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recounting the actions of the 42nd Battalion
AIF in 1916-1919 during that "Great War"
with other interesting things like the
nominal rolls and the reasons
for
the award of medals. It has photos of medals awarded and some input from other
authors but in all cases the subject is the 42nd. It has the
tanks, the enemy and old
soldiers. See a "Dead Man's Penny".
Hear the Battalion March. See Knighthood
awards.
There are weapons, strange stories,
documents, photos,
bugle calls and more. The important memorials
are recorded including the Menin Gate and so are some interesting pieces of poetry.
Monash is here and so is Butcher
Haig. What about the cook who won a
bravery medal for cooking? Have a look at uniforms
and the famous slouch hat. See what you think of the enemy
uniforms. Meet the King and the
Kaiser.
As well as the weapons on issue to the troops there are
details of support weapons, mortars, artillery
as well as heavy machine guns. See how food
was cooked. Find out how a Battalion
was made up. Look at the workings of the medical
teams that supported our blokes. Find out why some private soldiers
are shown wearing peaked caps similar to Officers. Find the answers to some
interesting questions.
Naturally, there is an Honour
Roll of the Fallen.
The 42nd holds a special interest for me as my Dad served with the Battalion as
805 Sgt Charles Frederick William Harris, MM of D Company. He was wounded but
stayed on duty once
and hospitalised on another occasion. He left us his thoughts on his time in the
trenches in the piece called "Hell
Babes".
As a tribute to the sacrifice and dedication, not to mention the
sheer raw almost unbelievable courage of the men of the AIF I have added a few
bits and pieces that I have collected along the way. In a way it is my
ANZAC TRIBUTE
As a proud Australian can I remind other
Aussies that it is impossible to spell ANZAC without the NZ. The Kiwis did their
share and should not be forgotten.
Can I say to the world that we Australians and our sometimes forgotten trans-Tasman cousins the New Zealanders do not make wars. We are a peace loving pair
of nations. We would much rather play cricket or football, go fishing, have a
cold beer and a hot steak off the BBQ. Anything but make war.
However, once put in a position where we have to fight we borrow from the
42nd Battalion, their Unit motto
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