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AbstractHistoryArchive Description
'Australia's diggers didn't go 'over the top' for King and Country, they did it for their mates and their battalion - extraordinary deeds performed by ordinary men.
'Henry George Hartnett, known as 'Harry', joined the Australian Imperial Force on 13 September 1915 at the age of 23. He saw action on the Western Front at Fromelles and on the Somme, receiving his first 'Blighty', a wound so serious he was sent back to Britain for treatment, in the Battle of Pozieres. Upon his recovery, he returned to 'tour' the front with his battalion - an endless cycle of fighting interspersed with brief rest periods behind the lines.
'In this book Harry recalls the battles, the long marches, and the many amusing events that provided escape from the horrors of the battlefront. His moving descriptions give the reader insight into the unshakeable bonds forged between men trapped in situations they could never have imagined.
'Over the Top takes the reader on an eye-opening tour of life in and behind the trenches on the Western Front. Harry's book, which has never before been published, is a magnificent gift to Australia.' (From the publisher's website.)
Notes
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Author's note: 'These memoirs were first compiled in the early 1920s from data contained in my daily diaries written each day while I was on active service overseas.' (p.xiii)
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This book publication is based on Hartnett's manuscript held at the National Library of Australia.
Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of
Other Formats
- Large print.
Works about this Work
-
Diggers' Luck, in Life and War
2009
single work
review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 14 November 2009; (p. 14)
— Review of Over the Top: A Digger's Story of the Western Front 2009 single work autobiography ; Letters Home : To Mother from Gallipoli and Beyond : Diaries and Letters of Sapper Hubert Anthony 2009 single work correspondence -
Beyond Myth
2009
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 7-8 November 2009; (p. 18-19)
— Review of Over the Top: A Digger's Story of the Western Front 2009 single work autobiography ; Letters Home : To Mother from Gallipoli and Beyond : Diaries and Letters of Sapper Hubert Anthony 2009 single work correspondence ; Bomber : From Vietnam to Hell and Back 2009 single work autobiography ; The Tiger Man of Vietnam 2009 single work biography
-
Beyond Myth
2009
single work
review
— Appears in: The Weekend Australian , 7-8 November 2009; (p. 18-19)
— Review of Over the Top: A Digger's Story of the Western Front 2009 single work autobiography ; Letters Home : To Mother from Gallipoli and Beyond : Diaries and Letters of Sapper Hubert Anthony 2009 single work correspondence ; Bomber : From Vietnam to Hell and Back 2009 single work autobiography ; The Tiger Man of Vietnam 2009 single work biography -
Diggers' Luck, in Life and War
2009
single work
review
— Appears in: The Canberra Times , 14 November 2009; (p. 14)
— Review of Over the Top: A Digger's Story of the Western Front 2009 single work autobiography ; Letters Home : To Mother from Gallipoli and Beyond : Diaries and Letters of Sapper Hubert Anthony 2009 single work correspondence
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cFrance,cWestern Europe, Europe,
- Belgium, Western Europe, Europe,
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cEgypt,cNorth Africa, Africa,
- 1915-1918