In 1918 a few daring low ranking Australian infantrymen, alone among all the armies on the Western Front, initiated stealth raids without orders. Stealth Raiders- A Few Daring Men of the Australian Infantry 1918 examines this distinct but neglected group. Stealth raiders killed Germans, captured prisoners and advanced the line, sometimes by thousands of yards, and almost always without command on either side knowing. They were held in high regard by other men of the lower ranks and feared by the Germans facing them. Since Charles Bean laid down his pen in 1942, historians have not considered the distinctive character and motivation of these men. Who were these stealth raiders and why did they do it? How significant were their actions and what made the Australian so distinctive in this independent and personal type of warfare? Using their first-hand accounts, official archives and private records Lucas Jordan pieces their stories together. The book considers the stealth raiders' war experience and training, the unprecedented topographic and environmental conditions at the front, and the quality and morale of the German Army in 1918. It also goes beyond these to consider the influence of Australian civil society and in particular the obush ethoso. It demonstrates that bush skills gave some stealth raiders an edge and that the bush ethos, with its high premium on resourcefulness and initiative, contributed to making stealth raids a distinctively Australian phenomenon.
