This Pack Contains Two Titles:

Battle Scarred: The 47th Battalion in the First World War

Game to the Last: The 11th Australian Infantry Battalion at Gallipoli 

BATTLE SCARRED 

 "Battle Scarred is surely the finest battalion history I have ever read.........."  Dr Peter Stanley

 "...this is not a book of glory and medals, but one of heartbreaking loss of Australia's youth, which is told in a way that rightfully earns it the praise it has received."  The Australian

“The dead and wounded of the 47th Battalion lay everywhere underfoot” With these words Charles Bean, Australia’s Official War Historian, described the battlefield of Dernancourt, strewn with the bodies of the Australian dead. It was the final tragic chapter in the story of the 47th Australian Infantry Battalion in the First World War.

This Battalion fought in some of the First World War’s bloodiest battles. Though their story is one of almost unrelieved tragedy, it is also story of remarkable courage, endurance and heroism. It is the story of the 1st A.I.F. itself – punished, beaten, sometimes reviled for their indiscipline, they fought on - fewer, leaner and harder - until final victory was won. And at its end only 73 remained.

GAME TO THE LAST

"A marvellous work of meticulous research. A great insight into the pysche of men and what makes them function under the most terrifying circumstances." Sydney Daily Telegraph

"This book is a rare beast - a work of academic history with a compelling narrative. It brings the characters to life in a way that many history books fail to do."  Ian McPhedran, Daily Telegraph

"If you only read one military book in your life, this should be the one."  The Listening Post

The narrative follows the battalion members as they leave their homes and lives, embark for overseas service, experience the excitement and boredom of arid and exotic Egypt, and undergo their baptism of fire in the first wave of the Australian and New Zealand landings at Gallipoli on 25 April 1915.

Many previously unpublished personal accounts provide the heart of the narrative, while extensive research provides context and colour. This is a story about sons, brothers, husbands, who became soldiers in a bloody war on foreign soil. Their experiences are documented and retold with admiration and respect, and remind the reader of the human face of war.