On Friday (28/10) we were fortunate to have Mr Craig Deayton as the speaker for our annual Weston Bate Lecture. Craig spoke about his research on the 47th battalion from the First World War undertaken for his book Battle Scarred. His research was an eight year labour to seek out stories beyond the official records and as a result his book has been acclaimed for its honesty and descriptive detail.
The 47th Battalion was formed in Egypt in March 1916 and made up of predominately Tasmanian and Queensland soldiers. The battalion served on the Western Front and holds the sad honour of being one of the shortest lived units with one of the highest fatality rates (only two other units were higher). Craig showed the image below to highlight this devastation, it shows the 73 remaining men from the original unit that numbered over 1000 men.
Remnants 47th Battalion (1914-1918) Hastiere, Belgique. AIF (Photo from the Australian War Memorial)
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