A Few Daring Men: Stealth Raiders of the Australian Infantry, 1918

Abstract

In 1918 a few daring low ranking Australian infantrymen, alone among all the armies on the Western Front, initiated stealth raids without orders. This thesis examines this distinct but neglected group. Stealth raiders killed Germans, captured prisoners and advanced the line. They were held in high regard by other men of the lower ranks and feared by the Germans facing them. Since the official historian CEW Bean laid down his pen in 1942, historians have not considered the distinctive character and motivation of these men. The premise of this thesis is that such men should not be forgotten. Bean called stealth raids, “peaceful penetration” but this thesis argues that the name is inappropriate because “peaceful penetration” was a term that higher command used, sometimes for actions other than stealth raids. The term did not emanate from the original stealth raiders. The thesis is the most comprehensive account yet written on stealth raids. Using first-hand accounts in official archives and private records in Australia and overseas, the thesis asks who were stealth raiders? Why did they do it? How significant were their actions? The thesis answers these questions using a historical narrative and analysis that describes all the stealth raids uncovered during the research. The account 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 “bush ethos”. The thesis is original not only for its primary narrative, but also because it undermines the contemporary fashion of dismissing the importance of bush skills and the bush ethos in the AIF. 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. Show more