BOOKS OF THE DAY

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 8, 4 October 1919, Page 13

BOOKS OF THE DAY

"Australia in Palestine." A finer tribute to Iho jplondid part played by the Australian and New Zealand mounted truoiw in the campaign which resulted in Hie eiipluro of Gaza, Damascus, jalfa, ami Jerusalem could not well be imagined than that to. be found in the' handsomely produced quarto volume entitled "Australia iu Unlostino"' (Sydney, Angus and B'obertson; per Whi.tcouiuc and Tombs), it is hot so much a formal history as a "soldier's bonk,-" produced almost solely by soldiers in the field, anil reflecting every phase of campaigning life from the individual soldier's point of view. It offers no complete picture of the campaign, but is composed of well written, and often very beautifully illustrated, articles, essays, sketches, studies, and poems, the work of writers and artists who themselves saw active service iu Egypt and Palestine. 'It is a pity, maybe; that the title had not been "The Australasians (or Anzacs) in Palestine," for tho men from New Zealand played an equally important part in that'-cam-, paign with those from Australia, but at least, in many of the articles, this latter fact is cheerfully admitted. 11l an interesting preface, Lieutenant-General Sir 11. G. Chauvel pays, -i special and hearly tribute to the "Australian Light Horseman." tie is of a typo peculiarly his own, and has no counterpart that I know of except in- his New Zealand brother. His fearlessness, initiative, and endurance, and his adaptability to almoßt, any task, are duo to the adventurous life he leads. iu his own country, \vhere ho has been accustomed to lons hours in the saddle, day and night, and to facing dangers of. all oorts -from his earliest youth. Perhaps these qualities are inherited from his pioneer parents. His invariable good humour under file most adverse condition!! comes froni the good-fellowship and cameraderio which exist in the free and open life of the Australian bush, iiis chivalry' comes from tlio same source, and it is one of his strongest points. ; In other v/ords. tho lifo he has been accustomed to lead has fitted him to become, with training and discipline, second to no cavalry soldier in the world. . A valuable feature of tho book is a connected and fairly detailed narrative of the three years'campaigning in Palestine, the author being Mr. Harry Gullett, the official war correspondent with the Australians. Other'articles deal with fipecial features of the campaign, tho entrance into and occupation of .Damascus, Jaffa, and Jerusalem, the part played by the Australian Air Force, tho 3'ledical Corps, and /the A.S.C.; whilst the humorous side of camp and bivouac lifo receives duo attention. There is also some excellent verse, including moro than one pathetic tribute to the fine Aiwtraliaii horses, which never failed to excite the wonder and admiration of tho Arabs, and the leaving behind of which, when once the campaign was over, caused deep sorrow in many a soldier's heart. In some verses, entitled "The Horses Stay Behind," "Trooper Bluegutu" writes:— In days to come we'll wander west and cross tho range again; We'll hear the bush birds singing in the green trees, after rain; Wo'l.l canter through the Mitchell grass and breast tho bracing wind: Tiut .we'll have othor horses. Our chargers stay behind. ' Around the fire at night we'll yarn about old Sinai; • Wo/ll fight our battles o'or again, and as the days go by There'll be old mates to greet us. The bush girls will bo kind, Still our thoughts will often wander to the horses loft behind. I don't think I could stand the thought of 1 my old fancy hack [ Just' crawling . round . old' Cairo . with a | ! ~.. "Gyppo" on his back. '.Perhaps some English tourist out in Palestine' may Bud My broken-hearted waler with a wooden plough behind. I think I'd better shoot him and tell a, ■ little lib... • "Ho floundered in a wombat-hole and then lay down to die.'.' Maybe I'll get court-martialled, but I'm damned.if I'm inclined To-go back to Australia end leave my' horse belvud. ■ In quite nnother vein is the powerfully written poem-"Malaria;" verses which recall one of the most tragic incidents of tho campaign, the sudden and awfully destructive outbreak of disease which laid low so many hundreds of gallant men in the Jordan Valley, nt the very close of the campaign, and proved, in , proportion, far moro deadly than the Turkish and German rifle and machinegun fire had beon, l The illustrations, of which there are a larger number than in-any other war ■ Cook yet published, will constitute for many tho chief attraction of the book. They include reproductions, in colours, of portraits of Generals Allenby (by tho well-known British artist, Mr. James M'Bey) and Chnuvel; original pictures painted on the' actual battlegrounds of the campaign by the Australian artist, Mr. G. W. Lambert, whose work is as much esteemed in London and Paris as :in Australia itself; portrait sketches of soldiers and others by another Australian :artist, Mr. J>nvid Barker; coloured photographic studies by Captain Frank Hurley; water-colour sketches of famous air fights of tho campaign by Lieutenant O. H. Coulson; and a large collection of' half-tone reproductions of scenes in camps and in the desert, street scenes in Gum, Damascus, Jericho, Jaffa, Jerusalem, and other places, and pictures generally descriptive of almost every conceivablo phaso of the campaign. A specially commendable feature, is tho wealth of small, woodcut .illustrations in tho -text, tastefully designe'd headings, initial letters and colophons. The colour printing and • tho execution of the pictorial features generally in this book provo clearly that' colour work rind'halftone reproduction can lx> done in • Australia which'is quite equal to anything that comes from London, Paris, niid New York. Pniiommio views of ■ battlefields and soma, excelleut maps add greatly, to tho interest with which the descriptions of the various engagements are read. '.'Australia in Palestine" is a publication of which all engaged in its preparation and execution niny-well be proud. Those responsible'for tlie official history (now in preparation) of the part nlayed by tho New Zenhindors in the same campaign should lie able to pick up some very useful hints from tliis exceptionally wellproduced and interesting work, a : copy, of which, should find an honoured phico in every public library in the Dominion ns well' as.in tho .Commonwealth. All profits derivable from the publication aro to go to the A.I.F. I