprepared little shows …’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol III, p. 443.
54. ‘and so get a big splash’: Elliott, letter August 26, 1916, AWM.
57. ‘The Commander-in-Chief wishes …’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol III,pp.349–50.
57. ‘did nothing to relieve …’: Brig-Gen James Edmonds, British Official History of the Great War: Military Operations France and Belgium 1916, p. 125.
Chapter 3
Page
59. Walter Downing in France and moving to the front line: Walter Downing, To the Last Ridge, pp. 6–8.
61. ‘Boys, you won’t find a German …’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol III, p. 362.
62. ‘The row was deafening …’ and ‘One or two of the chaps …’: privately held letter of Leslie Martin, July 31, 1916.
65. ‘standing out shoulder high …’: quoted in Corfield, p. 156.
66. ‘Today I lead my battalion …’: Geoff McCrae, letter July 19, 1916, AWM.
66. ‘… we hope to so pound the enemy’s trenches …’: Elliott, letter July 19, 1916, AWM.
66. ‘Some operations are pending’: Tom Elliott, letter July 19, 1916, AWM.
66. Elliott letters to Geoff McCrae’s parents, July 21 and 23, 1916, AWM.
67. ‘Here, I’m done …’: Ignatius Norris in Corfield, p. 147.
69. ‘was the man in front of me blown to atoms …’: Richard Kennedy in Corfield, pp. 238–39.
69. Message from Frederick Toll, in C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol III, p. 377.
70. ‘You could hear the moans of the wounded …’: Martin, letter July 31, 1916.
72. ‘Am attacking at 9 pm …’: Message from General Carter in Bean, OH, Vol III, p. 392.
72. ‘At the enemy wire …’: A.D. Ellis, The Story of the Fifth Australian Division, p. 101.
73. ‘Under instructions from corps commander …’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol III, p. 394.
74. ‘They asked for the assistance …’: Ross McMullin, p. 233.
74. ‘Men of all battalions are coming back …’: Charles Denehy in C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol III, pp. 397–98.
75. ‘The interminable hours wore on …’: Downing, p. 10.
75. ‘Especially in front of the 15th Brigade …’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol III, p. 437.
76. ‘What had been ordinary sandbagged trenches …’: J. Schroder in Bean Papers, AWM.
76. ‘This was when Pompey Elliott …’: William Boyce in Corfield, p. 223.
77. ‘Old Elliot was dead asleep …’: Bean Diary, July 20, 1916, AWM.
Chapter 4
Page
79. Story of wounded Australian soldier wandering in front of German lines in Bean Notebook 122, AWM.
81. ‘we were told to read a verse …’: quoted in R. McNicoll, The Royal Australian Engineers 1902–1919: Making or Breaking, p. 65.
81. ‘I was in “no-man’s land” …’: William Barry, Diary, AWM.
82. ‘Frontline cannot be held …’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol III, p. 401.
83. Story of William Barry’s capture by Germans in his Diary, AWM.
84. ‘Dawn showed our trenches to be a shambles …’: M. Purser, ‘Memories of Fromelles’, Reveille, July, 1935.
84. ‘Poor old Tivey …’: Bean Diary, July 20, 1916, AWM.
84. ‘picked his way carefully …’: Ellis, p. 105.
84. ‘Col Toll’s head was covered in blood …’: quoted in Corfield, p. 131.
84. ‘Well, men, no-one could ask you …’: William Miles in Bean Papers, AWM.
84. ‘Several bodies I passed …’: Miles, letter July 31, 1916, AWM.
85. ‘… we lost the man on the right …’: Strode quoted in McNicoll, p. 66.
86. ‘Position almost desperate …’: Walter Cass in C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol III, p. 419.
87. Privately held letters from Walter Cass to his future wife, Helena, June 16, 1916, and July 12, 1916.
88. ‘Oh, cruel, cruel!’: Norman Gibbins in C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol III, p. 431fn.
88. ‘The German flares were the best display …’: William Smith, ‘Leaves from a Sapper’s Diary’, Reveille, July, 1936.
90. ‘Dear we got such a “strafing” …’: Cass, letter July 29, 1916.
90. ‘Some damned politician-cum-soldier …’: family interview with Angela, daughter of Walter Cass.
91. Carrying in the wounded from the battle at Fromelles: Downing, pp. 11–13.
91. ‘One foggy morning in particular …’: Simon Fraser in C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol III, p. 441.
91. ‘Should I fall …’: Harry Williams in C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol III, p. 118.
92. Story of ‘Rowley’ Lording in A.G. Butler, Official History of the Australian Army Medical Corps 1914–18, Vol III, p. 842.
92. ‘For sixteen hours we worked …’: privately held letter of Alfred Langan, July 22, 1916.
92–4. William Miles and the attempted truce: Bean Papers, C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol III, pp 438–40. For an excellent account, see Corfield, pp. 260–70.
94. ‘With about half of his division dead …’: Corfield, p. 268.
95. ‘It was McCay’s neglect …’: Corfield, p. 403.
95. ‘The mistake made …’: letter from Brig-Gen Sir James Edmonds to Charles Bean, November 3, 1927, Bean Papers, AWM.
95. ‘The losses amongst our troops …’: Sydney Morning Herald, July 24, 1916.
95. ‘Yesterday evening, south of Armentières, …’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol III, p. 446.
96. ‘What is the good of deliberate lying like that?’: Bean Diary, July 20, 1916, AWM.
96. ‘The artillery preparation …’: Haking in C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol III, pp. 444–45fn.
97. ‘In viewing 1914–14 I feel …’: Edmonds to Bean, letter September 11, 1928, Bean Papers, AWM.
97. ‘God knows why this enterprise …’: Elliott, letter July 23, 1916, AWM.
Chapter 5
Page
102. ‘When you fall, Eamonn …’ and ‘We have done right …’: quoted in Michael Foy and Brian Barton, The Easter Rising, pp. 243 and 238.
103. ‘His loss, popularly regarded as a national tragedy …’: John Keegan and Andrew Wheatcroft, Who’s Who in Military History, p. 154.
105. ‘recoiled from illness …’: John Grigg, Lloyd George: From Peace to War 1912–1916, p. 384.
111. ‘life is a constant horrible struggle’: from Adolf Hitler, Monologe im Fuhrerhauptquartier 1941–44 (ed Heinrich Heims), p. 71.
115. ‘The weather report is favourable for tomorrow …’: Haig Diary, June 30, 1916, NLS.
117. ‘Very successful attack …’: Haig to Lady Haig, July 1, 1916, Haig Papers, NLS.
119. ‘as if expecting to find nothing …’: Edmonds, History of the Great War: Military Operations, France and Belgium, 1916, p. 393.
121–2 ‘Things are going well …’ and ‘In another fortnight …’: Haig to Lady Haig, July 2 and 8, 1916, Haig Papers, NLS.
124. ‘This was the biggest bombardment …’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol III, p. 461.
127. ‘The dead Newfoundlanders …’: quoted in Stephen Bull, Aspects of War: Trench Warfare, p. 80.
Chapter 6
Page
129. ‘The melodrama of it rose strongly …’: ‘Charles Edmonds’, A Subaltern’s War, p. 38.
132. ‘Both were men of the left …’: John Grigg, Lloyd George: War Leader 1916–1918, p. 538.
132. William Johnson’s quip to Billy Hughes in C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol III,p. 471.
132. ‘had shown that through self-sacrifice …’: quoted in Donald Horne, Billy Hughes, p. 109.
132. ‘I have been rather busy writing …’: Ivor Margetts, letter February 11, 1916, AWM.
133. ‘… we realised that at last we were in a war …’: Ben Champion, diary entries July 19 and 23, 1916, AWM.
135. Charles Carrington’s experiences at the front: ‘Charles Edmonds’, pp. 42, 49, and 52.
136. ‘The Australians were going in the line there …’: Edmonds, p.83.
136. ‘part of a serious offensive …’: Haig Diary, July 22, 1916, NLS.
136. ‘The men were looking splendid …’: Haig Diary, late March, 1916, NLS.
137. ‘I want you to go into the line …’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol III, p. 468.
137. ‘too rash and headstrong’ and ‘first class as divisional and corps commander …’: Letters from James Edmonds to Charles Bean, September 15, 1930, and July 3, 1928, Bean Papers, AWM.
137. ‘perfectly infatuated’: Edmonds to Bean, July 2, 1928, Bean Papers, AWM.
138. ‘Scrappy and unsatisfactory orders …’: letter from Walker to Bean, August 13, 1928, Bean Papers, AWM.
138. ‘in terms which could have jeopardised …’: Robert Rhodes James, Gallipoli, p. 129.
139. ‘a small man dressed in light khaki …’: Cyril Lawrence (ed Ronald East), The Gallipoli Diary of Sergeant Lawrence, p. 66.
139. ‘I can hardly believe a word …’: Gough’s letter attached to Edmond’s letter to Bean, November 16, 1927, Bean Papers, AWM.
140. ‘It was at the Conference …’: Walker letter to Bean, August 13, 1928, Bean Papers, AWM.
Chapter 7
Page
145. Robert Graves’ near-death experience: Robert Graves, Goodbye to All That, pp. 190, 193, 196 and 199.
146. German letter: in C.E.W Bean, OH, Vol III, p. 522.
147. ‘Every now and then …’: in C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol III, p. 494.
147. ‘In the tumult it was impossible …’: Harold Preston, ‘John Leak VC’, Reveille, August, 1935.
147. ‘All tiredness was forgotten, …’: Champion, diary entry July 23, 1916, AWM.
148. ‘A and B Coy were supposed to stay in this trench …’: Archie Barwick, diary entry July 23, 1916, quoted in Bill Gammage, The Broken Years, p. 163.
148. ‘terrified and shrieking’ Germans: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol III, p. 514.
148. ‘shaky and rattled …’: Champion diary, July 23, 1916, AWM.
149. ‘Shells came in about 1 or 2 a second …’: Frank Shoobridge, diary entry July 23, 1916, AWM.
Chapter 8
Page
151. ‘the usual inappropriate message …’: Graves, p. 189.
152. ‘A number of cases …’: C.E.W Bean, OH, Vol III, p. 537fn.
153. Jack Bourke and the cake boxes: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol III, p. 249.
153. ‘I heard him …’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol III, p. 541.
154. Alan Vowles captures Germans: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol III, p. 542fn.
154. Lt-Col Elliott’s letter to Ivor Margetts’ parents, November 24, 1916, AWM.
155. G.A. McKenzie’s letter, September 22, 1916, AWM.
156. Story of Edward Jenkins: in C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol III, p. 554
157. Letter from Philip Howell-Price, August 1, 1916, AWM.
157. ‘Of course, Fritz has his own late trenches …’: Champion, diary entry, July 24, 1916, AWM.
158. ‘It seems probable that his courage …’: Dominic Hibberd, Wilfred Owen: The Last Year, p. 10.
158. ‘They have to stay there …’: Bean Diary, August 4, 1916, AWM.
159. ‘Has that message been delivered?’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol III, p. 598.
159. ‘I don’t mind a joke …’ and ‘We passed a cartful of maimed kiddies’: Bernhardt Walther, diary entries May 1 and June 19, 1916, AWM.
160. ‘competent Jew’: quoted in John Robertson, Anzac and Empire, p. 35.
162. ‘Bodies of hundreds of Australians …’: Frank Legg, The Gordon Bennett Story, p. 104.
163. ‘Buried were you?’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol III, p. 580.
163. ‘For Christ’s sake write a book …’: Thomas, diary entry July 25, 1916, AWM.
163. ‘All day long the ground rocked & swayed …’: Barwick, diary entry July 24. 1916.
164. ‘and we simply had to walk over them’: Preston, Reveille, August 1935.
164. Arthur Thomas on Pozières: letters August 1 and 3, 1916, AWM.
165. ‘My men are being unmercifully shelled …’: Bennett in C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol III, p. 590.
165. ‘mortally afraid’: in Frank Legg, The Gordon Bennett Story, p. 108.
165. ‘The heaviest fire yet faced’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol III, p. 592.
165. ‘What a mess of a Battalion …’: Champion, diary entry July 26, 1916.
165. ‘We were taken out today …’: Thomas, diary entry, July 27, 1916, AWM.
166. ‘Last week I was fighting dirty …’: Philip Howell-Price, letter August 1, 1916, AWM.
166. ‘… we had our eyes opened …’: Edgar Rule, Jacka’s Mob, p. 25.
166. ‘They were like boys …’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol III, p. 599.
Chapter 9
Page
169. John Raws explains his duties, and gives his views on saluting, French girls and the war: in letters, June 20, 22, 27, and July 16 and 20, 1916, AWM.
172. ‘did not have Walker’s sure touch …’: John Coates, An Atlas of Australia’s Wars, p. 56.
173. ‘Blancmange Trench’: Clarence Wallach in C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol III, p. 619.
173. ‘There were only blackened dead …’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol III, pp. 616–17.
174. ‘generosity in sport …’: C.E.W. Bean, With the Flagship in the South, p. 129–30.
176. Bean wounded at Gallipoli: K. Fewster, Gallipoli Correspondent, p. 147.
180. ‘I went with the first line myself …’: Walter Boys, letter August 2, 1916, AWM.
180. ‘so complete in its stark tragedy …’: Arnold Brown, ‘The Old Windmill: Pozières’ Tragic Landmark’, Reveille, October, 1932.
181. ‘an almost impossible task’: Edmonds, History of the Great War 1916, p. 155.
182. ‘inflamed with alcohol’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol III, p. 639fn.
182. ‘As they neared our kitchens …’: W. Ambrose Cull, At All Costs, p. 34.
183. John Raws and his missing brother, Goldy: letters home, August 3 and 12, 1916, AWM.
Chapter 10
Page
185. ‘From several reports …’: Haig Diary, July 29, 1916, NLS.
186. ‘You’re not fighting Bashi-Bazouks …’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol III, p. 643.
186. ‘I dare say you are right, young man’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol III, p. 644.
187. ‘We were shelled all the way up …’: Raws, letter August 8, 1916, AWM.
188. Attack postponed: C.E.W. Bean, OH, p. 664 and fn.
188. ‘From what he said …’: Haig Diary, August 3, 1916, NLS.
188. ‘The Powers that be …’: Robertson quoted in John Grigg, Lloyd George: From Peace to War 1912–1916, p. 378.
189. ‘shifty and unreliable’: Haig Diary, January 30, 1916, NLS.
190. ‘From every point of view …’: Winston Churchill, The World Crisis 1911–1918, p. 1058.
190. Haig optimistic and explains the situation to the King: diary entries August 3 and 8, 1916, NLS.
191. ‘I expect to get a decoration out of it’: Boys, letter August 2, 1916, AWM.
191. Percy Cherry and George O’Neill: in C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol III,pp. 694fn and 696.
193. ‘we had to sit and suffer …’: Arnold Brown, Reveille, October, 1932.
193. ‘My party capture …’: Eric Edgerton, privately held diary, entry August 4, 1916.
194. ‘We have just come out of a place …’: Maxfield, letter August 15, 1916, AWM.
195. ‘We are lousy, …’ and ‘Before going into this next affair …’: Raws, letters July 22 and August 19, 1916, AWM.
Chapter 11
Page
198. ‘one of those crotchety …’: John Monash, letter to wife, May 8, 1916, Monash Papers, NLA.
199. ‘I managed to get the beggars, sir’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol II, p. 150.
199. ‘To me, he looked the part …’: Rule, pp. 2–3.
200. I have nothing to thank him for’: quoted in George Franki and Clyde Slatyer, Mad Harry: Australia’s Most Decorated Soldier, p. 5.
200. ‘He might have been Diomed …’: Harry Murray, ‘The First Three Weeks on Gallipoli’, Reveille, April, 1939.
200. ‘some bad lads with white hides’: quoted in Jeff Hatwell, No Ordinary Determination: Percy Black and Harry Murray of the FirstA.I.F., p. 30.
200. ‘Harry Murray and I have a walk …’: quoted in Mad Harry, p. 116.
200. ‘I fought many a hard battle …’: Harry Murray, ‘His Hardest Battle When Discipline Mastered Fear’, Reveille, December, 1935.
201. ‘Jacka is killed …’, and ‘I could see some of our boys …’: Rule, p. 29.
203. ‘I can’t face it anymore’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol III, p. 710fn.
204. Story of Albert Jacka’s wounding: Rule, pp. 29–30
205. Jacka’s recovery in hospital: Rule, pp 48–49.
Chapter 12
Page
209. Casualties of the 4th Army: Robin Prior and Trevor Wilson, Command on the Western Front: The Military Career of Sir Henry Rawlinson, p. 204.
210. ‘You can have no idea of what the ground is like …’: Allan Leane, letter August 9, 1916, AWM.
211. ‘A nice old man …’ and ‘Derek is enjoying himself so much …’: Haig Diary, July 29 and August 2, 1916, NLS.
212. ‘He is most enthusiastic …’: Haig Diary, August 2 and September 11, 1916, NLS.
213. ‘such confusion and loss …’: Edmonds, History of the Great War, 1916, p. 219.
213. ‘We cannot move …’ and ‘Both 13th C.O. thinks …’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol III, p. 763.
215. Harry Murray’s near escape: Harry Murray, ‘His Hardest Battle When Discipline Mastered Fear’, Reveille, December, 1935.
216. ‘one of the most skilfully conducted fights’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol III, p. 769.
216. Monash on discipline: General Sir John Monash, Australian Victories in France in 1918, p. 292.
Chapter 13
Page
219. ‘We appeared to be sniped …’: Champion, diary entry August, 1916.
220. ‘You will all be in a serious action …’: Champion, diary entry, August, 1916.
220. ‘invigorating tone’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol III, p. 771.
221. ‘which is very nice of him …’: Owen Howell-Price, letter August 14, 1916, AWM.
222. ‘I am doubtful …’: Owen Howell-Price in C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol III, p. 789.
223. ‘induced to come forward’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol III, p. 790.
223. ‘by a sort of bicycle …’: ‘Squatter’ Preston, ‘To Do Or Die’, Reveille, January, 1936.
224. Bert Crowle, letter August 24, 1916, AWM.
Chapter 14
Page
228. ‘Get up, you loafer …’: Cull, p. 53.
228. Quotation marks around the word ‘tank’: Haig Diary, August 11, 1916, NLS.
229. Haig watches the tanks: Haig Diary, August 26, 1916, NLS.
230. ‘the whole area now resembled …’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol III, p. 812.
231. ‘I thought the first show was worse …’: Maxfield, letter August 31, 1916, AWM.
234. Food shortages in Leipzig: Caroline Cooper, Behind the Lines: One Woman’s War 1914–18, pp. 113, 130 and 136.
234. Australian and German duel: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol III, p. 816.
Chapter 15
Page
237. Ted Rule receives his orders: Rule, pp. 37–40.
239. Attack on Mouquet Farm: Rule, pp. 43, 47.
240. ‘Subject to extraction of stumps’: Hatwell, p. 24.
240. ‘The bravest man I ever knew …’: Harry Murray, ‘Experimental Stage: Tanks at Bullecourt’, Reveille, April, 1933.
242. ‘But the climax that surpassed all horrors …’: Joseph Trotman, ‘Account of the battle at Mouquet Farm 1–4 September, 1916’, AWM.
243. ‘I’ll reach that trench …’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol III, p. 848.
Chapter 16
Page
246. ‘There is indescribable enthusiasm …’: Ernest Scott, Official History of Australia in the War: Australia During the War, Vol XI, p. 13.
246. ‘Would it not be well …’: Scott, p. 8.
246. ‘in a time of emergency …’: Scott, p. 22.
248. ‘He is a little man …’: Scott, pp. 331–32.
249. ‘Good night, Will …’: quoted in Donald Horne, Billy Hughes, p. 72.
251. ‘splashing and threshing …’: John Hetherington, (ed Matthew Ricketson), The Best Australian Profiles, p. 110.
253. ‘staggering demand’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol III, p. 868.
254. ‘In no circumstances …’: Scott, p. 337.
Chapter 17
Page
255. ‘For myself …’: Scott, p. 348.
256. ‘Hughes allowed himself to be deceived …’: Donald Horne, Billy Hughes, p. 123.
256. ‘As a sheer feat of physical and mental exertion …’: Scott, p. 349.
256. ‘Are you in favour …’: Scott, p. 341.
257. ‘Progressively it was used …’: Joan Beaumont (ed), Australia’s War 1914–18, p. 39.
258. ‘muddy-mettled wastrels …’: Scott, p. 348.
258. ‘Australia in September …’: L.L. Robson, The First A.I.F. : A Study of its Recruitment 1914–18, p. 95.
258. Cartoon in the Bulletin, February 10, 1916.
259. ‘quite certain …’: cable from Hughes to Murdoch, August 30, 1916, AWM.
260. ‘please arrange widest …’: cable from Hughes to Murdoch, September 30, 1916, AWM.
260. Manifesto ‘excellent’: cable from Murdoch to Hughes, October 7, 1916, AWM.
260. ‘It is absolutely imperative …’: cable from Hughes to Murdoch,October 10, 1916, AWM.
260. ‘tremendous excitement …’: cable from Murdoch to Hughes, October 11, 1916, AWM.
261. ‘Strongly urge you to prevent publication …’: cable from Murdoch to Hughes, October 21, 1916, AWM.
261. Bean’s thoughts on conscription voting: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol III, pp. 891–92.
262. ‘The result was remarkable …’: Rule, p. 52.
262. Newton Wanliss on conscription vote: Newton Wanliss, The History of the 14th Battalion, p. 164.
263. ‘The poor little man …’: quoted in Gavin Souter, Lion and Kangaroo, p. 319.
264. ‘For the moment the anarchist …’: quoted in Souter, p. 325–26.
Chapter 18
Page
266. Haig risk: Prior and Wilson, Command on the Western Front, p. 232.
266. ‘When we climbed up to the lines …’: Prior and Wilson, p. 238.
266. ‘did not speak with confidence …’: Haig Diary, September 15, 1916, NLS.
267. ‘a conspiracy against the public …’: Grigg, Lloyd George: From Peace to War 1912–1916, p. 383.
268. The day’s casualties: Prior and Wilson, Command on the Western Front, p. 243.
268. Haig impressed with tanks: Haig Diary, September 15, 1916, NLS.
268. Story of Basil Henriques: in Patrick Wright, Tank, p. 49.
269. ‘for the mere petty purpose …’: Winston Churchill, The World Crisis 1911–1918, p. 525.
269. ‘The PM was not discomposed …’: John Joliffe (ed), Raymond Asquith: Life and Letters, p. 294.
272. ‘The British position will doubtless …’: Haig Diary, November 12, 1916, NLS.
Chapter 19
Page
273. ‘My poor old horse …’: Elliott, letter October 28, 1916, AWM.
274. ‘The dead lay everywhere …’ and ‘There was a foot of slush …’: Downing, pp. 17 and 20.
274. ‘I cannot understand it …’: Elliott, letter November 9, 1916, AWM.
275. Death of Owen Howell-Price: Red Cross report, February 6, 1917, AWM.
275. ‘This was the turning point …’: Philip Howell-Price in Bean, OH, Vol III, p. 907.
277. ‘the most trying period …’: C.E.W Bean, OH, Vol III, p. 918.
278. ‘merely a matter of discipline’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol III, p. 921.
279. ‘One or two’ cases of desertion: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol III, p. 940.
281. ‘nothing more would be done …’: David Lloyd George, War Memoirs, Ch XXXII.
281. ‘We are in a great political muddle …’: Haig Diary, December 4, 1916, NLS.
281. ‘Asquith resigned …’: Haig Diary, December 6, 1916, NLS.
282. ‘This morning the A.G. brought me …’: Haig Diary, December 6, 1916, NLS.
282. ‘to carry around the fiery cross’: from H.H. Asquith, Letters to Venetia Stanley (ed Michael and Eleanor Brock), p. 201.
283. ‘irresponsible spectator’: in Grigg, Lloyd George: From Peace to War 1911–1916, p. 460.
283. ‘get rid of the Asquith incubus’: in Grigg, p. 468.
283. ‘That is the only kind of loyalty …’: John Monash in October, 1916, Monash Papers, AWM.
284. King was ‘chatty and breezy and merry …’: Cutlack (ed), War Letters of General Monash, September 30, 1916.
284. ‘On parting he put his arm …’: Cutlack (ed), December 21, 1916.
284. ‘The men looked splendid …’: Hiag Diary, December 21, 1916, NLS.
287. Christmas a ‘splendiferous affair’, and ‘heavy going, isn’t it’: Lawrence, pp. 55 and 64.
PART TWO: 1917
Chapter 20
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291. ‘Gets quite cross if I do anything …’: Lawrence, p. 78.
292. ‘Gad it is awful, too awful’: Thomas, letter 20 January, 1917, AWM.
292. ‘lovely clear water’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol IV, p. 21.
292. ‘I now swank round with the General …’: Maxfield, letters January 20 and February 12, 1917, AWM.
293. ‘and the whole country looks sweet …’: Allan Leane, letter January 18, 1917.
293. ‘They say we did 24 miles an hour …’ and ‘each man gets a quarter small loaf’: David Whinfield, diary entries January 16 and 30, 1917.
294. ‘Much of our losses …’: Haig Diary, January 15, 1917, NLS.
294. Grave weakness in government: John Grigg, Lloyd George: War Leader, 1916–1918, p. 35.
295. ‘both in the letter and in the spirit’: War Cabinet, January 17, 1917.
295. ‘hastily considered’: Haig Diary, January 16, 1917, NLS.
296. ‘It is, indeed a calamity …’: Haig Diary, February 7, 1917, NLS.
296. ‘Certain officers …’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol I V, p. 23.
298. Harry Murray’s determination to fight: R.Winn, ‘Stormy Trench’, Reveille, February, 1938.
299. Stormy Trench: Harry Murray, ‘Stormy Trench: Aussies in Grim Duel Against Worthy Foes’, Reveille, December, 1937.
301. ‘My getting the VC was all rot’: quoted in D. Chalk, ‘The Great Harry Murray’, Wartime, Issue 8, 1999.
301. ‘Harry Murray was not recommended …’: Hatwell, p. 150.
302. ‘Important developments have been taking place …’: Haig Diary, February 25, 1917, NLS.
Chapter 21
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304. ‘such measures as might appear …’: in Grigg, Lloyd George: War Leader 1916–1918, p. 41.
304. ‘Tell him to keep nothing back …’: Haig Diary, February 26, 1917, NLS.
305. Lloyd Gearge was ‘extremely brutal’: quoted in Grigg, p. 42.
305. ‘And so we went to bed …’: Haig Diary, February 26, 1917, NLS.
306. Twice-flawed plan at Calais: Grigg, p. 43.
306. ‘I think, as the actual document stands …’: Haig Diary, February 28, 1917, NLS.
309. ‘But it could not be helped’: quoted in Robert Asprey, The German High Command at War, p. 305.
310. ‘mad with delight’: Lawrence, p. 98.
310. ‘spiritual thrill’: A.D. Ellis, The Story of the Fifth Division, p. 177.
311. ‘In places they lie around …’: privately held letter of Eric West, 1917.
312. ‘No building is a quarter sound …’: Whinfield, diary entry March 18, 1917.
312. ‘What we want is a republic …’: quoted in Martin Gilbert, First World War, p. 315.
314. ‘My Dear Knox …’: quoted in Gilbert, p. 316.
315. ‘It is a long, long time …’: Walter Adcock, Genuine War Letters, letter March 17, 1917.
316. ‘required holding’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol IV, p. 154.
316. ‘even one distant rifle shot …’: George Wieck to Bean, October 7, 1929, Bean Papers, AWM.
316. ‘They’ve even bashed the poor kiddies’ toys …’: Elliott, letter April 9, 1917, AWM.
317. ‘Napoleonic ideas’: Elliott to Bean, Bean Papers, AWM.
317. ‘amusing figure …’: White to Bean, Bean Papers, AWM.
317. ‘Counter-attack me, would they?’: Wieck to Bean, Bean Papers, and C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol IV, p. 169.
317. ‘The old Bosche cannot fight …’: Elliott, letter March 29, 1917, AWM.
318. Prince Frederick Charles of Prussia in C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol IV, p. 189–90.
Chapter 22
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321. Bullecourt: Eric West, letter 1917.
324. ‘Well, goodbye, colonel …’: C.E.W Bean, OH, Vol IV, p. 295.
324. ‘Harry, this will be my last fight …’: C. Longmore, ‘Major Percy Black’, Reveille, October, 1936.
324. ‘Tell them the first objective is gained …’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol I V, p. 297.
325. ‘Very good, sir …’: quoted in Denis Winter, Haig’s Command: A Reassessment, p. 261. 20
325. ‘as a Christmas present …’: quoted in Grigg, p. 150.
327. ‘It was galling …’: Cyril Falls, History of the Great War, 1917, p. 360.
327 Plan to use the tanks: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol IV, pp. 272–74.
329. ‘materially changed the situation …’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol IV, p. 278.
330. Jacka captures two Germans: Rule, p. 75.
330. ‘I think there is just time …’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol I V, p. 282.
331. ‘Cold, and fed up …’: Ray Leane, ‘Hindenburg Line Break: First Bullecourt Memories’, Reveille, April, 1933.
331. April 10 called a ‘fiasco’: Falls, p. 362.
333. ‘I don’t think I should have given way …’: Bean Notebook, May, 1918, and C.E.W. Bean, Two Men I Knew, p. 154.
334. ‘Of what use would I be …’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol IV, p. 289.
336. Eric West’s journey to a dressing station: letter, 1917.
336. Percy Black: Longmore, Reveille, October, 1936.
337. ‘Come on, boys …’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol IV, p. 295.
337. ‘How we got through the remaining wire …’: Harry Murray, ‘Memories of First Bullecourt’, Reveille, December, 1936.
338. ‘Anywhere, where men were grouped …’: Bert Knowles, ‘Bullecourt Tragedy Retrospect’, Reveille, April, 1931.
340. ‘With artillery support …’: Knowles, April, 1931.
341. ‘The ground was a carpet of dead …’: G.D. Mitchell, ‘When Discipline Overcame Fear’, Reveille, February, 1936.
341. ‘We were being raked by machine-gun fire’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol IV, p. 308.
342. ‘What are you doing, lad?’: Harry Murray, Reveille, December, 1936.
342. ‘A most aggravating …’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol IV, p. 327.
344. ‘Situation appears to be …’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol IV, p. 329.
344. Story of Henry Eibel in C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol IV, p. 326fn.
344. ‘Oh for that barrage …’: Harry Murray, Reveille, December, 1936.
345. ‘I do not know what time it was then …’: Knowles, Reveille, April, 1931.
345. Murray makes it back to safety: Harry Murray, Reveille, December, 1936.
346. Story of William Evans in C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol IV, p. 337fn. 346. ‘So I shook my fist …’: G.D. Mitchell, Diary, AWM.
346. ‘as strong as it could be made’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol IV, p. 337.
347. ‘the luckiest man alive’: Allan Leane, letter January 18, 1917.
347. ‘They looked up at us but said nothing’: G.D. Mitchell, Diary, AWM.
347. ‘I saw a tall non-com …’: W.H. Nicholson, ‘Capt G.D. Mitchell’, Reveille, March, 1936.
348. Unofficial truce, in C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol IV, p. 341.
348. Capture of Bert Knowles: Knowles, Reveille, April, 1931.
349. Birdwood speech: Rule, p. 81.
349. Eric West at the casualty-clearing station: letter, 1917.
351. ‘In the whole course of the War …’: Falls, History of the Great War, 1917, p.361.
351. ‘experiment of extreme rashness’ and ‘satisfied that the effect upon the whole situation …’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol IV, pp. 349–51.
353. Edmond’s letter to Bean enclosing Gough’s letter: August 31, 1930, Bean Papers, AWM.
353. ‘I expect that I shall be in full accord …’: Edmonds to Bean, June 25, 1930, Bean Papers, AWM.
353. Edmond’s opinion of Gough: letter to Bean, July 2, 1928, Bean Papers, AWM.
353. Neill Malcolm’s response to Bean’s proofs: letter, September 9, 1930, Bean Papers, AWM.
353. Edmonds on Gough and Malcolm: letter, September 15, 1930, Bean Papers, AWM.
354. Edmond’s letter enclosing D.K. Bernard’s memories of the time: letter, November 18, 1930, Bean Papers, AWM
Chapter 23
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359. Nivelle had aroused exaggerated hopes: Correlli Barnett, The Swordbearers: Studies in Supreme Command in the First World War, p. 199.
359. ‘Nivelle has fallen into disgrace …’: diary entry May 12, 1917, Frances Stevenson, Lloyd George: A Diary, (ed A.J.P.Taylor).
360. ‘the victim of his over-elaborate promises’: Sir Hubert Gough, The Fifth Army, p. 186.
361. ‘Their stares seemed to be fixed …’: Marshal Philippe Pétain, La Bataille de Verdun, quoted in Barnett, p. 222.
361. ‘I found him businesslike …’: Haig on Pétain, Haig Diary, May 18, 1917, NLS.
362. ‘broadcast as far as the soldier …’: Pétain in Barnett, p. 221.
363. Trust in Pétain: John Terraine, Douglas Haig: The Educated Soldier, p. 297.
364. The answer came as ‘swift as lightning’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol IV, p. 394.
365. Pope’s death: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol IV, p. 373.
365. ‘a very ugly situation’: Falls, History of the Great War, 1917, p. 378.
366. ‘When I was 15 years and 5 months …’: Billy Williams, privately held letter July 8, 1980.
371. ‘What time is zero?’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol IV, p. 429.
Chapter 24
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374. ‘I was told to shut up …’: John Wright to Bean, letter dated September 14, 1937, Bean Papers, AWM.
376. Gellibrand asleep on the table: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol IV, p. 483.
376. Stanley Savige at Bullecourt: S.G. Savige, ‘A Soldier’s Battle: Second Bullecourt’, Reveille, May, 1933.
377. ‘I am still in an undamaged condition …’: Maxfield, letter April 29, 1917, AWM.
378. Maxfield message: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol IV, p. 442.
379. ‘All they want is a leader’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol IV, p. 448.
379. ‘We were 1,600 yards out …’: Savige, Reveille, May, 1933.
380. Letters from Sister Jean Simpson, May 25, June 24, June 30, 1917, and January 21, 1918.
381. ‘… men fought until they dropped …’: Savige, Reveille, May, 1933.
382. ‘Give the bastards hell’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol IV, p. 484.
Chapter 25
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387. ‘The Army seems to be doing nothing …’: Bean Diary, May 6, 1917, Bean Papers, AWM.
388. William Joynt on Percy Lay: Reveille, July, 1933.
388. ‘Here I witnessed the most tragic episode …’: Walter Hill, privately held letter, July 21, 1980.
389. Jimmy Downing goes into the line: Downing, p. 65 and 67.
389. ‘A terrible time …’: Rupert Moon, in John Lahey, ‘The Last of the Anzacs’, Age, April 21, 1984.
390. ‘You’ve got the tough one, Mickey,’: in Ross McMullin, p. 286.
391. ‘I’ve got three cracks …’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol IV, p. 531fn.
391. ‘It is easy to see …’: Falls, History of the Great War, 1917, p. 481.
392. Bean on Bullecourt: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol VI, p. 544, and Two Men I Knew, p. 155.
392. Bean’s account of Second Bullecourt: E.M. Andrews, ‘Bean and Bullecourt’, Revue Internationale d’Histoire Militaire, No. 72, Canberra, June, 1990.
394. ‘Bullecourt represents …’: Downing, p. 62.
Chapter 26
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397. Jellicoe an ‘old woman’: Haig Diary, May 7, 1917, NLS.
399. ‘Just as if they had stepped …’: Cutlack, March 24, 1917.
399. ‘Wonderful detail …’: in Roland Perry, Monash: The Outsider Who Won a War, p. 277.
399. ‘Any attempt to desert …’: Monash letter, April 29, 1917.
400. ‘His Jewish blood …’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol IV, p. 562.
400. ‘most thorough and capable commander’: Haig Diary, July 1, 1918.
400. ‘What did they come back to?’: in Mark Baker, ‘Schuler’s War, Age, April 23, 2005.
401. Schuler’s engagement: Roy Bridges, That Yesterday Was Home, p. 219, and Robin Denholm, Paperman (family memoir), p. 57.
401. ‘Can you be too much of a gentleman?’: in Denis Winter, Haig’s Command: A Reassessment, p. 293.
403. ‘In appearance …’: Philip Gibbs quoted in John Terraine, Douglas Haig: The Educated Soldier, p. 308.
403. Plumer lacking the ‘real offensive spirit’: Haig Diary, May 22, 1917, NLS.
403. ‘Plumer and Harington …’: Charteris quoted in Terraine, p. 318.
403. Philip Gibbs on Harington, quoted in Terraine, p. 318.
405. ‘do all I can to crush …’: George Davies, Diary p. 93–94, AWM.
405. ‘If I live I shall stand …’: George Davies, letter dated June 6, 1917, AWM.
405. Walde Fisher, Diary entries April 14 and May 29, 1917, AWM.
406. ‘Have to wear box respirators …’: William Palstra, from Great Heart, privately held diary and letters, p. 90.
407. ‘Evidently he had heard of Ned Kelly’: quoted in Franki and Slatyer, Mad Harry, p. 114.
408. ‘All the trenches …’: quoted in Richard Holmes, The Western Front, p. 159.
408. ‘The most diabolical splendour …’: Philip Gibbs in Holmes, p. 159.
408. ‘Debris of all description …’: Bob Grieve, ‘Messines’, AWM.
408. ‘Nineteen gigantic roses …’: quoted in Terraine, Douglas Haig, p. 314.
409. ‘like a volcano …’: Palstra, GreatHeart, p. 92–93.
409. ‘Pretty strong …’: Bean Diary, June 6–7, 1917, Bean Papers, AWM.
410. ‘I have never seen men so demoralised’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol IV, p. 595.
411. ‘Digging away for all they were worth …’: Grieve, ‘Messines’, AWM.
412. ‘When they have been racked …’: C.E.W. Bean OH, Vol IV, p. 624.
412. ‘There was a noise …’: Wilfred Gallwey, diary, AWM.
413. Australians ‘maddened’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol IV, p. 627.
414. ‘I was covered in dirt and mud …’: Grieve, ‘Messines’, AWM.
414. ‘Soon after 4 pm …’: Haig Diary, June 7, 1917, NLS.
414. ‘More c-attacks …’: Bean Diary, June 7, 1917, AWM.
Chapter 27
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416. ‘Almost the first one we looked at …’: Consett Carre Riddell, Thoughts of a Soldier in Two World Wars and Peace (ed John Carre Riddell), letter to John Carre Riddell, 1945.
416. ‘You know that for a long time …’: Carre Riddell, letter October 29, 1917.
417. ‘I fired from first to last …’: Monash, letter June 7, 1917.
417. ‘He sent some H.E. over and luckily …’: Joseph Trotman, letter August, 1917, AWM.
417. Walde Fisher diary entries, June 12 and 14, 1917.
418. ‘I’ve been knocked over by a shell …’: George Carson, letter June 14, 1917, AWM.
418. Bean on cavalry, Godley, the 3rd Division and the French mutinies: Bean Diary, June 11, 1917, Bean Papers, AWM.
419. Phillip Schuler ‘won much credit for his gallantry’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol IV, p. 562fn.
419. ‘His head was all bandaged up …’: Richard Dowse, letter to Bean, May 1, 1947, Bean Papers, AWM
419. ‘Your letter … has made me feel very bad.’: Sir Ian Hamilton’s reply to Richard Dowse, July 2, 1917.
420. ‘All his friends knew him …’: Bean’s tribute to Phillip Schuler, in War Services Old Melburnians, 1914–1918.
420. Plaque to Phillip Schuler in a Cairo church: Robin Denholm, Paperman, p. 57.
423. ‘Haig, in short, had arranged matters …’: Robin Prior and Trevor Wilson, Passchendaele, p. 73.
424. ‘trouble in the land …’; Haig Diary, June 15, 1917, NLS.
425. Jellicoe: ‘We cannot go on’: Haig Diary, June 20, 1917, NLS.
425. Haig refuses a peerage: Haig Diary, June 24, 1917, NLS.
425. ‘He is a worthy little man …’: Haig Diary, July 10, 1917, NLS.
