Starting with the outbreak of war and ending on 4 May 1915, just after the Gallipoli landing, this is the first volume in the Official History series. It sets the whole campaign in perspective, starting with the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria in June of 1914 and the almost inevitable build-up to full-scale war. Quick to respond, the Australians and New Zealanders started recruiting for the AIF six days after the outbreak of war. By early November the first Australian and New Zealand contingent was able to set sail from Australia, arriving in Cairo in early December.

Contents: Australia’s Position at the Outbreak. The Australian Offer. The AIF. The First Australian Staff. The First Contingent Sails. The Voyage and the Emden. The Training in the Desert. The Turkish Expedition against Egypt. The Expedition to the Dardanelles. The Corps Leaves Egypt. The Gaba Tepe Plan. Landing at Gaba Tepe. Baby 700. The Loss of Baby 700. The Extreme Left. The 3rd Brigade on the 400 Plateau. The 2nd Brigade on the 400 Plateau. The Advance to Pine Ridge. MacLaurin’s Hill and the Bloody Angle. Mustafa Kemal’s Counter-Attack and the First Night. The 4th Battalion’s Advance on the 400 Plateau. The Second Turkish Counter-Attack. The Relief from the Marines. Anzac Beach. The Clearing of the Wounded. End of the First Phase of the Campaign.

The Official History of Australia in the War of 1914-1918 is a 12-volume series covering Australian involvement in the First World War. The series was edited by C.E.W. Bean, who also wrote six of the volumes, and was published between 1920 and 1942. The first seven volumes deal with the Australian Imperial Force while other volumes cover the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force at Rabaul, the Royal Australian Navy, the Australian Flying Corps and the home front; the final volume is a photographic record. Unlike other official histories that have been aimed at military staff, Bean intended the Australian history to be accessible to a non-military audience. The relatively small size of the Australian forces enabled the history to be presented in great detail, giving accounts of individual actions that would not have been possible when covering a larger force.