Fromelles and Pozières

On 19 July 1916, 7000 Australian soldiers – in the first major action of the AIF on the Western Front – attacked entrenched German positions at Fromelles, in northern France. By the next day, no fewer than 5500 were wounded and just under 1900 were dead – a bloodbath that the Australian War Memorial describes as ‘the worst 24 hours in Australia's entire history'.Just days later, three Australian Divisions attacked German positions at nearby Pozières, and over the next six weeks they suffered another 23,000 casualties. Of that bitter battle, the great Australian war correspondent Charles Bean would write, ‘The field of Pozières is more consecrated by Australian fighting and more hallowed by Australian blood than any field which has ever existed ...'Yet the sad truth is that, nearly a century on from those battles, Australians know only a fraction of what occurred. This book brings the battles back to life and puts the reader in the moment, illustrating both the heroism displayed and the insanity of the British plan. With his extraordinary vigour and commitment to research, Peter FitzSimons shows why this is a story about which all Australians can be proud. And angry.

Peter FitzSimons is one of the Sydney Morning Herald's and Sun Herald's most popular columnists. He broadcasts daily on Radio 2UE and is a regular contributor to the International Herald Tribune and the London Daily Telegraph. He is the author of seventeen books, including biographies of Nancy Wake, Nene King, John Eales, Steve Waugh and Charles Kingsford Smith.Peter lives with his family in Sydney. Richard Aspel is a talented narrator of children's and adult audiobooks. He trained and worked in London, before returning to Australia where he has worked extensively in television, theatre and radio. His television credits include Neighbours and Carson's Law, and he provided various voices for The Silver Brumby animated series. Richard was nominated for the prestigious Audie Award (US) for his narration of The Mark of the Angel by Nancy Huston.

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