426. Haig on John Pershing: Haig Diary, July 20, 1917, NLS.
426. Sending troops to Italy was ‘the act of a lunatic’: Haig Diary, July 21, 1917, NLS.
427. ‘My God, it’s a wonder …’: Philip Gibbs quoted in Leon Wolff, In Flanders Fields, p. 103.
Chapter 28
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433. Edmund Blunden at the front: Edmund Blunden, Undertones of War, pp. 200–1, 205.
433. Officers sent to casualty-clearing stations: Haig Diary, July 31, 1917, NLS.
434. ‘the next advance will be made as soon as possible’: Haig Diary, July 31, 1917, NLS.
434. ‘terrible day of rain’; Haig Diary, August 1, 1917, NLS.
434. ‘It was a medical miracle …’: T.A. White, The Fighting Thirteenth: The History of the Thirteenth Battalion, p. 103.
435. ‘the place was like a circus …’: Blunden, p. 191.
435. The word ‘Diggers’ becomes popular: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol IV, p. 732.
436. ‘You read of “drum fire” …’: Lawrence, letter July 31, 1917.
436. ‘It has rained for two days …’: Lawrence, letter August 1, 1917.
437. ‘They seem to have gone forward …’: Haig Diary, August 17, 1917.
437. Comment seems superfluous: Prior and Wilson, Passchendaele, p. 103.
438. Gough threatens to court-martial ‘glaring instances’: Prior and Wilson, p. 105.
438. ‘Gentlemen, I have just come from an interview …’: C.D. Baker-Carr, From Chauffeur to Brigadier.
438. Gough wanted to abandon the attack: Sir Hubert Gough, The Fifth Army, p. 205.
438. Prince Rupprecht’s diary entry: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol IV, p. 728.
439. Baker-Carr told off: Baker-Carr, From Chauffeur to Brigadier.
440. ‘Not unnaturally the Cabinet ask me …’: Robertson quoted in Grigg, Lloyd George: War Leader 1916–1918, p. 223–24.
440. Lloyd George ‘a real bad ’un’: Haig Diary, August 9, 1917, NLS.
441. ‘I have no doubt that Winston …’: Haig Diary, September 14, 1917, NLS.
Chapter 29
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445. ‘I can see him now …’: Lady Clementine Waring in Stephen Snelling, VCs of the First World War, pp. 170–1.
446. ‘the race knocked me out’: and ‘Am handing this to Frank tonight’: privately held diary, entries September 3 and 12, 1917.
446. ‘Very interesting it was too …’: A.M. McGrigor, diary entry September 14, 1917, Imperial War Museum.
447. ‘He calculated the distance …’: Prior and Wilson, Passchendaele, p. 116.
449. ‘I crawled a few yards …’ and ‘And among that wilderness …’: Joe Maxwell, Hell’s Bells and Mademoiselles, pp. 113–14.
449. ‘I came out on the right side …’: Maxwell, p. 130.
449. Walter Bradby in ‘Polygon Wood and Broodseinde’, Stand-To, September/October, 1963.
450. ‘we could have got to Berlin …’: Percy Lay, diary entry, September 20, 1917.
450. ‘All the tenants received …’: Stanley Calderwood, privately held diary, entry September 20, 1917.
451. ‘Get out of the way, sergeant …’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol IV, p. 766.
451. Ivon Murdoch and Maurice Wilder-Neligan in C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol IV, p. 763fn and 764.
452. Fred Moore and Donovan Joynt in C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol IV, p. 772.
452. Bean on war: Vol IV, p. 772fn.
453. Seabrook Brothers: Red Cross Reports.
453. William Tooney, letters February 22, 1918, and November 21, 1917, AWM.
454. ‘Some of them didn’t seem to understand …’: Donald Coutts, privately held diary, entry September 19, 1917.
454. ‘one Australian whom the General spoke to …’: A.M. McGrigor, diary entry September 20, 1917, IWM.
454. ‘complete success’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol IV, p. 788.
455. ‘We have done a good offensive …’: Lord Bertie in C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol IV, p. 790.
455. ‘I found there an atmosphere …’: David Lloyd George, War Memoirs, Vol 4, p. 412 (Nicolson and Watson edition).
456. Lloyd George visits war prisoners: Lloyd George, War Memoirs, Vol 4, p. 414.
456. ‘I was struck by the discourtesy …’: Sir Hubert Gough, The Fifth Army, p. 211.
Chapter 30
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462. ‘not a very helpful sight’: William Gamble, privately held A Gamble of Gambletown: Memoirs of Corporal William Gamble, p. 11.
462. ‘There was a crash close by …’: Downing, pp. 76–77.
463. George Elliott in Ross McMullin, Pompey Elliott, p. 295.
464. ‘Dumps were going up in all directions …’: Talbot Hobbs, diary entry September 25, 1917, AWM.
465. ‘We passed many killed …’: David Whinfield, privately held diary, entry September 25, 1917.
466. ‘was the acme of perfection …’: Newton Wanliss, The History of the 14th Battalion, p. 240.
466. Aurora Borealis: Downing, p. 78–79.
467. Sinclair Hunt, ‘The Operation at Polygon Wood’, p. 3 and 6–8, AWM.
468. ‘dressed as they were in sloppy fitting tunics …’: Gamble, p. 12.
469. ‘Many brave men – many good men have I met …’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol IV, p. 828fn.
469. John Turnour and Patrick Bugden in C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol IV, p. 814fn and 815fn.
470. ‘Your men are up there …’: from Ross McMullin, Pompey Elliott, p. 327.
471. Elliott goes to the frontline: McMullin, pp. 327–28.
471. ‘I never saw such a scene of confusion …’: Elliott, letter October 2, 1917 AWM.
471. Pompey writes of brother’s death: McMullin, p. 380.
472. ‘Poor old Geordie …’: Elliott, letter October 2, 1917, AWM.
472. ‘Pardon, brother, you don’t need it’: Downing, p. 82.
473. ‘chopped into lumps’ and ‘We were a pathetic band …’: Downing, pp. 83–84.
473. ‘until some puffing hero …’: Hunt, p. 12, AWM.
474. ‘I pointed out how favourable …’: Haig Diary, October 2, 1917, NLS.
474. ‘Gardiner says …’: Haig Diary, September 24, 1917, NLS.
Chapter 31
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475. ‘Probably the truth’: Cutlack, letter July 26, 1917.
477. ‘the apotheosis of banality …’: Monash, letter September 24, 1917, Monash Papers, NLA.
477. ‘For three years …’: Cutlack, letter dated October 1, 1917.
479. ‘bonzer nick …’: privately held letter, Jarvis Fuller to his sister Ruby, August 8, 1917.
479. Worried about Les Darcy: Jarvis Fuller, letter May 31, 1917.
479. ‘I feel in bonzer health …’: Jarvis Fuller to his sister Pearl, September 29, 1917.
480. ‘Some old men …’: Philip Howell-Price, letter September 25, 1917, AWM.
480. ‘About seven minutes later, or less …’: Bean Diary, October 4, 1917, AWM.
481. ‘We were formed up on the tapes …’: Paul Johanessen, letter September 17, 1918, AWM.
481. ‘We met Fritz attacking …’: Percy Lay diary, October 4, 1917.
482. ‘The accepted included some exceptionally fine men …’: Wangaratta Chronicle, February 12, 1916.
482. Frank Handcock wounded: family history, and Neil Wilson, ‘Brothers in Arms’, Herald Sun, April 23, 2005.
483. ‘most of its defenders were shot down’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol IV, p. 855.
483. ‘About six of us had some fun …’: Lay diary, October 4, 1917.
484. No-one could shoot the wounded German: Charles Edmonds, pp. 120–21.
484. ‘a grand monument to the desolation …’: Will Palstra, p. 110.
484. ‘Your men are funny …’: Bean Diary, October 4, 1917, AWM.
485. ‘As we gazed back over the country …’: W.J. Harvey, The Red and White Diamond: Authorised History of the Twenty-fourth Battalion, p. 188.
485. ‘Every 20 paces or less lay a body …’: Frank Hurley, Hurley at War, p. 52.
486. Roy Fuller continues to search for brother, Jarvis: privately held letters, November 30, December 10 and 30, 1917.
486. ‘Your son, Private Fuller …’: letter to Mrs Fuller confirming the death of Jarvis, February 10, 1918.
487. Broodseinde an ‘overwhelming blow’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol IV, p. 875.
487. Harington letter, December 12, 1932, Bean papers, AWM.
488. ‘Robertson comes badly out of this’: Haig Diary, October 3, 1917, NLS.
Chapter 32
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491. ‘Great happenings are possible’: Monash, letter October 7, 1917.
491. Germans were ‘staggering’: Monash, letter October 6, 1917, Monash Papers, NLA.
491. Australians were being ‘sacrificed’: Monash, letter October 18, 1917.
493. ‘I believe the official attitude …’: Bean Diary, October 8, 1917.
496. ‘The results were very successful’ and Robertson disillusioned: Haig Diary, October 9, 1917, NLS.
496. ‘I cannot think why the War Office …’: Haig Diary, October 15, 1917, NLS.
496. Charteris realises there can be no success in 1917: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol IV, p. 908fn.
496. ‘Never have I seen …’: Fisher, diary entry October 24, 1917, AWM.
497. Bean interviews Haig: Bean Diary, October, 1917, AWM.
498. Haig mentions the need for an Australian corps commander: Bean Diary, October, 1917, AWM.
498. Sister Elsie Grant: letter, August 23, 1917, AWM.
499. Crown Prince Rupprecht rejoices in the rain: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol IV, p. 928.
500. ‘a hopeless tangle …’: Palstra, p. 113.
500. ‘I don’t think I shall ever forget …’: John Hardie, letter October 30, 1917, AWM.
501. ‘There was really nothing to conform to’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol IV, p. 912.
502. ‘What am I to do?’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol IV, p. 918.
503. ‘Things are bloody, very bloody’: Morshead Papers, AWM.
503. ‘In the vicinity …’: Palstra, p. 114.
503. Death of Elsie Grant’s brother: letter October 20, 1917.
504. ‘Our men gave all their food …’: Fisher, diary entry October 24, 1917, AWM.
504. ‘During the afternoon …’: George Watkins, diary entry October 13, 1917.
505. ‘Are you dead, sir?’: letter of unknown, but possibly an Australian, medical officer with the British 18th Division, PR84/068, AWM.
506. Telegram from Lloyd George to Haig: Haig Diary, October 16, 1917.
506. ‘I carried my protest to the extreme limit’: A.M.J. Hyatt, ‘Sir Arthur Currie at Passchendaele’, Stand-To, Jan/Feb, 1965.
507. ‘Here we stayed four days …’: Fisher, diary entry October 24, 1917, AWM.
508. ‘Dante would never have condemned …’: C.E.L. Lyne, diary entries November 4 and 6, 1917, IWM.
509. ‘It was no longer life at all …’: Erich Ludendorff, My War Memories 1914–1918, Vol II, p. 491.
509. ‘Today was a very important success’: Haig Diary, October 6, 1917, NLS.
510. ‘We have won great victories …’: Lloyd George quoted in Grigg, Lloyd George: War Leader 1916–1918, p. 288.
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513. John Fuller on Douglas Haig: Introduction to Leon Wolff, In Flanders Fields, pXIII.
516. Low point of Haig’s career: John Terraine, Douglas Haig: The Educated Soldier, p. 379.
517. Lloyd George ‘well on the warpath’: Haig Diary, December 6, 1917, NLS.
517. ‘I gather that the PM is dissatisfied …’: Haig Diary, December 8, 1917, NLS.
518. Haig did not want to affect Gough’s self-confidence: Haig Diary, December 14, 1917, NLS.
518. ‘He was essentially a cloistered soldier …’: John Fuller in Wolff, p. xiv.
518. ‘Though (Haig) often insisted …’: Grigg, p. 317.
520. ‘flashed the brutality …’: Robert Asprey, The German High Command at War, p. 361.
520. Lloyd George on Clemenceau: Lloyd George, War Memoirs, p. 2678–79.
520. Churchill on Clemenceau: Winston Churchill, Great Comtemporaries, p. 310–11.
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524. Referendum question: Scott, p. 414.
524. ‘did not speak as a priest …’: Scott, p. 420.
526. ‘Those of you who have relatives in the trenches …’: Hughes in the Argus, November 13, 1917.
526. ‘The wealthy classes would be very glad …’: Mannix in The Advocate, December 8, 1917.
527. Cables between Hughes and Murdoch before federal election: March 16 and April 11, 1917, and Birdwood letter, March 24, 1917, Murdoch Papers, AWM.
527. ‘Anzac vote vital to success’: cable, November 6, 1917, AWM.
527. ‘This would have a striking effect …’: Murdoch to Hughes, cable dated November 8, 1917.
527. ‘Lives are to be drawn for …’: Australian Worker, November 15, 1917.
528. Nellie Melba’s message: quoted in C.M.H. Clark, A History of Australia, Vol VI, p. 74.
528. ‘the little Tsar’: Mannix, in Scott, p. 420.
528. Billy Hughes in scuffle: Brisbane Courier, November 30, 1917.
528. ‘Did youse ever do any fightin?’: Bulletin, December 20, 1917.
529. ‘We can’t go on forever …’: Lawrence, p. 146.
529. ‘Will I vote – will I what!’: Lawrence, p. 148–49.
529. ‘Another cold day …’: privately held diary of Sapper F.X. Heerey, A Tasmanian Story of the Great War, diary entry December 11, 1917.
530. ‘Well father you asked me some time ago …’: Roy Brewer, letter May 27, 1918.
530. ‘We’ve just heard the result …’: Bulletin, March 7, 1918.
530. ‘Tell me all about the wee people …’: Elliott, letter June 22, 1917.
530. Pompey Elliott feeling the strain: letter, January 7, 1918.
531. ‘What am I fighting for?’: Carre Riddell, letter December 28, 1917.
531. Murdoch cable to Hughes: July 12, 1917, Murdoch Papers, AWM.
532. Australians had revolutionary ideas: Haig to Lady Haig, February 28, 1918, NLS.
533. Monash on Godley: letter November 14, 1917, Monash Papers, NLA.
PART THREE: 1918
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539. ‘All were most friendly …’: Haig Diary, January 7, 1918, NLS.
540. ‘I felt I had made a horrible mistake …’: Adcock, letter January 31, 1918.
541. ‘It is too quiet …’: Lawrence, p. 147.
541. ‘It was the funniest collection …’: Lay diary, November 27, 1917.
541. ‘It was quite pleasant …’: Monash, letter December 30, 1917.
541. Monash knighted: letters January 13 and March 15, 1918, Monash Papers, NLA.
541. ‘My darling …’: Vic to Monash, letter January 4, 1918, Monash Papers, NLA.
541. ‘and it rained very hard …’: Johanessen, letter August 17, 1918.
541. Joe Maxwell shot at by sentry, and goes to church: Maxwell, p. 161 and 163.
542. Christmas in Leipzig: Cooper, pp. 221 and 234.
542. ‘dipping his toes …’: Bulletin, January 17, 1918.
542. ‘Ludendorff never possessed …’: Frau Mathilde Ludendorff, My Married Life with Ludendorff, p. 232.
543. ‘We must not imagine …’: Erich Ludendorff, My War Memories, p. 588.
548. ‘it was his duty to go …’: Haig Diary, February 11, 1918.
548. ‘I have never seen him …’: Wilson, quoted in John Toland, No Man’s Land: 1918, the Last Year of the Great War, p. 47.
548. ‘D. is a very weak-minded fellow’: Haig to Lady Haig, January 14, 1918, NLS.
549. ‘We have a lot of new men …’: Thomas, letter March 20, 1918, AWM.
549. ‘we didn’t lose any sleep …’: Whinfield, February 3 and 4, 1918.
549. ‘Wait ’till the spring offensive’: Maxwell, p. 170.
552. British instruction to the Americans: William S. Triplet, A Youth in the Meuse-Argonne, p. 56.
552. ‘Met Dad at WC Club …’: Lyall Howard, diary entry March 7, 1918.
552. ‘Inoculated again’, ‘First day in trenches’, ‘Shoved in old barn’ and ‘Will wounded and dies’: Lyall Howard, diary entries August 28, December 1, December 27, 1917, and August 27, 1918.
553. ‘Slightly gassed’: Lyall Howard, diary entry July 30, 1917.
553. ‘I must say that I feel quite confident …’: Haig to Lady Haig, February 28, 1918, NLS.
553. ‘In any case we must be prepared …’: Haig Diary, March 14, 1918, NLS.
554. ‘like a damn foreigner’: John Charteris, Field-Marshal Earl Haig, p. 313.
554. ‘Everyone is in good spirits …’: Haig to Lady Haig, March 20, 1918, NLS.
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555. ‘… the silence was broken …’: Winston Churchill, The World Crisis 1911–1918, p. 1250–51.
557. ‘It swept around us …’: Churchill, p. 1251.
558. ‘Philip – not in bed yet?’: Charteris, p. 206.
558. ‘Before 8 am …’: Haig Diary, March 21, 1918, NLS.
559. ‘so sustained and steady …’: Gough, p. 260.
560. Haig’s dislike of telephones: Charteris, p. 205.
560. ‘did not seem to grasp …’: Gough, p. 271.
561. ‘The first to be affected …’: quoted in Martin Middlebrook, The Kaiser’s Battle, p. 161.
562. Story of J.H. Dimmer in Middlebrook, p. 254.
563. ‘He spoke to us in good English …’: quoted in Middlebrook, p. 291.
564. Estimate of casualties: Middlebrook, p. 322.
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566. ‘our men are in great spirits …’: Haig Diary, March 22, 1918, NLS.
566. ‘On the first day …’: Haig Diary, March 23, 1918, NLS.
567. ‘What is the use of all these decorations?’: in John Wheeler-Bennett, Hindenburg: The Wooden Titan, p. 148–49.
567. Interval for recruiting at the races: in Moonee Valley Racing Club Members’ Magazine, On Track, Spring, 2005.
567. ‘very much upset …’: Haig Diary, March 24, 1918, NLS.
568. ‘General Foch or some other determined General …’: Haig Diary, March 25, 1918, NLS.
569. ‘He had the appearance of a Commander …’: Haig Diary, March 26, 1918, NLS.
569. ‘we must not retire a single inch …’: Foch in Edmonds, History of the Great War, France and Belgium 1918, p. 542.
570. ‘Well, you’ve got the job you so much wanted …’: quoted in Terraine, p. 424.
570. ‘most impertinently’: Haig Diary, March 26, 1918, NLS.
570. Experiences of Henry Sandilands in letter to James Edmonds, August 14, 1923, PRO.
573. ‘I cannot get my men out of this cellar without bloodshed’: Rudolph Binding, A Fatalist at War, pp. 209–10.
573. ‘Here I found General Ruggles-Brise …’: Gough, p. 315.
574. Haig on Gough: Haig Diary, April 3, 1918, NLS.
574. ‘Don’t worry about me’: Gough, p. 325.
574. ‘As regards Gough …’: Haig to Lady Haig, June 16, 1918, NLS.
576. Refugees near Albert: John Barton, diary entry March 28, 1918, AWM.
576. Millencourt empty: Coutts, diary entry April 7, 1918.
576. French leave everything behind: Roy Brewer, letter May 24, 1918, AWM.
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580. Stolen wine confiscated: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol V, p. 315.
580. Frank Wormald at Corbie: stories on tape recorded by Billy Wines.
583. ‘uselessly entrenched in queer places …’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol V, p. 304.
583. Young officer wants a cavalry charge: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol V, p. 307.
584. Gilbert Coghill in C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol V, pp. 313 and 319.
585. ‘went off his head with the strain’: Haig Diary, March 29, 1918, NLS.
585. ‘These Tommy divisions …’: Monash, letter April 4, 1918, Monash Papers, NLA.
587. Bean meets stragglers: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol V, p. 331–32.
587. John Milne in C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol V, p. 340.
588. Bean and Wilkins at Villers-Bretonneux: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol V, p. 350.
589. ‘Here lies a brave English warrior’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol V, p. 418.
589. ‘the Australians and Canadians …’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol V, p. 417.
589. ‘They are the means to the end of strategy …’: Correlli Barnett, p. 329.
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591. ‘Terrible stories were told …’: William Donovan Joynt, diary entry April 6, 1918, AWM.
591. ‘The people of Amiens …’: Lawrence, p. 150.
593. ‘most selfish and obstinate’: Haig Diary, April 9, 1918, NLS.
