Bill and Horrie : Australia's greatest war horse and war dog / Roland Perry
- Bib ID:
- 8068278
- Format:
- Book
- Author:
- Perry, Roland, 1946-, author
- Description:
-
- Crows, Nest, NSW : Allen & Unwin, 2019
- ©2019
- viii, 274, vi, 338 pages, 16 unnumbered pages of plates : illustrations, portraits, plates ; 24 cm
- ISBN:
- 9781760529512 (pbk)
- Summary:
-
Bill the Bastard: Bill was massive. He had power, intelligence and unmatched courage. In performance and character he stood above all the other 200,000 Australian horses sent to the Middle East in the Great War. But as war horses go he had one serious problem. No one could ride him but one man - Major Michael Shanahan. Some even thought Bill took a sneering pleasure in watching would-be riders hit the dust. Bill the Bastard is the remarkable tale of a bond between a determined trooper and his stoic but cantankerous mount. They fought together. They depended on each other for their survival. And when the chips were down, Bill's heroic efforts and exceptional instincts in battle saved the lives of Shanahan and four of his men. By September 1918, 'Bill the Bastard' was known by the entire Light Horse force, who used his name not as an insult, but as a term of endearment. Bill had become a legend, a symbol of the courage and unbreakable will of the Anzac mounted force. There was no other horse like Bill the Bastard.
Horrie the War Dog: In the harsh Libyan desert in the middle of the second world war, Private Jim Moody, a signaller with the First Australian Machine Gun Battalion, found a starving puppy on a sand dune. Moody called the dog Horrie. Much more than a mascot, Horrie's exceptional hearing picked up the whine of enemy aircraft two minutes before his human counterparts and repeatedly saved the lives of the thousand-strong contingent. The little Egyptian Terrier's ritual of sitting, barking, then dashing for the trenches, had the gunners running for cover before their camp was strafed and bombed. Where Moody went, Horrie went too, through the battle zones of the Middle East and far beyond. As the Japanese forces began their assault in Asia Moody and his soldier mates joined the fight, but not before they had smuggled Horrie onto a troop ship and a harrowing journey back to Australia where they thought their little friend would be safe.
- