BOOK WW1 16TH BATTALION WESTERN AUSTRALIAN INFANTRY BN ANZAC UNIT HISTORY

Description

OLD SIXTEENTH Being a Record of the 16th Battalion A.I.F., During the Great War.By Captain C Longmore.

274 pages, including photo’s and maps. Recent official reprint of the original unit history. The 16th battalion was raised in September 1914 from volunteers in Western Australia and South Australia. It landed in Gallipoli on the 25th of April 1915 as part of the 4th Australian Infantry Brigade and took part in the desperate fighting around Sari Bair. Following the evacuation, it moved to the Western Front where three of its members won the Victoria Cross. The story of the Battalion is told with clarity and wry humour, each chapter having casualty statistics and details of awards. Officer’s and men are listed throughout the text, making this an invaluable historical source for militaria enthusiasts and relatives alike.

For Australia, the First World War remains the most costly conflict in terms of deaths and casualties. From a population of fewer than five million, 416,809 men enlisted, of which over 60,000 were killed and 156,000 wounded, gassed, or taken prisoner. In general terms with Australian unit histories the quality of authorship is very good, most of them share the common strength of making plentiful mention of the individual officers and men who served, fought, died, was wounded, or taken prisoner, or who came safely home at the end of it all. They are a prime source for genealogists and military historians.