Stretcher-bearers: Saving Australians from Gallipoli to Kokoda

Description

Stretcher-bearers is a compelling account of the experience of Australian stretcher-bearers during the First and Second World Wars. Respected military historian, Mark Johnston traces the development of formal stretcher-bearing from its origin in the early nineteenth century under Napoleon to the Second World War. Johnston draws on accounts by stretcher-bearers who worked on the front line, as well as tributes from rescued soldiers, to deepen our understanding of the crucial role these soldiers played in Gallipoli, Palestine, the Western Front in World War I, and in the Middle East and the Pacific in World War II. The narrative is further driven by rich imagery, featuring over 130 full-page photographs. This book provides a generously illustrated, engaging and moving account of the history of the stretcher-bearer, a figure praised by countless Diggers but never previously the subject of a book.

Dr Mark Johnston is Head of History, Politics and Philosophy at Scotch College, Melbourne and Adjunct Senior Lecturer at the ANU Strategic and Defence Studies Centre. He is a leading authority on the Australian Army in World War II and has been described in the Australian War Memorial's Wartime magazine as 'the leading historian on the experience of Australian soldiers during the war'. This is his tenth book and his fifth with Cambridge University Press. His earlier works include histories of the 6th, 7th and 9th Divisions, and of the RAAF in the Pacific War.