Surviving the Great War: Australian Prisoners of War on the Western Front 1916–18Between 1916 and 1918, more than 3,800 men of the Australian Imperial Force were taken prisoner by German forces fighting on the Western Front. Australians captured in France and Belgium did not easily integrate into public narratives of Australia in the First World War and its commemorative rituals. Captivity was a story of surrender and inaction, at odds with the Anzac legend and a triumphant national memory. Soldiers captured on the Western Front endured a broad range of experiences in German captivity, yet all regarded survival as a personal triumph. Surviving the Great War is the first detailed analysis of the little-known story of Australians in German captivity in the First World War. By placing the hardships of prisoners of war in a broader social and military context, this book adds a new dimension to the national wartime experience and challenges popular representations of Australia's involvement in the First World War. |
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Contents
The capture of Australian troops on | 18 |
Armentières in April 1916 | 19 |
Respecting and abrogating wartime | 40 |
of Harbourdin 20 July 1916 | 42 |
working behind German lines 1918 | 63 |
The intelligence value of Australian | 66 |
Patriotic women prisoners of war and | 86 |
The myth and reality | 107 |
Other editions - View all
Surviving the Great War: Australian Prisoners of War on the Western Front ... Aaron Pegram No preview available - 2019 |
Common terms and phrases
Allied Anzac ARCS Army arrived attack attempt Australian Imperial Force Australian prisoners Australian Red Cross Awarded barbed wire Battalion battle Bean British prisoners Bullecourt camps captured casualties Charles Chomley civilian Communal Cemetery Corps death Department described diary died Division enemy escape experiences families Farm fighting Figure Force Force in France France Fromelles German captivity German troops Grant hands helped History Holland hospital Illness Illness included intelligence International John Jones July killed labour later letter Lieut lines lives London March Mary Memorial Military missing months November October officers parcels party positions POW statement prisoners of war Private Pte Pte Pte ranks received records Red Cross remained Repatriation reprisals returned Second sent September soldiers South spent successful suffering surrender treated treatment trenches troops units Western Front World World War Wounds Wounds Wounds write
Bibliographic information
| Title | Surviving the Great War: Australian Prisoners of War on the Western Front 1916–18 Australian Army History Series |
| Author | Aaron Pegram |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press, 2019 |
| ISBN | 1108486193, 9781108486194 |
| Length | 284 pages |
| Subjects | › › History / Military / General History / Military / World War I |
| Export Citation | BiBTeX EndNote RefMan |