Pompey Elliott at War: in his own words

by Ross McMullin

Hundreds of Australian first-person narratives of World War I have been published, but none more riveting than this one. The wartime letters and diaries of Pompey Elliott, Australia’s most famous fighting general, are exceptionally forthright. They are also remarkably illuminating about his volatile emotions. Pompey not only wrote frankly about what happened to him and the men he was commanding; he was also frank about what he felt about both. Having arranged a no-secrets pact with his wife for their correspondence before he left Australia in 1914, he adhered to that agreement throughout the conflict. Moreover, Pompey expressed himself with vivid candour in his diaries and other correspondence. He wrote rapidly and fluently, with fertile imagery, a flair for simile, and an engaging turn of phrase. His extraordinary letters to his young children turned even the Western Front into a bedtime story. Pompey was prominent in iconic battles and numerous controversies. He was wounded at the Gallipoli landing, and four of his men were awarded the Victoria Cross for conspicuous bravery at Lone Pine. No one was more instrumental than Pompey in turning looming defeat into stunning victory at both Polygon Wood and Villers–Bretonneux. No Australian general was more revered by those he led or more famous outside his own command. Ross McMullin, the author of the award-winning and best-selling biography Pompey Elliott , has collected Pompey’s words from a variety of sources and shaped them into a compelling narrative. This book will transform our awareness of Pompey's importance in the dramatic final year of World War I.

Genres: World War I, History, Biography, War

736 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 2, 2017

Reviews

[Scribe Publications]

Now … a new readership can learn of an exceptional military leader and larger-than-life personality … Because Elliott was such a diligent, expressive and honest diarist, correspondent and report writer, this gathering of pure-grade historical evidence captures his character in some senses better than any biographical estimate.

Organising the vast reservoir of material into a readable format can’t have been easy but McMulin has done an outstanding job.
Australian Defence Magazine

McMullin published an award-winning biography of Elliott in 2002. Now he has gathered the wartime letters and diaries of this fighting general to let him tell his own story.
Weekend Australian

McMullin chose 1105 excerpts from Elliott’s letters, diary, speeches and battle reports that reveal the wartime thoughts of the revered, charismatic, controversial and successful soldier.
Ballarat Courier

Elliott is often observant, like his skilled biographer Ross McMullin.
Geoffrey Blainey, Australian Book Review

This is a book for the student of the war, and a book to memorialise a great, if flawed, man. It achieves both purposes through its reliance on Elliott’s own words.
Meleah Hampton, Wartime Magazine

[Dennis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Pompey Elliott was Australia's top fighting General of World War 1, but he also called it as he saw it and as a result was hated by some of the Generals, including the British. He was beloved by his soldiers, but hated by the Englishman Birdwood, who was GOC of the Australia's forces and the feeling was mutual, so as a result the vindictive Birdwood denied Elliott promotions and decorations to which he richly deserved . This book is as it says 'in his own words', as the narrative comprises of Eliott's letters, mainly to his wife Kate and these intimate letters give a real feeling of the man. And if fighting a war and writing letters of condolence to the families of the Australian soldiers who lost their lives, while he was fighting in France wasn't stressful enough, his partner in their legal practice in Melbourne stole from the trust funds of clients to make good his gambling losses. Much of the book is about the fighting and the superb conduct of the Australian troops, but after the war Pompey Elliott resumed his legal career and was also elected to the Senate of the Federal Parliament. Such was his popularity, that for his second six year term he achieved a record majority. I won't dwell on the sadness that haunted him in his later years, except to say that the written style of building the narrative from letters gives an immediacy and authenticity that I don't think I have encountered in any other book I have ever read.

[Louise · Rating 4 out of 5]

An enjoyable read of the career of Pompey Elliott with numerous anecdotes from his life.