After their retreat from Gallipoli, and recuperation in Egypt, among the first AIF troops to be posted to the Western Front were the ANZACs of the 26th & 28th Battalions/ 7th Brigade. Two months after their arrival, volunteers were selected to engage the Germans in a night-time trench raid. This unique book covers the story of the AIFs first action in Europe in June 1916 and the 73 soldiers involved. It tells the story of that raid and of each of the 73 soldiers who were subsequently dubbed ?The Black ANZACs? by the newspapers of the day. The raid was an action of firsts:

‘A century ago we got it wrong. We sent thousands of young Australians on a military operation that was barely more than a disaster. It’s right that a hundred years later we should feel strongly about that. But have we got our remembrance right? What lessons haven’t we learned about war, and what might be the cost of our Anzac obsession?’ Defence analyst and former army officer James Brown believes that Australia is expending too much time, money and emotion on the Anzac legend, and that today’s soldiers are suffering for it. Vividly evoking the war in Afghanistan, Brown reveals the experience of the modern soldier. He looks closely at the companies and clubs that trade on the Anzac story. He shows that Australians spend a lot more time looking after dead warriors than those who are alive. We focus on a cult of remembrance, instead of understanding a new world of soldiering and strategy. And we make it impossible to criticise the Australian Defence Force, even when it makes the same mistakes over and over. None of this is good for our soldiers or our ability to deal with a changing world. With respect and passion, Brown shines a new light on Anzac’s long shadow and calls for change. "Bold, original, challenging - James Brown tackles the burgenoning Anzac industry and asks Australians to re-examine how we think about the military and modern-day service." - Leigh Sales "The best book yet written, not just on Australia's Afghan war, but on war itself and the creator/destroyer myth of Anzac." - John Birmingham James Brown is a former Australian Army officer, who commanded a cavalry troop in Southern Iraq, served on the Australian taskforce headquarters in Baghdad, and was attached to Special Forces in Afghanistan. Today he is the Military Fellow at the Lowy Institute for International Policy where he works on strategic military issues and defence policy. He also chairs the NSW Government’s Contemporary Veterans Forum. He lives in Sydney.

One hundred years ago, in 1914, a bullet from an assassin's gun in Sarajevo sparked a war that ignited the globe. Patriotic young men all over the world lined up to join the fight -- including hundreds of Indigenous Australians. Shunned and downtrodden in their own country -- and in fact banned by their own government from serving in the military -- Aboriginal men stepped up to enlist. Undaunted, these bold souls took up arms to defend the free world in its time of greatest need. For them, facing the horror of war on a Gallipoli beach was an escape from the shackles of racism at home, at a time when Aboriginal people stood by, segregated, unable to vote, unable to act as their children were ripped from them. When the survivors came back from the war, there was no heroes' welcome - just a shrug, and a return to drudgery and oppression. Black Diggers is the story of these men -- a story of honour and sacrifice that has been covered up and almost forgotten. Written by Tom Wright and originally directed by Wesley Enoch, Black Diggers is the culmination of painstaking research into the lives and deaths of the thousand or so Indigenous soldiers who fought for the British Commonwealth in World War I. Grand in scale and scope, it draws from in-depth interviews with the families of Black Diggers who heard the call to arms from all over Australia, as well as conversations with veterans, historians and academics. Young men will step from the blank pages of history to share their compelling stories -- and after the curtain falls, we will finally remember them.

A picture book series about the extraordinary men and women who have shaped Australia's history, including our brave Anzac soldiers. Anzac stands for Australian and New Zealand Army Corps. It is the name given to the Australian and New Zealand troops who landed at Gallipoli in World War I. The name is now a symbol of bravery and mateship. From Ned Kelly to Saint Mary MacKillop; Captain Cook to Douglas Mawson, the Meet ... series of picture books tells the exciting stories of the men and women who have shaped Australia's history.

The First World War was only meant to last six months. When the Australians and New Zealanders arrived at the Western Front in 1916, the fighting had been going for a year and a half and there was no end in sight. The men took their place in a line of trenches that spread through Belgium and France from the North Sea to the Swiss Alps. Beyond the trenches was no-man's land, an eerie wasteland where rats lived in the ribs of the dead and the wounded cried for help. Beyond that was the German Army. The Anzacs had sailed for France to fight a war the whole world was talking about. Few who came home ever spoke about it again. Zero Hour is the third book by Leon Davidson, author of the best-selling and multi-award-winning Scarecrow Army: the Anzacs at Gallipoli and Red Haze: Australians & New Zealanders in Vietnam.

A lavishly illustrated account of the ANZACs involvement in the Western Front--complete with walking and driving tours of 28 battlefields With rare photographs and documents from the Australian War Memorial archive and extensive travel information, this is the most comprehensive guide to the battlefields of the Western Front on the market. Every chapter covers not just the battles, but the often larger-than-life personalities who took part in them. Following a chronological order from 1916 through 1918, the book leads readers through every major engagement the Australian and New Zealanders fought in and includes tactical considerations and extracts from the personal diaries of soldiers. This is the perfect book for anyone who wants to explore the battlefields of the Western Front, either in-person or from the comfort of home.

Ancestry is the third book in the Century of service series. It tells the stories of individuals and families from a range of cultural backgrounds who served with Australian units during the First World War. This image-rich publication draws on the Australian War Memorial¿s diverse collection, including private records, photographs, works of art, and relics.

Creforce - the Anzacs and the Battle of Crete is the dramatic story of the second Anzacs and their role in one of the biggest battles in the military history of Australia, New Zealand and its Allied forces during World War II.The book is written for children 10 and up and explores the real-life `adventures' and misadventures of more than 14,500 young Australian and New Zealand soldiers who were sent to the Greek island of Crete - famous for myths, minotaurs and labyrinths - under the second formation of the Anzac Corps, to help defend it against Nazi Germany. The book includes never-before-told, first-hand accounts of those that lived through the battle, and weaves in the stories of real-life characters including Roald Dahl, the famous British novelist Roald Dahl, Horrie the Wog Dog, the little terrier who became an unofficial mascot, Charles Upham, known as the Lion of Crete, an educated sheep farmer turned valuer from New Zealand who was single-minded, perservering, swore a lot and hated injustice and the people of Crete who have been likened in the book to Ned Kelly for their outlaw-style tactics as part of the Cretan resistance. The most notable Cretan is the Cretan Runner George Psychoundakis, an uneducated, poor, young shepherd who became a decorated war hero for aiding British soldiers including author, scholar Patrick Leigh Fermor who has been described as a cross between Indiana Jones and James Bond.The book is on the Victorian and NSW Premier's Reading Challenge lists. It is only available for purchase at stelitsahome.bigcartel.com

They had gone looking for the adventure of a lifetime. An engaging and accessible account of the Gallipoli Story. On 25 April 1925, thousands of Australians and New Zealanders landed at an unnamed cove on the Gallipoli Peninsula. They had come to fight the Turks. They thought the battle would be over in three days, but months later they were still in the trenches they dug at the landing. Anzac Cove became a reverse graveyard where the bodies lay above the ground and the living slept under it.