Facey's service record makes no mention of a small bullet wound in his left shoulder, but his DVA repat files do. His book mentions being hit in the left shoulder in direct accordance with those files. So was he lying about that?

I still enjoy Albert Facey's book, and knowing how many pages he handwrote over the years as opposed to Roberts assertions of 3 small unintelligible notebooks, I feel he has been unfairly targeted by you and others. I look forward to the day Facey is fully vindicated on his claims.

Ian

I know your grandfather's biography is about more than the first world war, indeed more than the first day at Gallipoli. But this thread is all about him and the first few days of Gallipoli. I have pointed to evidence from two historians, which includes diary's from two soldiers who where there on the first day of the invasion, and evidence from the Turks themselves, that contradicts your grandfather's biography about the first few days of the invasion.

The effect people who fought and died at places like Gallipoli had on the development of Australia is up for debate. I personally think Gallipoli was a waste of lives and had very little to do with how Australian society developed. It is more about us trying to cover up our shame at the way we treat others, like the Aborigines and people with disabilities, as we pretend to be a land of mateship, where everyone is treated equal. That is nowhere near the case.

And before you jump to defend your previous comments, maybe you should pause for a moment and look around this glorious country of ours. If it weren't for the men and women who fought, and continue to fight, for our freedom, we wouldn't be able to life the life we live.

Think of that next time you choose to write so freely.

Roberts claim Facey could barely write and his unintelligible 3 small notebooks that formed his book is an unfounded claim. In consultation with current Facey family, Albert Facey handwrote over 600 foolscap pages in his several attempts from the mid 1930s to write his story. All in his own hand. The manuscripts are held in the same location where Roberts sat his degree. I recently dug up some letters written by Facey in the sixties after he had retired. Same style and signature same as from his attestation papers for WW1.

The dozens and dozens of men who recorded their landing experience under machine gun fire also deserve to be heard. Try reading the recently translated Turk Official History of Gallipoli and one might begin to see that some of what happened has been omitted, while the overly heroic writing style and overstatement is very apparent. Written some 60 plus years after the landings too. The German involvement is a mere footnote and they still have no memorial at Gallipoli for their dead. It was pulled down. Why one should ask?

There is a lot more to the Landing at Gallipoli than what the Turks are telling us, and quite frankly, I believe our blokes were not mistaken or lying in their accounts. Roberts book has already been published in version two to tidy up some issues from the first one. All at taxpayers expense I imagine if it came via the Army History Unit campaign series as it says within.

No issue with respect for peoples service and academic qualifications, but at the end of the day it all boils down to depth of research. His version of the Landing, while widely accepted by some, is being directly challenged by others, and so it should because there is simply too much conflicting info that is well documented and backed up by others, that has been largely ignored to push the Turk only view. There are a few brave Turk academics that are well aware of how some records are kept under lock and key to keep the Gallipoli narrative a strictly Ottoman Turk one. Long way to go just yet.

Ian