Battle Scarred The 47th Battalion in the First World War is a wonderful new book by Tasmanian author and historian Craig Deayton.
Battle Scarred is the story of one of the shortest lived and most battle hardened of 1st Australian Imperial Force’s battalions; in just under 2 years the 47th Battalion would fight in some of the bloodiest battles and suffer one of the highest casualty rates of any Australian Unit in WW1. At the end of the war the soldiers of the 47th gathered for one final photograph – 73 men were left. (a battalion is normally 850-1000 men)
Chief of Army and Premier Lara Giddings will launch two new military history books from local Tasmanian Authors this month.
Battle Scarred by Craig Deayton and Crossing the Wire by David Coombes will be launched by Chief of Army, Lieutenant General Ken Gillespie, AC, DSC CSM and Premier Lara Giddings MP at 1.20pm Wednesday 13 April 2011, Officers Mess, Anglesea Barracks, Davey Street, Hobart. The launch will be attended by relatives of the contributors.
“Battle Scarred is surely the finest battalion history I have ever read… Craig Deayton has written a superb evocation and analysis of the life of one of the less celebrated of the AIF’s infantry battalions. This is no flattering hagiography full of derring-do, but an honest, critical, but still sympathetic, portrait of a run-of-the mill AIF battalion. Highly readable and richly descriptive both of the 47th’s men and their actions, it helps to explain not just what the AIF did on the Western Front, but what it was like for those involved, and why the AIF’s part in that terrible war remains such a profound part of Australian memory so long after.”
Dr. Peter Stanley Australia’s leading military historian
Synopsis
Battle Scarred is unique. Author Craig Deayton doesn’t seek to sentimentalise, celebrate or eulogise its subject, but to give the real picture – good and bad – of an Australian battalion at war. There is heroism, endurance and triumph, but also tragedy, disaster, incompetence and failure. Deayton examines the enormous difficulty faced by commanders who had to shape and lead this body of often unruly, sometimes militant, volunteer citizen soldiers into an effective fighting force. The combination of research and personal stories highlights the evolution of the battalion from an untrained, often poorly led and inexperienced force in 1916 to the hardened and highly effective units of 1918.
Battle Scarred is also unusual in giving a voice to the women and families connected to the battalion and in following the course of many stories into the post-war years. There is a focus on social history and the latter chapters examine the terrible impact of the war both on the battalion and the home front. One chapter is devoted to story of those listed as ‘missing’ and the anguish that uncertainly piled upon the loss of sons, husbands, fathers and brothers.
Big Sky Publishing | ISBN: 978-0-9870574-0-2 | Hardback | Pages: 416 | Price (incl. GST): $34.99
Release Date: March 2011
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Craig Deayton was born in Hobart in 1959, one of seven children to parents who both served in the Army in World War II. He studied History at University of Tasmania and graduated as a teacher in 1983, taught in London and throughout Tasmania and has been a College Principal since 1994. His interest in the military history where sparked by his Grandfather (a WW1 veteran) from whom he inherited two volumes of Charles Bean’s Official History at the age of 12. He is married to Tracey, has four children, lives in Hobart and is Principal of Sacred Heart College. His leisure interests are bushwalking, surfing and cycling but his passion is history and he collects history books and memorabilia.
In 2007, Craig received a grant from the Army History Unit to conduct research in Europe and trekked the battlefields of the 47th Battalion in France and Belgium. His new book Battle Scarred is the culmination of his research
Book Background
In 2003 Craig came across the unpublished memoirs of a Tasmanian soldier who served in the 47th Battalion. Vividly written, they included highly interesting accounts of some of this battalion’s battles and, looking for more information, he discovered that no battalion history existed for this unit. Although they had one of the highest casualty rates of any AIF battalion and had fought in some of the bloodiest battles, very little information existed about their war. The early research gradually revealed the fascinating, untold story of a particularly ill-starred battalion which had been one of the first battalions disbanded due to heavy casualties and lack of reinforcements.
In 2007, Craig received a grant from the AAHU to conduct research in Europe and trekked the battlefields of the 47th Battalion in France and Belgium. To assist his research Craig sought contact with the families of veterans and this was especially important with the prominent members of the 47th Battalion. Usually this was with the elderly sons and daughters, those who preserved the records, letters, diaries, photos and the memories of their relatives. His new book Battle Scarred is the culmination of his research.
Big Sky Publishing
