Soldiers and Gentlemen Australian Battalion Commanders in the Great War, 1914–1918 Australian Army History Series

Soldiers and Gentlemen: Australian Battalion Commanders in the Great War, 1914?1918 is the first book to examine the background, role and conduct of Australian commanding officers during the First World War. Though they held positions of power, commanding officers inhabited a leadership no man's land - they exerted great influence over their units, but they were also largely excluded from the decision-making process and faced the same risks as junior officers on the battlefield. A soldier's well-being and success in battle was heavily dependent on a commanding officer's competence, but little is known about the men who filled these roles. In his groundbreaking book, William Westerman explores the stories of the vitally important, yet often forgotten, commanding officers. Theirs is a story of the timeless challenges of military leadership, and this book prevents them from slipping from the public memory to enhance our knowledge of the conflict.

1. 'He knows how to make soldiers': raising the RAF; 2. 'Everything is a terrible muddle': the Gallipoli campaign, 1915; 3. 'No Shortage of senior officers': command turnover; 4. 'Serious, scientific war': the Western Front and trench warfare, 1916–17; 5. 'The hardest task in the army': the Western Front and administration; 6. 'A good man to serve under': the Western Front and personal factors; 7. 'The destiny of the empire': the Western Front, 1918.

William Westerman is a researcher for the Official History of Australian Operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. He also holds a position at the University of New South Wales, Canberra as a Teaching Fellow with the Military and Defence Studies Program, Australian Command and Staff College, Canberra.