Description

On February 19th, 1915, seventeen year old Jim Baddeley from Smythesdale in country Victoria forged his mother’s signage on his enlistment papers and joined the AIF underage to fight for the Mother country.

Seventy-six years later, at the age of 93, he sat down with the Lilydale RSL’s historian to record his memories of his wartime experiences with the 58th Battalion on the Western Front.

From the terrible winter on the Somme to surviving shell blast at Bapaume, from the horror of the Battle of Polygon Wood to the gas attacks at Ypres, from trench raids at Messines to the killing grounds of Villers Bretonneaux, Ville-Sur-Ancre, Peronne and Bellicourt.

It is a story of sacrifice and endurance, bravery and loss, good times and bad times. An ordinary young Australian who survived extraordinary times.

With a foreword by Barry Dickins

Introduction by Lambis Englezos AM