Average Reviews:
(More customer reviews)Along with Captain Albert Jacka and Lieutenant General Sir John Monash, Brigadier Harold `Pompey' Elliott was a household name in Australia in the 1920s for his role in the Great War. Yet today he is largely forgotten. Russ McMullin's thoroughly researched biography of Elliott goes someway to addressing this by providing us with a fascinating insight into the life, times and legacies of one of Australia's most famous fighting general.
Elliott was born into relative poverty in rural Victoria. His father struck it rich on the gold fields of Western Australia in the early 1890s enabling a bright and promising Harold to gain a private education and a place at the University of Melbourne to study law. A keen militia member, Elliott put his studies on hold to enlist as a Private in the Boer War where he received the Distinguised Conduct Medal and a field commission. Upon his return to Australia he completed his studies and continued as a militia officer. In 1914 he was given command of the 7th Battalion of the Australian Imperial Force (AIF) which he led at the ANZAC landings and throughout the Gallipoli Campaign. Promoted to Brigadier in early 1916 he took charge of the 15th Infantry Brigade which he commanded until the end of the war. Elliott was a hard task master, but was loved and admired like no other Brigade Commander in France, never asking his men to go anywhere he was not prepared to go himself. Despite playing a pivotal role in key allied successes of 1918, his outspokenness and stubbornness won him few friends in the British and Australian higher Headquarters and he was overlooked for a divisional command . A slight that embittered him to the end of his life, despite his promotion in the 1920s to Major General.
Despite a promising post-war career as a Federal Senator and as a champion of the cause of veterans following the war, the massive burden of his wartime experiences led to Elliott's gradual mental decline and to his eventual suicide in 1931. A fascinating insight into a fascinating man and the turbulent times in which he lived.
Click Here to see more reviews about: Pompey Elliott
Updated to include a foreword by Les Carlyon, this comprehensive, rich biography of the great Australian general vividly examines Elliott's origins and youth, his peacetime careers as a lawyer and politician, andthe achievements as well as the controversies that he aroused during his years as a soldier. Also highlighted are notable battles Elliott influenced, including the Gallipoli Landing, Lone Pine, Fromelles, Polygon Wood, and Villers-Bretonneux, and numerous aspects of Australia's history during his lifetime.
0 comments:
Post a Comment