The Lost Diggers

by Ross Coulthart

'It's a treasure trove. It's previously unknown, candid images of our troops just out of the line. Men with the fear and experiences of battle written on their faces.' General Peter Cosgrove A must-have for fans of Australian World War I history. Ross Coulthart of 7s 'Sunday Night' brings together never-before-seen images of Western Front diggers and the amazing stories behind them in a beautiful collection that's part thriller, part family history and part national archive. The Lost Diggers is the riveting detective story of the hunt across northern France to Vignacourt for a rumoured treasure trove of antique glass photographic plates that led investigative journalist Ross Coulthart to an ancient metal chest in a dusty attic in a small farmhouse. The nearly 4000 glass plates taken by Louis and Antoinette Thuillier that he and his team discovered are being hailed by experts as one of the most important First World War discoveries ever made. But that was just the beginning. With meticulous research and the help of descendants, Coulthart has been able to discover the stories behind many of the photos, of which more than 330 appear in the book. The book's release coincided with an exhibition of the photos at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, War, World War I

399 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2012

Reviews

[Debbie Robson · Rating 5 out of 5]

This excellent book begins with the fascinating trail, stalled for a number of years, that led to the discovery of the amazing Thuillier photographs with the very distinctive Thuillier canvas backdrop.
The book is made up chapters about firstly, of course, the discovery, then the backdrop and how the Thuilliers took the photographs. Luckily for us they were purist professional photographers who used glass plate negatives that allow for an extremely high quality print. The rest of the book then concentrates mainly on individuals. Among those are the Vignacourt bread boy, Noel and Ford Bechervaise, Cecil Chapman, Captain John Doyle, Jim Holland (the digger on the front of this enormous book), the Padre and the Doctor, the Aboriginal Lost Diggers, the Cyclist Corps, the Young Diggers, the Old Diggers and many more. Interspersed with these biographical chapters are others on aspects of the Great War.
The Lost Diggers is a must read for any family (and that is a lot of families of course) who had a relation fighting in WWI. Maybe the soldier relation survived the war and the family has a few photos of him in his uniform so the need is not so great to have a look and see if he is there in the Thuillier photographs. But this thinking is wrong. I am surprised that even after the television show and the AWM http://www.awm.gov.au/exhibitions/rem... and the facebook page, that so many diggers are still unidentified. What does help is if families come forward and identify their loved one because confirming a battalion or brigade in say a photograph of six men can often help identify one or two other soldiers.
Diggers in the signal corps, pioneer and machine gun battalions, field artillery and many other corps are featured in The Lost Diggers. Many diggers from a range of battalions and corps are still unknown. The battalions that were stationed near Vignacourt are the 6th, 8th, 15th, 17th, 18th, 19th, 20th, 23rd, 24th, 25th, 28th, 29th, 31st, 32nd, 48th, 50th, 52nd, 57th, 59th and 60th. Maybe a relation of yours is in the book!

[Raymond · Rating 2 out of 5]

I think it's fair to say that most people who seek this book are looking to see the photographs that made news headlines following their discovery in a French attic. The book was taken up with far too much text for my liking.

I was hoping to see a 'coffee-table' pictorial where the amazing images dominated the book and the text was limited mainly to captions. The discovery of these images is certainly an amazing tale. Likewise, the lifestories of the people who took the photos, the primitive photographic methods they employed and the backstory leading to their discovery deserved to be included, but all of this should have been covered in a brief chapter at the beginning. Instead, the information was allowed to overtake the photographs and we got far too much self-promotion and the kind of ANZAC history already covered in countless books on the Australian involvement in WWI.

[Jules · Rating 5 out of 5]

A wonderful book, full of stories about these diggers and what happened to them. A must-read for every Australian to understand the story of the ANZAC.

[Tara-Jayne Hart · Rating 5 out of 5]

An incredible haunting book. An honour to read and see images of soldiers that’s served there country and have faded away in history and maybe the only images that remain of them. Lest We Forget.

[Heidi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an incredible book. It is a stunning collection of World War I images found in a small French village. The discovery was made public on TV and Facebook and since then the enormous public response and much investigation has resulted in an amazing collection of stories to accompany the images. The images tell so much about the character of the soldiers and the conditions they endured. Many photos also appear on the Facebook page www.facebook.com/lostdiggers so if you had family who fought in France during this time check this out. This is an unforgettable book, which made for perfect reading around ANZAC day.

[Belinda · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars
Fantastic photographs, the historians have done an amazing job identifying the diggers in the photographs.
Unfortunately there's a lot of conjecture about things and a fair bit of self promotion in the writing. Also, the repeated references to Channel 7 and Facebook made this feel like it won't remain timeless. The dialogue is set up to me far more emotive than what I think is strictly necessary, essentially considering the subject.

[Diane Waldo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fascinating collection of World War I photographs recently discovered in France.