An Introduction Mainly About Scouts PART I "THE CALL TO ARMS" CHAPTER I. The Call Reaches Some Far-Out Australians II. An All-British Ship III. Human Snowballs IV. Training-Camp Life V. Concentrated for Embarkation VI. Many Weeks at Sea PART II EGYPT VII. The Land of Sand and Sweat VIII. Heliopolis IX. The Desert X. Picketing in Cairo XI. "Nipper" PART III GALLIPOLI XII. The Adventure of Youth XIII. The Landing That Could Not Succeed--But Did XIV. Holding On and Nibbling XV. The Evacuation XVI. "Ships That Pass . . ." PART IV THE WESTERN FRONT XVII. Ferry Post and the Suez Canal Defenses XVIII. First Days in France XIX. The Battle of Fleurbaix XX. Days and Nights of Strafe XXI. The Village of Sleep XXII. The Somme XXIII. The Army's Pair of Eyes XXIV. Nights in No Man's Land XXV. Spy-Hunting XXVI. Bapaume and "a Blighty" PART V HOSPITAL LIFE XXVII. In France XXVIII. In London XXIX. The Hospital-Ship XXX. In Australia XXXI. Using an Irishman's Nerve PART VI MEDITATIONS IN THE TRENCHES XXXII. The Right Infantry Weapons XXXIII. The Forcing-House of Bestiality XXXIV. The Psychology of Fear XXXV. The Splendor of the Present Opportunity XXXVI. Not a Fight for "Race" but for "Right" XXXVII. "Keeping Faith with the Dead" Poem, "But a Short Time to Live" ILLUSTRATIONS R. Hugh Knyvett . . . . . . _Frontispiece_ From inland towns . . . men without the means of paying their transportation . . . started out to walk the three or four hundred miles . . . to the nearest camp "On Show" Before Leaving Home Anzac Cove, Gallipoli An Australian Camel Corps "Us--Going In" My Own Comrades Waiting for Buses Ammunition Going Through a Somme City AN INTRODUCTION MAINLY ABOUT SCOUTS I am a scout; nature, inclination, and fate put me into that branch of army service. In trying to tell Australia's story I have of necessity enlarged on the work of the scouts, not because theirs is more important than other branches of the service, nor they braver than their comrades of other units. Nor do I want it to be thought that we undergo greater danger than machine-gunners, grenadiers, light trench-mortar men, or other specialists. But, frankly, I don't know much about any other man's job but my own, and less than I ought to about that. To introduce you to the spirit, action, and ideals of the Australian army I have to intrude my own personality, and if in the following pages "what I did" comes out rather strongly, please remember I am but "one of the boys," and have done not nearly as good work as ten thousand more.