The Anzac Book written and Illustrated in Gallipoli by Men of Anzac, Published by Cassell and Company, London, New York, Toronto and Melbourne 1916 - First Edition. Dedicated copy from soldiers of the "Light Horse unit" of the Mounted Infantry Division in the Middle East to their commander William Riddell Birdwood - Commander of the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps during the Battle of Gallipoli, and later Commander of the Fifth Army during World War I on the Western Front (Birdwood even wrote the introduction to the book). Above the dedication is a glued photograph of the soldiers who dedicated the book from the Light Horse unit during the war.
The book was produced in Gallipoli in the last weeks of 1915, every word of it was written between sandbag fortification lines and inside temporary shelters in a very short time of just about three weeks. Among the soldiers a small team of artists was gathered who created the illustrations for the only book ever published in Gallipoli during the campaign and as the editor writes: "No book has ever been produced under these conditions before". The book was written and edited by the Australian and New Zealand soldiers themselves and for them, and its publication was assisted by donations that arrived as part of the winter war aid funds. The book includes dozens of passages and articles written by the Australian soldiers in the field and well express the atmosphere and way of life during the war, as well as the typical Australian humor. There is hardly a topic that was not written about in the book: training, food, weapons, arrival in the desert and desert conditions, dealing with enemy snipers, harsh weather conditions, the background to the establishment of ANZAC and the ups and downs it experienced until it became a leading division, songs and stories written by the soldiers, and more. The book is accompanied by many photographs, illustrations, cartoons, a large foldable map, as well as colorful illustrated plates of high quality, and more. Printed on thick paper using mobile printing presses.
The ANZAC Mounted Infantry Division (ANZAC - Australian and New Zealand Army Corps) was a military unit established during World War I and mostly comprised of volunteers from Australia and New Zealand and was based primarily on mounted infantry. Among the ANZAC units that fought on the Palestine front was the Mounted Infantry Division. Mounted infantry were soldiers fighting as infantry but moving to their destination on horseback. Most of the division's activity was in the Sinai campaign and Eretz Israel in which over 33,000 soldiers participated in major battles between 1916-1918 against the Ottoman Army. The force fought in the Gallipoli campaign and on the Western Front, however its mounted units also fought in the campaign on the Sinai and Eretz Israel. In the famous Battle of Beersheba, Australian cavalry charged Ottoman positions while riding horses, capturing the town and its wells. This type of soldier, which was common before and during World War I, began to decrease after the war as armies began transporting infantry soldiers using armored vehicles. The unit was disbanded in 1919.
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XV, 169 [2] p. Slight tears on the edges of the cover and on the spine. General condition good.
