"The Great War" by Les Carylon.

[MarkCDodd]

I have read countless books covering the 1st and 2nd World Wars.

This book by Les Carylon is brilliant.

It covers the experiences of the Australian Troops during WWI and uses their own letters and diaries to let you know their thoughts before, during and after the battles.

Their experiences are contrasted with those of the Generals and other officers who are ordering these men to do the impossible from the safety of their bunkers.

You are often introduced to a soldier in one battle who survives against the odds only to be killed in a later battle.

Althugh concentrating on the Auatralian Troops, the actions and fates of the British, French, Scottish, Canadian and Welsh troops who fought beside them are also detailed.

There is no glossing over of the facts so this makes it an emotional book that will leave you sad and angry.

[apowell]

Hi Mark,

I haven't read the book you mentioned but it sounds really interesting and like you I find books that concentrate on the suffering, tragedy and human cost of the soldiers who fought in these conflicts very humbling and emotional.

It wasn't until I started to research my family during WW1 and finding some of their service history records that it really hit home the human tragedy of war. Reading the names of family members and personnel information of the soldier, original letters from parents or wifes requesting information on wounded soldiers were really touching. I remember one relative who died and reading how clinical the Goverment letter was informing his mother about the death of her son and the list of his personnal items returned eg. Bible, bundle of letters and pen knife.

I have read many interesting and moving books on the war but I really enjoyed reading Last Post by Max Arthur. The book covers the life stories and testimonies of a number of soldiers who fought during the war and includes the late Harry Patch.

This soldiers statement sums up the futility of war

' We rolled them into the shallow holes and covered a little dirt over them. By the next day, there was nothing. You couldn't see anything-just plain ground again. Underneath just a foot deep, was all that Battalion. All dead.'

Many thanks Mark for your contribution to our Roll of honour section and I would like to invite everyone to contribute to remember our fallen.

Adrian

[MarkCDodd]

It is all numbers until you look at the dates of their death and research the battles they were in.

Then you start to realise how many were sacrificed for almost zero gain in WWI.

WWII is different. Certainly on the Western Front there were very few futile attacks.

The Russians still tended to send in masses of ill armed peasant troops, hence their 20 million dead...

How somebody can see and smell and hear this for up to 4 years and then return to civilian life is something I can't comprehend.

I do understand why many returning soldiers never talked of thier experiences to their family. We simply could not understand.