The Anzac battlefield on Gallipoli was made for snipers. Scrub, cliffs, spurs and hills meant that both Anzac and Turkish positions often overlooked one another. The unwary or unlucky were prey to snipers on both sides, and the sudden crack of a gunshot and instant death were an ever-present menace.
The most successful and most feared sniper of the Gallipoli campaign was Billy Sing, a Light Horseman from Queensland who was almost unique among the Australian troops in having a Chinese-born father. A combination of patience, stealth and an incredible eye made him utterly deadly, with the incredible - and horrifying - figure of over 200 credited kills.
John Hamilton, author of the bestselling Goodbye Cobber, God Bless You, has written an extraordinary account of a hidden side of the campaign - the snipers war. Following Sing from his recruitment onwards, Hamilton takes us on a journey into the squalor, dust, blood and heroism of Gallipoli, seen from the unique viewpoint of the sniper.
Gallipoli Sniper is a powerful and very different account of war and its effect on those who fight.
John Hamilton was born in England and migrated to Western Australia with his family when he was eight years old. After serving in the Royal Australian Navy he became a newspaperman, establishing himself in Melbourne. From there he has worked as a reporter and foreign correspondent for more than 30 years. John Hamilton has won Australia's top award for journalism, the Walkley, two years in succession as well as the National Press Club Canadian Award of Journalistic Merit for his international reporting. He has also been nominated twice for the Graham Perkin Australian Journalist of the Year Award, for which he received a High Commendation. John Hamilton is an Australia Day Ambassador and is married with two sons.
ISBN:
9780330425094
Binding:
Paperback
Pub. Date:
01/08/2009
Category:
Biography: General
Imprint:
Pan Australia
Pages:
352 page/s
Stock:
In stock
Price:
$24.99 AUD
Gallipoli Sniper
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