A powerful appraisal of the little known medical side of the Gallipoli campaign, this book thoroughly analyses and investigates an area of Australian military and social history long neglected. Through fact and dispassionate analysis Michael Tyquin portrays the reality of the war with its huge number of casualties, disease and serious medical maladministration.
Throughout the book, Dr. Tyquin dispels the sometimes ersatz image of glory, heroism and noble death and debunks some of the more popular myths of the campaign: the stereotypes of the supremely healthy bronzed Anzac; the myth that the British were responsible for all the major mistakes; and the image of impeccable Australian medical and nursing officers.
In researching the medical aspects of the Gallipoli campaign, Dr. Tyquin has had access to unique photographs, personal diaries and letters of the medical personnel: nurses, doctors, orderlies, and stretcher-bearers. These documents have provided a rare insight into the war - they reveal how Australians felt about their superior officers, the appalling conditions and casualties, the conduct of the war and their views on their allies. As General John Monash wrote '...the British hospitals here, well, the sooner they hang somebody for gross mismanagement the better.'
This is an invaluable book - an antidote for all who would glamorise war.