Beaten Down by Blood: The Battle of Mont St Quentin-Peronne 1918

Media: BOOK - paperback, 312 pages
Author: M. Bomford
Year: 2012
ISBN: 9781921941948
Other: b&w photos, maps, index
Publisher: Big Sky Publishing

This book charts an extraordinary journey from the trenches facing Mont St Quentin on 31 August 1918 through the frenetic phases of the battle until the final objectives are taken on 5 September. This is the story, often told in the words of the men themselves, of the capture of the ‘unattackable’ Mont and the ‘invincible’ fortress town of Péronne, two of the great feats of Australian forces in the First World War.

The author places real men on the battlefield, describing their fears and their courage and their often violent deaths. The struggle for control of the battle, to site the guns, to bridge the Somme and maintain communications are portrayed in vivid detail. The story also offers a glimpse of the men’s families at home, their anxiety and their life-long grief.

This work provides a carefully articulated context, describing the ground over which the battle was fought and examining the corps and the ingredients which made it ‘socially and structurally homogenous’. An overview of infantry firepower, tactics, training and discipline demonstrates that there was more to the Australian soldier than daring and dash. Likewise, the Australians’ German opponent, while numerically weaker and haphazardly thrown into the line, is portrayed as a worthy adversary—a determined and tenacious opponent.

Beaten Down by Blood explores the relationship between myth and history and the significance of the Anzac legend. It analyses the forces that drove the diggers forward evenwhen they had reached the limits of their endurance.The Battle of Mont St Quentin-Péronne represents theAustralian Corps at its very best, its diggers fighting for peace and satisfied that, ‘whatever might lie ahead, at least everything was right behind them’.

Contents:

Acknowledgements

Prologue: We will hang on as long as we are able

Introduction: Collective memory

Part 1. The great ben of the river

1. The offensive spirit

2. Invincible city

3. A company commander's day out

Part 2. The greatest story never told

4. Not a ghost of a chance: 28-31 August 1918

5. To die going forward: 1 September 1918

6. Attempting the impossible: 2-5 September 1918

Part 3. Defences beatern down by blood

7. A duty nobly done

8. A rough show we got into

9. Hard and dangerous work

10. The force of circumstances

11. My stomach thinks my throat's cut

Part 4. There'll be no more AIF before long

12. A strangelyt idolated event

13. To our last man and our last shilling

Epilogue

Bibliography

Endnotes

Index