The Australians – Their Final Campaign 1918 | F.M. Cutlack | 1918/1919 [ANTIQUARIAN – HC – Provenance Copy]

F.M. Cutlack's account of the final campaign of the Australian divisions in France in 1918 — written from the frontlines by Bean's official AIF war correspondent and published by Sampson Low, Marston & Co in late 1918 or early 1919, with the preface dated November 1918.

Frederic Morley Cutlack had enlisted in 1914 and served on the Western Front before being recruited by Charles Bean as the official AIF war correspondent in early 1918. He wrote this account from notes made in the field while under fire — he visited Villers-Bretonneux while it was being shelled and was seriously injured in a road accident in July 1918, continuing to write the book while convalescing.

As Cutlack himself noted in the preface, the book "did not pretend to be a history — it was mostly written from current notes made in the field." He later wrote Volume VIII of the Official History of Australia in the War of 1914–1918, covering the Australian Flying Corps.

The book covers the defining events of 1918: the German spring offensive, the defence and recapture of Villers-Bretonneux, the Battle of Hamel, the great Allied offensive of 8 August, the capture of Mont St Quentin and Péronne, and the breaking of the Hindenburg Line — the campaign that ended the war.

This copy has the name "Elizabeth Gellibrand" written in the front. This is likely to be Lady Elizabeth (Elsie) Gellibrand — the wife of Major General Sir John Gellibrand KCB DSO, one of the most distinguished Tasmanian military commanders of the Great War. Gellibrand commanded the 3rd Division AIF in the final months of the war, returning to his farm in Tasmania after the armistice. Lady Gellibrand lived in Hobart until her death in August 1949.

A book about the AIF's final campaign, written by a correspondent who was there, and likely owned by the wife of one of the commanders who was also there. The book is complete and readable despite its age and condition.

CONDITION

• Antiquarian book in used and worn condition, reasonable for its age.
• Cover worn with faded patches and marks.
• Previous owner's details (Elizabeth Gellibrand) written in the front.
• Pages unevenly bound, tanned and worn at edges. 
• No dust jacket. A front flap from another Sampson Low dust jacket (referring to titles The Grey Battalion and The Gallant Company with a review quote from FMCutlack) is tucked inside the front cover — this does not belong to this book and was presumably inserted by a previous owner or bookseller.

BOOK DETAILS

• Hardcover book. (No dustjacket)
• Published by Sampson Low, Marston & Co, London & Edinburgh, 1918/1919.
• 336-pages, indexed.

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