Author(s): Barry Stone

Military History

The charge of the Light Horse Brigade is the stuff of legend, but there are other desert campaigns in Mesopotamia, the Mediterranean and North Africa that are often overlooked. The Desert ANZACs brings to the fore the tales of the ANZACs who fought in the heat and desert sands - from their first-ever overseas deployment to the Sudan in 1885, through the campaigns in the Great War, and finally the Siege of Tobruk in 1941. The ANZACs have always been recognised for their bravery, and tales of derring-do abound: the Dunsterforce, who set off through Iran not knowing their destination; the Turks and Australians who joined forces in Ziza to deter thousands of marauding Bedouin; the Imperial Camel Corps, who rode their camels into battle; the Light Car Patrol, comprising Model T Fords with machine guns welded to their bonnets; and the ongoing siege at Tobruk that stymied the German advance across North Africa in World War II and proved the ANZACs' relentless, never-give-up attitude.