ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First and foremost I would like to acknowledge the late Edward Lynch, as without his wonderful story I would never have been inspired to follow in the footsteps of the 45th Battalion and write this book.

I would like to thank the Lynch family for their support, encouragement and endless patience. Edward Lynch's daughter Shirley provided the family photographs and answered my many queries, Ned Lynch checked that the facts pertaining to his father were correct, and Lynch's grandson Mike Lynch gave me support and friendship. Thanks again to Jane Harrison for granting me permission to publish Somme Mud.

At the Australian War Memorial I would like to thank Mal Booth, Head of the Research Centre, and Margaret Lewis, Manager of Information Services, for providing assistance with trench maps and, most importantly, putting the 45th Battalion War Diaries online. Peter Burness, Concept Leader, kindly answered some rather odd queries and Craig Tibbitts, Curator of Official Records, checked the manuscript for historical inaccuracies. Also Pat Sabine, Head of Photos, Film and Sound, and Ian Affleck, Senior Curator of Photographs, provided advice on photographs and background information.

Thanks to Virginia Gordon for providing me with the full set of the Official History of Australia in the War of 1914–1918.

Thanks go to my publisher at Random House, Meredith Curnow, my editor Sophie Ambrose, and to Vanessa Mickan-Gramazio for her comprehensive edit of the original manuscript.

Thanks also to those many friends who offered encouragement and support and understood why I was never around.

Finally, I would like to thank my wife, Heather, and my boys for their patience in allowing me to work in peace and for keeping up the coffee, toasted sandwiches and soup.