Fromelles

Description

On 19 July 1916, in the northern French village of Fromelles, Australia suffered its worst-ever military defeat when a British offi cer ordered 15,000 of our best and bravest to go 'over the top' and attack the German lines. Eight hours later, more than 5500 Diggers lay dead or wounded: the equivalent of all Australian casualties from the Boer, Korean and Vietnam wars combined. In addition, some 400 of our boys were taken prisoner, but almost 200 vanished and remain missing to this day. Fromelles ranks as Australia's worst military disaster, yet it barely rates a mention in our history books and is absent from our war memorials. What happened to the Diggers who mysteriously disappeared? In an enthralling mix of detective story and passionate historical retelling, Patrick Lindsay travels across the world to the killing fi elds of northern France in his quest to honour our fallen, and unravel one of the greatest unsolved mysteries of World War I. Fromelles tells the story of the painstaking detective work of a group of Australian amateur historians that led to the discovery of the location of the largest mass war grave site since the Second World War. It follows the story of the battle and why the historians believed the site was missed. It also takes us to the fi rst inconclusive exploration of the site by archaeologists in 2007.

After a long career as a print and television journalist, Patrick Lindsay has also become one of Australia's leading non-fiction authors. Among his published books are: The Spirit of Kokoda (Hardie Grant), the story of the battles which saved Australia in WWII; TheEssence of Kokoda, a concise guide to the Kokoda story; The Spirit of Gallipoli. Cosgrove... Portrait of a Leader; Kokoda Spirit exploring the spirit of the Diggers of Kokoda in words and images; and The Coastwatchers covering the story of the remarkable band of men and women who reported on the Japanese operations, many from behind enemy lines, during WWII. Prior to writing full time, Patrick spent 20 years in network television as a reporter, presenter, producer and writer. During that time he had leading roles on the Nine Network, Foxtel's Lifestyle Channel and the Seven Network. He has also reported, written and presented documentaries and feature series in Los Angeles, New York, Hawaii, France, Japan, Thailand, New Zealand, London, Romania and Papua New Guinea. He wrote and directed the acclaimed documentaries, Kokoda... the Bloody Track and Kokoda... The Last Parade. Patrick devised the format for the highly-successful documentary TV series, In Their Footsteps, broadcast on the Nine Network in 2011. Patrick is a founding director and Chairman of the Kokoda Track Foundation Ltd (see www.ktf.ngo), an Australian philanthropic organisation that aims to repay the selfless help given to Australia during World War II by the beloved Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels of Papua New Guinea by helping to improve the lives and futures of their descendants. In 2015, Patrick was named a Member of the Order of Australia for 'significant service to the media as a television presenter and journalist, to international relations, and to literature as an author'. Patrick and his wife Lisa Cotton live in Sydney. He has three grown-up children, Nathan, Kate and Sarah and one grandson, Lucas.