What do you think?
Rate this book
Lonesome Pine - The Bloody Ridge
One of the most famous assaults of the Gallipoli campaign took place over four bloody days in August 1915 across an area no bigger than a football field.
On a small plateau in Gallipoli known as Lone Pine — named for the lonesome pine that stood there — this fierce battle was fought. In the late afternoon of 6 August 1915, the Australians orchestrated an attack aimed at breaking the Turkish stronghold on Lone Pine. The fighting on both sides during these attacks and counter-attacks involved throwing bombs over hastily erected barriers, mad dashes through the trenches, firing off a few shots at close range, hand-to-hand combat, tripping over the dead and avoiding the dying and wounded.
Four days of intense fighting and close combat resulted in the loss of thousands of lives on both sides. In this short period of time, seven of Australia’s nine Gallipoli VCs were earned — a powerful tribute to the courage and sacrifice of the soldiers involved.
Simon Cameron’s painstakingly researched account, Lonesome Pine, allows us to now gain a greater understanding of the sacrifice of so many in such a short period of time. This book describes the days leading up to the attack and the horror of the battle in gripping detail, as well as giving an insight into the lives of the men who fought, died in and survived the Battle of Lone Pine.
On a small plateau in Gallipoli known as Lone Pine — named for the lonesome pine that stood there — this fierce battle was fought. In the late afternoon of 6 August 1915, the Australians orchestrated an attack aimed at breaking the Turkish stronghold on Lone Pine. The fighting on both sides during these attacks and counter-attacks involved throwing bombs over hastily erected barriers, mad dashes through the trenches, firing off a few shots at close range, hand-to-hand combat, tripping over the dead and avoiding the dying and wounded.
Four days of intense fighting and close combat resulted in the loss of thousands of lives on both sides. In this short period of time, seven of Australia’s nine Gallipoli VCs were earned — a powerful tribute to the courage and sacrifice of the soldiers involved.
Simon Cameron’s painstakingly researched account, Lonesome Pine, allows us to now gain a greater understanding of the sacrifice of so many in such a short period of time. This book describes the days leading up to the attack and the horror of the battle in gripping detail, as well as giving an insight into the lives of the men who fought, died in and survived the Battle of Lone Pine.
168 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2013
About the author
Simon Cameron
3 booksMedical Practitioner, born in SA, travelled to anywhere there is a castle. Taught my three children the name of Captain Cook's ship as soon as they knew what a ship was. Making history interesting and engaging by shining a light is my intention with written and oral presentation. The unifying theme of all of my history is to engage and enthuse.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
May 18, 2026
⭐⭐⭐ A Grounded and Human Look at the Chaos of Gallipoli
There are moments in military history where the scale of violence becomes almost impossible to comprehend. Reading about the fighting at Lone Pine during the Gallipoli campaign, what stayed with me most was not necessarily the strategy or battlefield movements, but the horrifying closeness of the combat itself. Trenches merged together. Bombs were thrown into packed positions. Soldiers fought hand-to-hand in spaces barely large enough to stand. Lonesome Pine - The Bloody Ridge by Simon Cameron succeeds most when it captures the confusion, brutality, and deeply human cost of that kind of warfare.
One of the book’s greatest strengths is how effectively it conveys the chaos and uncertainty of trench warfare. The operational details and descriptions of the fighting help illustrate the “fog of war,” where battlefield conditions constantly shift and soldiers operate under extreme pressure with incomplete information. I also appreciated the amount of research that clearly went into the book, particularly the background information on many of the soldiers involved. The narrative feels grounded and respectful without drifting into overly romanticized nationalism, which I appreciated. At the same time, the sheer amount of military detail occasionally became overwhelming, and I found myself getting lost as the narrative moved between different sections of the battlefield. More maps or visual aids would have helped tremendously because the constant movement sometimes became difficult to follow.
Overall, I think this is a worthwhile read for people interested in World War I, Gallipoli, Australian and New Zealand military history, or trench warfare more generally. The individual soldiers occasionally blended together, and the narrow focus on one small section of the campaign may not work for every reader. Still, the book succeeds in capturing both the brutality and the humanity of the fighting. Even when the operational detail becomes dense, the horrifying reality of trench warfare remains very present throughout the narrative.
There are moments in military history where the scale of violence becomes almost impossible to comprehend. Reading about the fighting at Lone Pine during the Gallipoli campaign, what stayed with me most was not necessarily the strategy or battlefield movements, but the horrifying closeness of the combat itself. Trenches merged together. Bombs were thrown into packed positions. Soldiers fought hand-to-hand in spaces barely large enough to stand. Lonesome Pine - The Bloody Ridge by Simon Cameron succeeds most when it captures the confusion, brutality, and deeply human cost of that kind of warfare.
One of the book’s greatest strengths is how effectively it conveys the chaos and uncertainty of trench warfare. The operational details and descriptions of the fighting help illustrate the “fog of war,” where battlefield conditions constantly shift and soldiers operate under extreme pressure with incomplete information. I also appreciated the amount of research that clearly went into the book, particularly the background information on many of the soldiers involved. The narrative feels grounded and respectful without drifting into overly romanticized nationalism, which I appreciated. At the same time, the sheer amount of military detail occasionally became overwhelming, and I found myself getting lost as the narrative moved between different sections of the battlefield. More maps or visual aids would have helped tremendously because the constant movement sometimes became difficult to follow.
Overall, I think this is a worthwhile read for people interested in World War I, Gallipoli, Australian and New Zealand military history, or trench warfare more generally. The individual soldiers occasionally blended together, and the narrow focus on one small section of the campaign may not work for every reader. Still, the book succeeds in capturing both the brutality and the humanity of the fighting. Even when the operational detail becomes dense, the horrifying reality of trench warfare remains very present throughout the narrative.
Displaying 1 of 1 review