The Australian Imperial Force, first raised in 1914 for overseas war
service, became better known by its initials - the "AIF". There was a
distinct character to those who enlisted in the earliest months and who
were destined to fight on Gallipoli. During the war the AIF took its
place among the great armies of the world, on some of history's oldest
battlefields. The Australians would attack at the Dardanelles, enter
Jerusalem and Damascus, defend Amiens and Ypres, and swagger through the
streets of Cairo, Paris, and London, with their distinctive slouch hats
and comparative wealth of six shillings per day.
However, the legend of the AIF is shrouded in myth and mystery. Was
Beersheba the last great cavalry charge in history? Did the AIF storm
the red light district of Cairo and burn it to ground while fighting
running battles with the military police? Was the AIF the only
all-volunteer army of World War I? Graham Wilson's Bully Beef and
Balderdash shines an unforgiving light on these and other well-known
myths of the AIF in World War I, arguing that these spectacular legends
simply serve to diminish the hard-won reputation of the AIF as a
fighting force. Graham Wilson mounts his own campaign to rehabilitate
the historical reputation of the force and to demonstrate that
misleading and inaccurate embellishment does nothing but hide the true
story of Australia's World War I fighting army. Bully Beef and
Balderdash deliberately tilts at some well loved windmills and, for
those who cherish the mythical story of the AIF, this will not be
comfortable reading. Yet, given the extraordinary truth of the AIF's
history, it is certainly compelling reading.