593. ‘There is no other course …’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol V, p. 437.
594. Donovan Joynt moves to near Vieux Berguin: Joynt diary, entry April 12–14, 1918, AWM.
595. ‘Their officer was very apologetic …’: Joynt diary, entry April 15, 1918, AWM.
596. ‘But what help are all orders to attack …’: quoted in Asprey, pp. 395–96.
596. ‘What Allies to fight with’: Haig Diary, April 26, 1918, NLS.
596. ‘used by Divisions …’: Haig Diary, April 18, 1918, NLS.
596. ‘living like lords’: Lawrence, pp. 160 and 162.
596. ‘If this is true …’: Lawrence, pp. 161.
596. ‘piled them up …’ and ‘Gee, it makes a fellow thankful …’: Lawrence, pp. 161–62.
597. Joynt holding his front: Joynt diary, April 15, 16 and 18, 1918.
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601. ‘Nothing of note …’: Clarence Wallach, privately held diary, entry 27–28 September, 1915.
602. ‘awkward situation’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol III, p. 511.
602. Clarence Wallach’s injuries: dossier from National Archives.
602. Death of Neville Wallach: Red Cross report.
603. ‘a most glorious house’: Elliott, letter April 11, 1918.
604. Elliott’s edict: C.E.W. Bean, Vol V, p. 550fn.
604. ‘Eighty – that is really a decent number’: Floyd Gibbons, The Red Knight of Germany, p. 363.
606. ‘For two days companies of infantry …’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol V, p. 540.
607. ‘enormous and terrifying iron pillbox’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol V, p. 552.
608. ‘All British troops …’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol V, p. 549.
609. ‘I can’t be sure of it’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol V, p. 572.
609. Glasgow and Heneker: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol V, p. 574–5.
610. ‘Such a day – I never want to see any more like it …’: Whinfield diary, April 24, 1918.
610. ‘There were houses burning …’: Downing, p. 117.
610. ‘Into the bastards, boys.’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol V, p. 603.
611. The Australians ‘killed and killed …’: Downing, p. 119.
611. A more explicit letter courtesy of Downing’s sons: William, John, David and the late James.
612. ‘The Monument is your goal …’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol V, p. 580.
612. ‘Carry out the order …’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol V, p. 583.
613. Friendly fire: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol V, p. 583.
614. ‘No prisoners …’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol V, p. 590.
614. Birdwood congratulates Elliott: letter, April 28, 1918, AWM.
615. ‘the brilliant idea of the III Corps …’: Ellis, p. 302.
615. ‘Our people have had very trying experience …’: Talbot Hobbs, diary entry April 27, 1918, AWM.
615. ‘It will ever be remembered …’: G. Grogan, ‘Villers-Bretonneux April 24, 1918’, Reveille, August, 1936.
616. ‘I can’t rhapsodise …’: Whinfield diary, April 25, 26, 28 and 30, 1918.
616. Charlie Stokes in Allan Blankfield and Robin Corfield, Never Forget Australia, p. 70.
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619. ‘from his first word …’: Bean on White: C.E.W. Bean, Two Men I Knew, p. 3.
620. Bean’s reaction to news on Monash: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol VI, p. 185.
620. ‘There was immediately a great consternation …’: Bean Diary, May 17, 1918, AWM.
621. White ‘universally considered greatest …’: Geoffrey Serle, John Monash: A Biography, p. 322.
621. ‘very fine and typical …’: Eric Edgerton, diary entry January 12, 1918.
621. ‘The villages around here are pitiful …’: Edgerton, diary entry May 1, 1918.
622. ‘Had they talked to ordinary people …’: Robert Asprey, p. 404.
623. ‘Retreat?’: quoted in Asprey, p. 423.
624. Monash’s letters to Vic on the size of his corps, his Rolls-Royce and his château: Cutlack, letters May 31, June 25 and August 14, 1918.
624. Bean convinces Murdoch that White should be corps commander: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol VI, p. 197, and in Two Men I Knew, p. 172.
624. ‘who believed that their views …’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol VI, p. 197fn.
624. Murdoch cable to Hughes: May 20, 1918, AWM.
624. ‘strong unanimous view’: Serle, p. 322.
625. ‘the designer of the new’: Corfield, p. 151.
625. Bean believed he was stopping a ‘tragic mistake’: C.E.W. Bean, Two Men I Knew, p. 170.
626. ‘irresponsible pressman’: Serle, 323.
626. Bean changes his mind on Monash: Bean Diary, June I, 1918, AWM.
626. Birdwood to Munro-Ferguson: letter May 27, 1918, Novar Papers, NLA. Murdoch to Monash: letter May 21, 1918, Monash Papers, NLA. Monash to Vic: letter May 31, 1918. Monash Papers, NLA.
627. Bean to White: letter June 26, 1918, Bean Papers, AWM.
627. ‘to regard me with suspicion …’: Murdoch to Monash, June 6, 1918, Monash Papers, NLA.
627. ‘It is a poor compliment …’: Monash to Birdwood, but not sent, Monash Papers, AWM.
627. ‘Monash is a man of very ordinary ideals …’: Bean Diary, June 16, 1918.
628. Birdwood to Murdoch: Bean Diary, June 10, 1918, AWM.
628. ‘Of course, he can do it much more ably than I’: Serle, p. 325.
628. ‘a mischievous and persistent villain’: Rawlinson in Birdwood Papers, letter June 27, 1918, AWM.
628. Monash letter to Vic: Cutlack, June 25, 1918.
629. ‘if the conspirators …’: letter to Monash, Monash Papers, AWM.
629. White rebukes Murdoch: C.E.W. Bean, Two Men I Knew, p. 173.
630. ‘Then as to yourself …’: White to Elliott, letter May 22, 1918, AWM.
630. ‘supersession’: Ross McMullin, Pompey Elliott, p. 453.
630. ‘So much for our high-intentioned …’: C.E.W. Bean, Two Men I Knew, p. 173.
631. ‘It is a great nuisance …’: Monash letter to Vic, June 25, 1918, Monash Papers, NLA.
631. ‘It is perhaps the outstanding case …’: Serle, p. 328.
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634. ‘He was so badly damaged …’: courtesy of Bruce Mellor, and also Red Cross report.
635. Five Davey brothers: Bulletin, August 29, 1918.
637. ‘These Yanks view things …’: Rule, p. 131.
638. ‘There is a great feeling of comradeship …’: Edgerton, diary entry June 15, 1918.
638. ‘The swing of them …’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol VI, p. 261.
639. ‘The troops were going to count them out …’: Adcock, p. 249 and 250.
639. ‘seemed wrapped up in the men …’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol VI, p. 273.
640. ‘Well, I haven’t met a single one of them …’: Bean Diary, June 14, 1918, AWM.
640. Monash and Rawlinson: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol VI, p. 279.
641. ‘I find this occupation …’: Monash, letter July 4, 1918.
642. Australians killed ‘right and left’ here: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol VI, p. 290.
643. ‘Do you think Fitzroy’ll beat Carlton …’: C.E.W Bean, OH, Vol VI, p. 300.
643. ‘When I yelled out …’: Rule, p. 133.
644. ‘What a harvest for our boys …’: Rule, p. 134.
645. ‘standing in those unmistakable …’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol VI, p. 306.
645. ‘Never have I seen …’: Edgerton, diary entry July 7, 1918.
645. Poor lot of prisoners: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol VI, p. 327.
646. Clemenceau’s speech in C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol VI, p. 335.
646. Race meeting at Allonville: A.W. Hyman, ‘An Australian Race Meeting in France’, Reveille, July, 1931.
647. ‘I’m all right – get the badly wounded boys out’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol VI, p. 110fn.
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649. ‘a mastery over the enemy …’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol VI, p. 479.
651. ‘orchestral composition’: General Sir John Monash, Australian Victories in France in 1918, p. 56.
651. Battle of firepower: Prior and Wilson, Command on the Western Front, p. 314.
653. ‘no football, no wandering, but sleep’: John Monash, battle notes, August 3, 1918, AWM.
653. ‘deadly anxious not to do anything …’: White to Bean, June 27, 1935, White Papers, AWM.
654. Borden: ‘largely due to lack of foresight …’: Imperial War Cabinet, June 13, 1918.
654. ‘wasted for want of proper leadership …’: Billy Hughes quoted in Grigg, p. 541.
655. ‘all was right behind them’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol VI, p. 525.
656. ‘Sir, I have nothing to do …’: Serle, p. 346.
656. Donald Coutts couldn’t see ten yards: diary entry August 8, 1918.
656. David Whinfield said he couldn’t see five yards: diary entry August 8, 1918.
657. German officer ‘gone through’ by a ‘horde of drunken Australians’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol VI, p. 539fn.
657. John Barton, diary, p. 62, AWM.
657. ‘so we merely directed them back …’: Carre Riddell, letter August 27, 1918.
658. ‘Not shoot, not kill me …’: James Armitage, diary entry, p. 26, AWM.
659. ‘As we watched during a halt’: Barton, diary entry p. 62, AWM.
659. ‘It was all a most wonderful sight …’: Carre Riddell, letter August 27, 1918.
659. ‘Round and round they flew …’: Percy Lucas, ‘The Victory of August 8, 1918’, Reveille, August, 1936.
660. ‘There were few of the usual depressing …’: Downing, pp. 142 and 145.
661. Story of E.J. Rollings: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol VI, p. 578.
661. ‘all over their anatomy’: Monash, letter August 15, 1918.
662. ‘neither morally nor materially …’: John Terraine, p. 454.
663. ‘the British had to have a success’: White in C.E.W. Bean, Two Men I Knew, p. 178.
663. ‘I was told of deeds of glorious valour …’: Ludendorff, Vol II, p. 683.
664. ‘the situation had developed more favourably …’: Haig Diary, August 8, 1918, NLS.
664. ‘You do not know what the Australians …’: John Hetherington, Blamey, p. 47.
665. Harington letter to James Edmonds, December 15, 1932, Bean Papers, AWM.
665. Pompey Elliot shot in the buttock: Ross McMullin, p. 468.
667. ‘an appalling sense of déjà vu ’: Prior and Wilson, p. 330.
667. ‘We took 150 prisoners …’: Whinfield diary, August 9, 1918.
