38 Field Squadron Royal Australian Engineers Citizen Military Forces

Information collected on the raising of 38 Field Squadron at Yallourn, Victoria in 1952, and the subsequent operation of the Squadron through to 1995. The Squadron was initially formed to unilise local National Servicemen who had a part-time service obligation. It was subsequently on of the Army Reserve Units servicing the La Trobe Valley area.

Past Vietnam War histories have tended to record the sappers’ work as peripheral. This book attempts to highlight the skill, ingenuity, and courage they displayed throughout the entire war. It chronicles their experiences—both good and bad—that are based around their operations, with an emphasis on the personal experiences of those involved.

This insightful book shows what it was like to be a sapper during the Second World War. As well as the mateship, the author describes the sense of frustration and uncertainty that plagues most soldiers. (Back of book)

Based on the author's thesis (doctoral).

The importance of the Australian contribution to the Allied war effort during World War I should never be underestimated. Some 400,000 Australians volunteered for active duty, an astonishing 13 per cent of the entire (white) male population, a number so great that the Australian government was never forced to rely on conscription. Casualties were an astonishing 52 per cent of all those who served, ensuring that the effects of the war would be felt long after the armistice. In particular, their epic endeavour at Gallipoli in 1915 was the nation's founding legend, and the ANZACs went on to distinguish themselves both on the Western Front and in General Allenby's great cavalry campaign against the Turks in the Middle East. Their uniforms and insignia were also significantly different from those of the British Army and provide the basis for a unique set of artwork plates.