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Issue Details: First known date: 2009... 2009 Over the Top: A Digger's Story of the Western Front
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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

  • 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)
  • 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

    • Crows Nest, North Sydney - Lane Cove area, Sydney Northern Suburbs, Sydney, New South Wales,: Allen and Unwin , 2009 .
      image of person or book cover 3646280974027865444.jpg
      This image has been sourced from online.
      Extent: xv, 326p.p.
      Description: illus., maps, facsims, ports
      ISBN: 9781742370002 (pbk.)

Other Formats

Works about this Work

Diggers' Luck, in Life and War Michael McKernan , 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 H. G. Hartnett , 2009 single work autobiography ; Letters Home : To Mother from Gallipoli and Beyond : Diaries and Letters of Sapper Hubert Anthony Hubert Anthony , 2009 single work correspondence
Beyond Myth Paul Ham , 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 H. G. Hartnett , 2009 single work autobiography ; Letters Home : To Mother from Gallipoli and Beyond : Diaries and Letters of Sapper Hubert Anthony Hubert Anthony , 2009 single work correspondence ; Bomber : From Vietnam to Hell and Back Tony Bower-Miles , 2009 single work autobiography ; The Tiger Man of Vietnam Frank Walker , 2009 single work biography
Beyond Myth Paul Ham , 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 H. G. Hartnett , 2009 single work autobiography ; Letters Home : To Mother from Gallipoli and Beyond : Diaries and Letters of Sapper Hubert Anthony Hubert Anthony , 2009 single work correspondence ; Bomber : From Vietnam to Hell and Back Tony Bower-Miles , 2009 single work autobiography ; The Tiger Man of Vietnam Frank Walker , 2009 single work biography
Diggers' Luck, in Life and War Michael McKernan , 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 H. G. Hartnett , 2009 single work autobiography ; Letters Home : To Mother from Gallipoli and Beyond : Diaries and Letters of Sapper Hubert Anthony Hubert Anthony , 2009 single work correspondence
Last amended 13 Feb 2020 09:40:42
Subjects:
  • c
    France,
    c
    Western Europe, Europe,
  • Belgium, Western Europe, Europe,
  • c
    Egypt,
    c
    North Africa, Africa,
  • 1915-1918
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