Banned in 1916, the 'best book on Gallipoli'
now returns to print.
As a young soldier in the battlefields of Gallipoli, Sydney Loch witnessed
the horror of war first hand. His journal of what he saw became a book on his
return to Australia. Hoping to avoid military censorship, his publishers dubbed
Sydney's book a novel: 'The Straits Impregnable'. But as the war ground on and
numbers of casualties grew, the publisher inserted a note saying the book was in
fact true. 'The Straits Impregnable', which had enjoyed huge literary acclaim,
was immediately withdrawn from sale by the censors.
Sydney Loch's experiences in the war, shaped his life afterwards. With his
wife, Joice Loch, he would go on to work in refugee camps in Poland and
Palestine - and his many subsequent books, set in war torn countries reflected
his humanitarian beliefs. Joice and Sydney, highly notable figures of the
post-war generation, have garnered recent interest among historians for their
lives and work.
In 'To Hell and Back', historians Susanna and Jake de Vries have recovered
and edited Sydney's book for a new generation of readers - and written a
biography of his remarkable life.
Contents:
Introduction
Prologue: The Early Years, Portrait with Background
Editors' Note
The Straits Impregnable
1. Prelude to war
2. In the shadow of the pyramids
3. 'If you want peace, prepare for war'
4. To the Dardanelles
5. The landing at Anzac Cove
6. 'Dig, dig, dig, until you are safe'
7. The big guns of HMS 'Queen Elizabeth'
8. In the Anzac trenches
9. Beauty among the carnage
10. The 'galloper' without a horse
11. The burial of three thousand corpses
12. The sinking of HMS 'Triumph'
13. Putting on a show for the enemy
14. What brave hopes, what courage spent
Epilogue: 'The Straits Impregnable', its aftermath, and Sydney Loch, the 'Secret
Pimpernel' of World War II
Endnotes
Acknowledgements
Index
