Peter Hendy

Australians Don't Take Prisoners: The Great War Diaries of Private Charles Briggs Hardy Peter Hendy

"While wars have their share of glory they are brutal, awful things and should always be the last option for a national government. I commend this book and especially hope younger readers can absorb the lessons there are to learn in it - not only about the horrors of war but also the nobility in self sacrifice and duty to your country."

-- The Hon. Peter Reith AM, Former Australian Minister for Defence







Charlie Hardy was a blacksmith's assistant from Sydney, Australia. In his War Diaries he recorded his progress from a happy-go-lucky boy to a hard-bitten, military veteran in that terrible conflict, the Great War of 1914-1918. At Gallipoli he writes the words: "Allah Allah they yell & when they know they are beaten they throw down their arms and want to be taken prisoners but Australians don't take Prisoners". Charlie was an ordinary man involved in extraordinary events and this book weaves his diary entries into a comprehensive and informative history of the War - particularly the Gallipoli Campaign and the tragic Battle of Fromelles which was the worst single day in Australian military history. Charlie participates in the famous, heroic rear-guard action during this Battle, helping save hundreds of Australian lives, made even more poignant by the historical coincidence that Adolf Hitler was in opposing trenches to Charlie's company.