Digger Smith and Australia's Great War: Ordinary name - extraordinary stories

Peter Stanley

tet 2011 · Allen & Unwin

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Smiths were among the first men to land at Gallipoli. Smiths fought and died at Pozieres, Bullecourt and Passchendaele. Smiths were wounded - and treated by doctors and nurses named Smith. At home, Smiths penned patriotic doggerel and spoke vociferously against conscription. There was Grace Cossington Smith and her iconic painting The Sock Knitter, and Victor Smith, who designed a guided missile in his dad's workshop in suburban Brisbane. Australia's Smiths included the AIF's senior policeman, a Jewish VC, and the war's most famous Australian aviators. They and thousands of more humble Smiths reflect the hopes and fears, the tragedies and the triumph of Australia in the Great War. Then there are the German-Australian Smiths, the Schmidts, who fought for Australia even as Schmidts at home were vilified and interned. Just as the Great War affected all Australians, we can see the great range of their experience through the lives and deaths of those sharing the most common, representative surname.

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Dr Peter Stanley is Australia's most prolific writer on the Great War. He has published 25 books, most dealing with the experience of war in Australia and Britain. Peter's books include Tarakan, White Mutiny, For Fear of Pain, Quinn's Post, Anzac, Gallipoli, Invading Australia, A Stout Pair of Boots and Men of Mont St Quentin. His books published by Pier 9 include Commando to Colditz, Bad Characters and Simpson's Donkey. Formerly the Principal Historian at the Australian War Memorial, where he worked from 1980 to 2007, he heads the Centre for Historical Research at the National Museum of Australia and is an adjunct professor at the Australian National University and the Australian Defence Force Academy.