The Desert Column

The Desert Column; leaves from the diary of an Australian trooper in Gallipoli, Sinai and Palestine is a book by Ion Idriess based on a diary he kept of his service during World War I.[1][2]

The Desert Column
First edition cover design
AuthorIon Idriess
CountryAustralia
LanguageEnglish
GenreWar memoir
PublisherAngus and Robertson
Publication date
1932

Background

Idriess kept a diary from the time he arrived in Gallipoli on 18 May 1915 until March 1918.[2] He participated in the Gallipoli Campaign where he was wounded, then later fought in the Sinai and Palestine Campaign including the Battle of Beersheeba.

When Idriess returned from the war he put his diaries with his sister in Grafton. In 1929, when he was diagnosed with cancer, he gave up his wandering to concentrate on his writing. He retrieved his diaries, which were acclaimed by some observers as Australia's equivalent to All Quiet on the Western Front.[3] (He later also claimed his sister sent the diaries to Angus and Robertson for publication without his knowledge.[4])

They were published in 1932 with Sir Harry Chauvel writing the introduction.[5]

The Desert Column was one of his very early works. Sir Henry Georges Fauvel, a senior officer of the Australian Imperial Force noted in the foreword that it was the only book of the campaign that to his knowledge was ‘viewed entirely from the private soldier’s point of view’. [6]

Idriess' original diaries are kept in the research collection of the Australian War Memorial.[2]

Reception

It went into a second edition within a week of publication.[7]

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References
  1. "WRITING AND TRAVEL". The West Australian. Perth: National Library of Australia. 18 November 1933. p. 14. Retrieved 18 August 2013.
  2. "Ion Idriess and the legend of the Light Horse", Australian War Memorial
  3. "Grim Diary of the War". The Wingham Chronicle and Manning River Observer. New South Wales, Australia. 22 November 1929. p. 4. Retrieved 16 April 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  4. "WRITING AND TRAVEL". The West Australian. XLIX (9, 794). Western Australia. 18 November 1933. p. 14. Retrieved 17 April 2016 – via National Library of Australia.
  5. Simon Miller, "The Desert Column : the WW1 diaries of Ion Idriess", 04 Aug 2014
  6. (https://www.amazon.com/Desert-Column-Australian-classics/dp/0207147299)
  7. "THE AUSTRALIAN BOOKMAN". The Daily News. Perth: National Library of Australia. 4 June 1932. p. 12 Edition: LATE CITY SPECIAL. Retrieved 18 August 2013.
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