To those other Australians who fell in the Sharpest Action their
Force has known, on July 19, 1916, before Fromelles, these Memories of a
Greater, but not a Braver, Battle are herewith Dedicated




PREFACE


These letters are in no sense a history--except that they contain the
truth. They were written at the time and within close range of the
events they describe. Half of the fighting, including the brave attack
before Fromelles, is left untouched on, for these pages do not attempt
to narrate the full story of the Australian Imperial Force in France.
They were written to depict the surroundings in which, and the spirit
with which, that history has been made; first in the quiet green Flemish
lowlands, then with a swift, sudden plunge into the grim, reeking, naked
desolation of the Somme. The record of the A.I.F., and its now
historical units in their full action, will be painted upon that
background some day. If these letters convey some reflection of the
spirit which fought at Pozières, their object is well fulfilled. The
author's profits are devoted to the fund for nursing back to useful
citizenship Australians blinded or maimed in the war.

C. E. W. Bean.