The 38th Battalion A.I.F. The Story and Official History of the 38th Battalion A.I.F. Foreword by Rt. Hon. W.M. Hughes, Prime Minister of Australia
Bendigo: printed for the 38th Battalion History Committee by the Bendigo Advertiser, 1920. Octavo, original illustrated limp cloth wrappers; [viii], 110 pp., with a total of 18 numbered plates (see note regarding the plate count). Head of spine moderately bumped, wrappers a bit thumbed, internally in very good order and an attractive copy overall. A scarce and significant Australian Battalion history, here offered in original illustrated cloth wrappers.
The plate count of this book is a trifle confusing. A total of eighteen numbered plates are listed but there is no mention of plate ten, which is absent from the series. However, an additional portrait plate captioned "Officers Commanding the 38th Battalion" is present, directly following the unpaginated preliminary leaves. Basically, this copy is complete as issued and the discrepancy is evidently an editorial anomaly.
This book is of some importance as both a narrative of the Battalion, and as a visual record of the Australian Infantry Forces in France, Gibraltar and Wallonia (Belgium). Images of special interest include fighting at Armentieres; the makeshift cemetery of the 38th at Ploegsteert in Belgium; Hill 63 battlefield at Ploegsteert; Lille Gate at Ypres and other images of fighting in the vicinity; Gibraltar defences; a group portrait of NCO's at Neuve dated January 1918; Marrett and Vaux Wood battlefields; an improvised bridge across the Somme River near Corbie; the Battalion band and men at rest near Hamilton Wood; and men of "C" Company at the Hindenburg Line.
This Battalion History includes a full list of Honours, including DSO, MC, DCM, Croix de Guerre and Meritorious Service Awards. Men mentioned in despatches are also listed. Of special biographical interest is a twenty page list of officers who joined the 38th from other Battalions - grim testimony to the appalling casualty rates of officers on the front line. Dornbusch 312; Fielding and O'Neill page 228; Trigellis-Smith 235. Item #2231
Price (AUD): $650.00