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It is like being with the men in the Somme, very interesting.

Review: EPF Lynch’s account of two years in the trenches as an Australian is quite different to the German and British accounts I have read (by Erich Maria Remarque and Richard Aldington) in two particular ways. The first way is that there is an unyielding optimism in the Australian view – whereas the old continent seems more prone to depression. The Australian approach seems to come from a conscious effort not to think too deeply about the ugliness of what is happening – with EPF Lynch making this point several times. The first time the theme comes up is when another Australian says to Nula, the hero of this fictional recount of life in the trenches: “Look here lad. You give up thinking too much or this war will get you down…The man who thinks is done. He’ll never know a moment’s peace….Bring yourself to treat danger as a humorous episode and not as a narrowly averted tragedy, and…you’ll certainly live happier.” The second difference is that this account shows a far more efficient approach to war work collaboration between soldiers (in the 45th battalion, an infantry battalion of the Australian Imperial Force, in this instance) and strategy than the German and British ones. Perhaps that is partly because hierarchy and class do not distort Australian working relationships as they do in the other armies. For the most part, the three books overlap – with horrific descriptions of pain, killing and other suffering and a fascinating portrayal of daily life. But Nulla survives and, astoundingly, gives a positive summary of what happened at one stage: “The trial was long and severe. The prize was worth it, though, when measured in the mateship of men. My mates! Memories of men! Memories of mates!” While the other books praise camaraderie, they also run down relations with women (which ‘Somme Mud’ does not do) and they do not come close to saying that demonstrating mateship is worth such suffering.