Inferno

Australians on the Western Front

Phillip Bradley

• Publisher: Allen & Unwin
• Year: 2025
• eBook ISBN: 9781923492073
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: World War I
• Index: History

The epic story of the Australians on history's greatest battlefront, 1916– 1918
'I love Phillip Bradley's stuff, and this is a very fine book, about one of the most extraordinary times in Australian military history.' - Peter FitzSimons
'We sprang to our feet with one mighty yell and ran and jumped into the German trench and got to work with bayonets and bombs. We were in there no more than half an hour when the German artillery found out and turned their big guns on us. He gave us 7 hours of perfect inferno.'
2 August 1914: German troops cross the border and advance into Belgium and France. Two days later, Britain and Australia declare war on Germany. Three-hundred thousand young Australians will depart to face the Western Front; forty-six thousand will not return.
Inferno is the story of Australians fighting in France and Belgium from 1916 to 1918 on the greatest battlefront in history, told through the eyes of the Diggers and the Germans. Each of the major Australian battles is recounted from the soldiers' viewpoints in rich historical detail, much of which has been uncovered for the first time.
Written by bestselling military historian Phillip Bradley, Inferno is an epic of our wartime history, a comprehensive account of Australians on the Western Front. Amid the largest tragedy in Australian history, this is the legend of the Diggers, brought to life.
PRAISE FOR PHILLIP BRADLEY
'... Phillip Bradley's book on the little-known battle for Wau in 1942-43 is a standout. Bradley has emerged as one of the finest chroniclers of the Australian Army's role in the New Guinea campaign. His previous book On Shaggy Ridge - the story of the 1943-44 Ramu Valley campaign - is a minor classic ... Bradley combines an engrossing telling of the story from the tactical level based on extensive interviews with veterans with a fine appreciation of strategy at the command level. As with his book On Shaggy Ridge, The Battle for Wau is based on thorough research of primary sources, as well as deep personal knowledge of the terrain in which the Australians fought.' - The Australian
'... this book will appeal to those seeking to deepen their understanding of the events through an on-the-ground account from veterans who took part ... The Battle for Shaggy Ridge helps pierce the veil of mythology surrounding Australia's involvement in the PNG theatre of operations.' - Australian Army Research Centre
'The difficulty of this campaign is recorded in detail and the description of combat has an immediacy that is compelling. As with his other recent titles, The Battle for Shaggy Ridge is solid narrative history that will appeal to a wide audience.' - Sabretache
'Bradley's finely detailed account of Operation Postern ... will no doubt remain the most authoritative source on the campaign for many years to come.' - Military History and Heritage Victoria on D-Day New Guinea
' Australian Light Horse is well written and a fascinating read ... The book fills a need in telling the story of our ancestors' deeds of a hundred years ago; any Australian with any connection to those heroes can feel justly proud of their history, so ably told by Phillip Bradley.' - Queensland Reviewers Collective

Table of contents

• COVER PAGE
• AUTHOR BIO
• ALSO BY
• TITLE PAGE
• COPYRIGHT PAGE
• DEDICATION
• CONTENTS
• LIST OF MAPS
• INTRODUCTION
• CHAPTER 1: ‘EVERYTHING BEAUTIFULLY GREEN’
• CHAPTER 2: ‘IT’S A PERFECT DEATH TRAP’
• CHAPTER 3: ‘THE TRENCHES ARE LIKE ABATTOIRS’
• CHAPTER 4: ‘I HAVE KISSED THEM AS THEY LAY WOUNDED’
• CHAPTER 5: ‘AUSTRALIA HAS FORGOTTEN US, AND SO HAS GOD’
• CHAPTER 6: ‘OUR BOYS ARE AT THE HUNS LIKE BIG DOGS AGAIN’
• CHAPTER 7: ‘WE WERE ONLY JUST BEING PULVERISED’
• CHAPTER 8: ‘IT WAS A PLACE WHERE EVERY SIGHT, EVERY SOUND, MEANT DEATH’
• CHAPTER 9: ‘THE EARTH SEEMED TO VOMIT FIRE’
• CHAPTER 10: ‘WORSE THAN VERDUN’
• CHAPTER 11: ‘BLACKENED AND BLOOD-STAINED MEN CRAWLED OUT OF THE CHAOS OF MUD AND FILTH’
• CHAPTER 12: ‘THE GERMANS ARE MAKING A MIGHTY BID FOR VICTORY’
• CHAPTER 13: ‘FRITZ HAD HIS RUNNING SHOES ON’
• CHAPTER 14: ‘THE BARRAGE STILL THUNDERS ON AND THEN THE WORLD GOES FORTH’
• CHAPTER 15: ‘HERE LIES A HUN WHO MET A DIGGER’
• CHAPTER 16: ‘FINIS LA GUERRE’
• PICTURE SECTION
• APPENDIX A: AUSTRALIAN IMPERIAL FORCE DIVISIONAL STRUCTURE
• APPENDIX B: ABBREVIATIONS AND TERMS
• APPENDIX C: CONVERSIONS
• ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
• NOTES
• BIBLIOGRAPHY
• INDEX