Random House Australia, 2010, Aus$34.95, 272pp, ills, bibliog.
ISBN 978-1-74166-936-7
Beneath Hill 60 tells the story of Captain Oliver Woodward and the 1st Australian Tunnelling Company. The book has been published to support the film of the same name which was released in Australia on ANZAC day 2010. Although not released in the UK at the time of writing this review (May 2010) it is likely that this may be the first of several films on the subject of the Great War to be made in the period leading up to the hundredth anniversary of the conflict.
The book is worthy in that it tells the story of Oliver Woodward - who was awarded the Military Cross no fewer than three times - which could not have been told had it not been for the discovery of Woodward's diaries by Ross Thomas. These journals were the inspiration for the film produced by Bill Leimbach and directed by Jeremy Sims. Ross Thomas provided the book's author with his research and Davies's book, although inferior to his excellent ‘Somme Mud', is the result.
There is the occasional side-swipe at the usual targets, we have [on page 156] "With the generals back in their cars and now safe far away behind the lines", however this can be tolerated in an otherwise well balanced book. Woodward's story starts in 1914, describing him working as a mining engineer in Papua New Guinea and continues through the 1st Australian Tunnelling Company's first spell in the front line in May 1916 at Houplines. From this point, the history of the Company's involvement in the preparation for the Messines attack is told. The story climaxes with the detonation of the mines on the opening of the Messines offensive, although it does not end at this point.
Although primarily about Captain Oliver Woodward, the book is an interesting study of the 1st Australian Tunnelling Company (the publishers incorrectly describe it as the Tunnelling Division on their web site) but is expensive at Aus$34.95 (about £20). It does not seem to be presently available in the UK, but will presumably be available, and at a lower cost, via on line book sellers, in the near future.
I look forward to the next few years, as this is probably the start of an increase in books and films timed to coincide with the centenary of the Great War. It is possible that the film Beneath Hill 60 will have a greater impact on the public than the book, and if this is the case, and it is the fore-runner of a number of films, there may be a surge of interest in the Great War. The WFA needs to be prepared for such a surge of interest as this may be transformational in terms of the public's appetite for interest about the Great War.
Reviewed by: David Tattersfield, WFA Development Trustee
