The unit history of the 53rd Australian Infantry Battalion, 14th Brigade, 5th Division AIF — known as the Whale Oil Guards — written by the battalion's Padre, J.J. Kennedy DSO, and published in 1919. The nickname has a good story behind it: during the freezing winter of 1916–17 on the Somme, the commanding officer Lieutenant Colonel Oswald Croshaw ordered his men to polish their steel helmets with whale oil — issued to rub into feet as a trench foot preventative — to ensure a smart turn-out on parade. The men called themselves the Whale Oil Guards from that day.
The 53rd was raised in Egypt in February 1916, drawing half its men from Gallipoli veterans of the 1st Battalion and half from fresh reinforcements. It arrived in France in June 1916 and within weeks suffered one of the worst single-battle disasters in Australian military history — at Fromelles on 19 July 1916, the battalion incurred 625 casualties in a single day, including its commanding officer, losing over three-quarters of its attacking strength. Despite this, the battalion remained in the line and went on to serve through Bullecourt, Polygon Wood, Ypres, Passchendaele and the Hindenburg Line, ending the war at the St Quentin Canal in September 1918.
Kennedy's account is notably unusual within AIF unit history literature — written in the style of a novel rather than a conventional regimental history, with real characters and real awards but the battalion left unnamed throughout. It includes appendices with honours and awards, and was written while the events were extremely fresh — Kennedy completed it in 1918, before the war had even ended.
By war's end the 53rd Battalion's total casualties numbered 647 killed and 1,647 wounded. Private William Currey was awarded the Victoria Cross for actions at Péronne in September 1918.
First edition, 1919. A true 1919 first edition in very good condition is genuinely scarce — Naval & Military Press has produced a reprint, but this is an original copy.
CONDITION
Used, very good condition. Contact us on 03 6381 1545 for additional photos and condition detail before purchasing.
BOOK DETAILS
- Hardcover.
- 159 pages. Honour roll. Black and white illustrations.
- First edition, published 1919. Out of print.
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