y separately published work icon At All Costs single work   autobiography   war literature  
Issue Details: First known date: 1919... 1919 At All Costs
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AbstractHistoryArchive Description

'This is Bill Cull's unforgettable story of his experiences in WW1: he fought at Gallipoli and on the Western Front where he was captured by the Germans and was a POW until the end of the war.

'Captain William Cull fought the First World War from both sides of the wire. As a young infantry officer on the Allied side of the Western Front, Cull frequently led patrols out into No Man's Land and raids on the German trenches. He took part in bitter fighting on the Somme at Pozieres, and in February 1917 was severely wounded in a futile attack on the German trenches near Warlencourt, where he was taken prisoner by the Germans. Having survived the ordeal of battle, Cull spent the remainder of the war on the German side of the wire.

'The first half of Both Sides of the Wire is an action-packed account of Cull's war on the Western Front in the months leading up to his capture. The second half is a candid portrayal of his experiences as a prisoner of war in the hands of the Germans. Cull endured many months of agony as he recovered in prison camps in occupied France and Germany- surviving in spite of German doctors' early predictions that he would not live through his first night in captivity.

'This book is based on the memoir At All Costs that Cull wrote in the months after his repatriation to Australia in October 1918. Aaron Pegram is a historian at the Australian War Memorial. He has written the introduction, epilogue and notes for Cull's memoir, which remains one of the very few published accounts of captivity in Germany during the First World War.' (Abstract for 2011 edition, from the Allen & Unwin website.)

Publication Details of Only Known VersionEarliest 2 Known Versions of

    • Melbourne, Victoria,: Australasian Authors' Agency , 1919 .
      Extent: 203p.
      Description: illus., port.
      Note/s:
      • Printed by Bruce & Co., 434 Bourke St, Melbourne.
      • Introduction by Donald MacDonald, including praise for the book by Brigadiers-General Brand and R. Smith, the latter of whom met Cull when he was a soldier.
      • Dedication: In Remembrance of the dead.
      • Epigraph:
        Lo! some we loved, the bravest and the best
        That Time and Fate of all their Vintage prest,
        Have drunk their Cup a Round or two before,
        And one by one crept silently to Rest. - The Rubáiyát of Omar Khayyám
    • Crows Nest, North Sydney - Lane Cove area, Sydney Northern Suburbs, Sydney, New South Wales,: Allen and Unwin , 2011 .
      Alternative title: Both Sides of the Wire : The Memoir of an Australian Officer Captured During the Great War
      Extent: xix, 232p., [8]p. of platesp.
      Description: illus., maps, ports.
      Note/s:
      • Introduction, epilogue and notes by Aaron Pegram.
      • Publication date: April 2011.
      ISBN: 9781742376165 (pbk.)

Works about this Work

New Salute to Diggers Fiona Purdon , 2011 single work review
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 23 - 24 April 2011; (p. 20-21)
'With Anzac Day on Monday, a new crop of books about the Great War has been written by authors and enthusiasts.' Fiona Purdon.
Non-Fiction Steven Carroll , 2011 single work review
— Appears in: The Saturday Age , 19 March 2011; (p. 28)

— Review of At All Costs W. Ambrose Cull , 1919 single work autobiography
Captain Cull's Heroic Story 1919 single work review
— Appears in: The Queenslander , 25 October 1919; (p. 3)

— Review of At All Costs W. Ambrose Cull , 1919 single work autobiography
Captain Cull's Heroic Story 1919 single work review
— Appears in: The Queenslander , 25 October 1919; (p. 3)

— Review of At All Costs W. Ambrose Cull , 1919 single work autobiography
Non-Fiction Steven Carroll , 2011 single work review
— Appears in: The Saturday Age , 19 March 2011; (p. 28)

— Review of At All Costs W. Ambrose Cull , 1919 single work autobiography
New Salute to Diggers Fiona Purdon , 2011 single work review
— Appears in: The Courier-Mail , 23 - 24 April 2011; (p. 20-21)
'With Anzac Day on Monday, a new crop of books about the Great War has been written by authors and enthusiasts.' Fiona Purdon.
Last amended 22 Oct 2013 14:07:19
Settings:
  • c
    Egypt,
    c
    North Africa, Africa,
  • Gallipoli,
    c
    Turkey,
    c
    Middle East, Asia,
  • Somme,
    c
    France,
    c
    Western Europe, Europe,
  • Karlsruhe,
    c
    Germany,
    c
    Western Europe, Europe,
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