In writing a history such as this the author is dependent very much on those who came before them. As such it should go without question that this book could not have been written without continually referring to the works of Charles Bean, especially his Official History Volume 5: The A.I.F. in France, December 1917 – May 1918. Other key sources include the published battalion histories, most written by men of the battalion who directly experienced what they were writing about. Also extensively used have been the Unit War Diaries which provide a wealth of information and have helped identify platoon and company commanders, order of battle below the battalion level, as well as solving some interesting questions that emerged while writing this detailed account. Finally, as always, researchers are indebted to the veterans themselves who kept diaries and letters, some later writing manuscripts that were unpublished due to ‘war weariness’ in the 1930s. The donation of these historically significant documents and artifacts to research institutions so that future researchers can learn from them cannot be overstated.

I would also like to thank the following institutions and publishers for allowing me to quote from the following: Australian War Memorial to quote from the Australian Official History; Australian Army History Unit to quote from the Unit War Diaries; Allen & Unwin for allowing me to quote from Broken Nation by J. Beaumont and Backs to the Wall by G. Mitchell; Neil Browning to quote from his outstanding unit histories: The 52nd Battalion: a history of the 52nd Battalion, AIF 1916–1918; For King and Cobbers: 51st Battalion AIF 1916–1919; Leane’s Battalion: 48th Battalion AIF 1915–1919; and The Westralian Battalion: the unit history of the 44th Battalion AIF 1915–1919; Glyn Harper for allowing me to quote from his book on the New Zealanders during this period, Spring Offensive; and Sue Austin from Slouch Hat Publications for allowing me to quote from the excellent unit histories by the late Ron Austin: As Rough as Bags: The History of the 6th Battalion, 1st AIF 1914–1919; Cobbers in Khaki: The History of the 8th Battalion, 1914–1918; Our Dear Old Battalion: The story of the 7th Battalion AIF, 1914–1919; and The Fighting Fourth: A History of Sydney’s 4th Battalion 1914–1919. For those copyright holders I was not able to identify and those contacted but who did not reply, I hope this book meets with your approval.

At Penguin I would like to thank Ben Ball, my publisher, who has guided this and my previous books through to completion. The same applies to my editors, Rachel Scully and Elena Gomez – much thanks Ben, Rachel and Elena. And a heartfelt thanks also to the rest of the team at Penguin.