669. ‘The fields are covered …’: Eric Edgerton, letter July 22, 1918.
669. Edgerton thanks his sister for a pair of socks: letter July 25, 1918.
670. Sid Horton at Edgerton’s funeral: letter August 14, 1918.
670. Sid Horton remembers Edgerton in ‘A Pal’s Appreciation’, written in the 1930s.
670. Battalion commander upset by Edgerton’s death: Coutts, diary entries August 11 and 12, 1918.
670. Unrest in the German army: Edmonds, History of the Great War 1918, pp. 149 and 439.
670. Kaiser says war must be ended: Edmonds, p. 140.
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674. Haig ‘had at last divined the manner of proceeding …’: Trevor Wilson, The Myriad Faces of War: Britain and the Great War; 1914–1918, p. 595.
675. Churchill believed war would continue till mid-1919: Haig Diary, August 21, 1918, NLS.
675. ‘Risks which a month ago …’: Haig Diary, August 22, 1918, NLS.
675. Lawrence McCarthy in C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol VI, p. 742.
676. ‘Let’s go and have a look’: Joynt in C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol VI, p. 745.
676. Joynt at Plateau Wood: Joynt diary, August 23, 1918, AWM.
677. Joynt wounded and taken to England: diary, August 24, 1918, AWM.
678. ‘These are great days …’: Times correspondent report, August 26, 1918, in John Terraine, To Win a War, p. 127.
679. ‘and advantage will be taken …’: Monash adding to Rawlinson’s orders, Monash Papers, AWM.
681. Cecil Healy: Harry Gordon, “From Track to Trenches’, Weekend Australian, April 25, 1998.
681. A plan ‘vaguely forming’: Monash, Australian Victories in France 1918, p. 176.
682. ‘So you think you’re going to take …’: Rawlinson in Monash, Australian Victories …, p. 181.
683. ‘Most of us are a dilapidated-looking lot …’: Robert Mactier, letter May 3, 1918, AWM.
684. Robert Mactier goes on leave, greets General Birdwood, is gassed and made a company runner: letters September, 1917, December 30, 1917, July 25, 1918 and August 22, 1918, and Tony Ford, Our Heroes: Tatura’s WWI Roll of Honour, p. 64.
685. ‘a regular old-fashioned charge’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol VI, p. 815.
686. ‘He wore his monocle …’: Maxwell. p. 217.
686. ‘As … I was dressing …’: Rawlinson diary entry August 31, 1918.
686. ‘a magnificent feat of arms’: Edmonds, History of the Great War 1918, p. 374fn.
687. ‘Casualties no longer matter’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol VI, p. 822.
688. ‘There was a big day in London …’: Roy Brewer, letter August 4, 1918, AWM.
688. ‘We were kept going continuously …’: Coutts, diary entry August 31, 1918.
689. ‘he tried to speak to me …’: Red Cross report on Robert Mactier, December 17, 1918.
689. Letter from Mactier’s father in Tony Ford, Our Heroes: Tatura’s WWI Roll of Honour, p. 65.
689. Mont St Quentin looked ‘impregnable’: W.J. Harvey, The Red and White Diamond: Authorised History of the Twenty-fourth Battalion, A.I.F., p. 277.
691. Lyall Howard diary entries March 30–May 10, August 30 and September 3, 1918.
692. ‘There were machine guns everywhere’: Coutts, diary entries September 5 and 7–17, 1918.
693. Charles Repington interview with Foch in John Terraine, To Win a War, p. 143.
694. ‘He had only worked, worried …’: in W. Foerster, De Feldherr Ludendorff, p. 73.
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695. Monash makes an impression on English journalists: Arthur Doyle, The British Campaign in Europe, p. 104, and Arthur O’Conner, Weekly Despatch, June 18, 1948.
696. ‘a little footsore’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol VI, p. 875.
697. David Whinfield resting near Péronne: diary entry, September 14, 1918.
698. Paton and MacArthur: quoted in William Manchester, American Caesar, p. 115.
699. Germans asking ‘Which way?’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol VI, p. 906.
699. Refusal to fight: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol VI, p. 983.
701. ‘I have done a thing …’: N.G. McNicol, The Thirty Seventh: History of the Thirty Seventh Battalion A.I.F., p. 252.
701. ‘(Colonel Scanlan) ordered slope arms …’: Whinfield diary, September 26, 1918.
702. Disbandment of the 60th Battalion: McMullin pp. 489–90.
703. ‘wild Irish and German Catholics’: R. Ferrell, The Autobiography of Harry S. Truman, p. 46.
703. ‘I never heard a man cuss so well …’: Laurence Stallings, The Story of the Doughboys, pp. 133–34.
704. ‘revolution from above’: in Asprey, p. 468.
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705. ‘I am pretty sure …’: Rawlinson diary, September 16, 1918.
710. ‘It was contrary to the policy …’: Monash, Australian Victories in France 1918, p. 251.
710. Monash diary entry, September 27, 1918.
712. ‘he is a good, honest fellow …’: Haig Diary, September 28, 1918, NLS.
712. Will Palstra shoots down his first plane: Palstra, p. 157.
715. ‘I could not have hoped …’ and ‘The Americans appear …’: Rawlinson diary, September 29, 1918.
716. ‘Well, you see what I expected …’: Bean Diary, September, 1918, AWM.
716. ‘We have had the report …’: Operational Records, 1.10 pm, September 29, 1918.
717. ‘Boiling down factory’: C.E.W. Bean, ‘Corpse Factory: Short-Lived Mystery’, Reveille, May, 1930.
719. Norman Dalgleish: letter January 18, 1919, AWM and McMullin, p. 494.
721. Maxwell in the Beaurevoir Line: Maxwell, pp. 225–28.
722. Wounded Australian wrapped in German overcoat: Maxwell, p. 229.
722. Extra rum ration: Maxwell, p. 230–31.
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725. Harry Fletcher and Austin Mahony the night before Montbrehain: Harvey, The Red and White Diamond, p. 293.
726. Information on Fletcher and Mahony: from family sources and NAA files.
727. ‘After washing about half an hour …’: privately held letter, January 1, 1916.
728. Norman Wilkinson in W. Carne, History of the 6th Machine Gun Company, p. 376.
729. John Blankenberg in C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vol VI, p. 1037fn.
730. Old woman ‘hoisted her petticoats’: Maxwell, p. 232.
730. Norman Wilkinson in hospital: Norman Wilkinson, Travel Trimmings, p. 188.
731 ‘Troops more fatigued …’: Ellis, p. 380.
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736. ‘You must use it …’: in G. Ritter, The Sword and the Sceptre: The Problem of Militarism in Germany, Vol IV, p. 361.
737. ‘military masters’ and ‘monarchial autocrats’: C.E.W. Bean, OH, Vo l VI, p. 1050.
737. ‘When our enemies know that no sacrifice …’: Ludendorff, Vol II, p. 761.
738. ‘Excellency, I must remind you …’: in Asprey, p. 484.
738. ‘produce a desire for revenge’: Haig to Lady Haig, October 26, 1918, NLS.
739. ‘to look for death’: Wheeler-Bennett, p. 186.
739. ‘because of a few hundred Jews …’: in Martin Gilbert, First World War, p. 490.
741. Meeting German delegates: Marshal Foch, Memoirs (trans Col. T. Bentley Mott), p. 546.
742. Armistice request: Foch, p. 546.
743. Bernard Freyberg before the Armistice: in Martin Gilbert, Winston Churchill, Vol IV, Companion Part I, pp. 416–17.
745. ‘it was so quiet …’: Harry Truman, letter November 11, 1918.
745. ‘Armistice signed’: Lyall Howard diary, November 11, 1918.
746. ‘The city blazed with light …’: Maxwell, p. 236–37.
746. ‘Everyone went mad …’: Rupert Baldwin diary, November 12, 1918.
746. ‘I was walking down the road …’: Coutts diary, November 11, 1918.
746. ‘When it was on …’: Charles Rea, letter December 2, 1918, AWM.
746. ‘Mick’ Moon at a football match: John Lahey, ‘The Last of the Anzacs’, Age, April 21, 1984.
747. ‘We had two victories today …’: D. Cleary in Bill Gammage, The Broken Years, p. 265.
747. William McBeath: Diaries of Graves Detachment Digger, letter April 19, 1919, AWM.
AFTERMATH
749. From a speech given by Winston Churchill, December 16, 1918.
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751. ‘Ah, they’re sending babies’: Tony Stephens, The Last Anzacs: Gallipoli 1915, p. 60.
751. Charles Johnson: privately held family papers.
753. Sergeant Andrew Muir refusing to drink the water: Muir family source.
754. Maxwell finds civilian life difficult: Maxwell, p. 1.
754. Gordon Bennett seeking work: Legg, p. 142.
755. ‘dreams abandoned’: Bill Gammage in The Great War, Gains and Losses: ANZAC and Empire (ed Craig Wilcox), p. 6.
755. ‘all those talented people …’: Geoffrey Blainey, A Shorter History of Australia, p. 159.
756. ‘the grey years’: Michael McKernan, The Australian People and the Great War, p. 201.
757. ‘If I do, it is this …’: Wilson in Scott, p. 786fn.
757. Hughes and Wilson: Scott, p. 787fn.
758. ‘must pay to the uttermost farthing …’: quoted in Martin Gilbert, The Treaty of Versailles, in The History of World War I (ed A.J.P. Taylor), p. 274.
760. ‘The Treaty of Versailles …’: Martin Gilbert, History of World War I, p. 276.
763. Churchill on Haig: Winston Churchill, Great Contemporaries.
766. ‘It’s the orders you disobey …’: Manchester, p. 101.
767. Foch and Babe Ruth: Red Smith (ed), Press Box, p. 44.
768. Monash could have replaced Haig: Lloyd George, Vol VI, p. 3424.
769. Monash’s doll’s house: Monash family sources.
769. Geoffrey Serle’s entry on John Monash in The Dictionary of Biography.
770. ‘The supercession …’: Elliott letter to Talbot Hobbs, July 23, 1929.
772. ‘I have had a damned long run …’: Thomas, letter March 12, 1918.
773. ‘You had to draw the line somewhere’: quoted in Donald Horne, Billy Hughes, p. 13.
773. ‘We should be careful …’: Desmond Zwar, In Search of Keith Murdoch, p. 86.