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479:"No one ever seems to admit that he enlisted out of love of country, or because he thought his loved ones were in danger. Somehow it seems that most of us enlisted because our mates did. That men were driven to enlist by that urging spirit of pulling together that is really mateship undefined. A man enlists because his mates do, not because he wants to bayonet and bomb other men."
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Lynch does not lament his lost youth and innocence but in fact during the narrative grows in wisdom and wit whilst evidently developing considerable skills as a professional soldier. But his disdain for the futility of war and his horror at what he witnesses is a continual theme. He often comments on
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The nine-centimetre-thick manuscript remained with Lynch's family and in 2002 his grandson Mike Lynch brought it to the attention of military historian Will Davies who edited it and saw it through to publication by Random House in 2006. The book has become well known and has been favourably compared
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Lynch wrote of his war experiences long-hand filling twenty exercise books in the late 1920s and 1930s. During his time as
Commanding Officer of an Australian Jungle Training School in World War II he typed up the manuscript with the aim of having it published. There was insufficient interest at that
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The driving theme of mateship is strong throughout the book. The actions of Nulla, Longun, Dark, Snow, Farmer, The Prof, Yacob and Jacko in looking out for each other beyond the omnipresent death and fear are consistently described. But at times Lynch also speaks directly of the meaning of mateship:
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The book's editor, military historian Will Davies, asserts that the "Nulla" character is based upon Lynch himself and that Lynch used the device to try to distance himself from the story. Lynchs' record indicates that he saw similar service, including suffering similar injuries to Nulla, although he
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to teach. That same year he married Yvonne Peters and they would have five children together. In 1939 on the outbreak of the Second World War he joined the
Militia. In 1942 he transferred to the regular army and became Officer Commanding the New South Wales Jungle Training School near
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The repulse of the Spring
Offensive marked the turning of the campaign on the Western Front and Nulla's 45th along with the other battalions that made up the 12th Brigade, were sent in April 1918 in support of the 13th Infantry Brigade's counterattack at the
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includes Nulla in well-known battles, such as
Villers-Brettoneux, when Lynch himself was recovering from wounds. Nulla's unit is 14 Platoon of D Company of the 45th Battalion (New South Wales) within 12th Brigade of the
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On 1 October 1917 at
Broodseinde Ridge, Nulla was hit by a mortar and suffered leg injuries. He was repatriated to England for six months, returning to France in March 1918 just in time to be sent to the Somme meet the
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Following his return to
Australia, Lynch wrote about his war experiences. However, this writing was not published until a quarter of century after his death, in the form of a
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but in
February they began to demobilise in order of their tenure since enlistment. Sailing from Devonport, England in May 1919, Nulla was home in Sydney in July.
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alongside
American forces seeing their first action and then stayed around the Hamel area in July 1918. With the Germans in retreat from August in the face of the
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was declared on 11 November, the 45th
Battalion – at that stage fifty miles behind the front line – were not informed of the war's end until the next day.
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the sadness of the lonely deaths of the young men laid in a land far from home and kin and poignantly quotes the
Australian blind poet digger
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230:(2006). The experiences of its protagonist, "Nulla", appear to be closely based on those of Lynch and his comrades in arms.
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National Archives of Australia – for Edward Patrick Francis Lynch, Service Number 2207 (World War I), N45474 (World War II)
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and was with the 4th Division when Australian and British troops stopped the German advance in hard-fought battles at
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Dummy tree used as an observation post on Hill 63 by Australian troops during the Battle of Messines Ridge
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and variously throughout the story is asked to relieve for signalling parties who suffer casualties.
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had previously held including the very same Dernancourt trenches Nulla had occupied in 1916.
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and surviving the horrendous 1916–17 winter in the trenches on the Somme.
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The final activity Nulla's battalion saw was in support at the
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time and other than some excerpts being published in the
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593:, ed. Will Davies, 2006 Random House
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627:Book Review – Sydney Morning Herald
403:Second Battle of Villers-Bretonneux
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604:In The Footsteps of Private Lynch
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244:Perthville
81:Allegiance
56:1897-08-07
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517:Footnotes
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263:Somme Mud
248:Wiltshire
228:Somme Mud
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355:Westhoek
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