Over the Top: A Digger's Story of the Western Front

Australia's diggers didn't go "over the top" for King and Country, they did it for their mates and their battalion. Extraordinary deeds performed by ordinary men. Henry George Hartnett, known as "Harry," joined the Australian Imperial Force on September 13th, 1915 at the age of 23. He saw action on the Western Front at Fromelles and on the Somme receiving his first "blighty," a wounding serious enough to require him to be sent back to Britain for treatment, in the Battle of Pozieres. On recovery he returned to "tour" the Western Front with his battalion in what must have seemed like endless circles of fighting in the frontline in many battles and resting behind the lines. In this book Harry recalls the battles, the long marches, and the recoveries with many amusing anecdotes of events which kept the men smiling and eased the tiredness of the daily grind and routine. He describes the close friendships and unshakeable bonds between men and the Australian sense of a fair go. Over the Top takes the reader on a wonderful tour of life in and behind the trenches on the Western Front. Harry's work is a magnificent gift to Australia.

H.G. Hartnett was a digger on the Western Front. Over the Top is based on Harry's diaries, which his family gave to Chris Bryett, a lawyer and World War I buff, to arrange for publication.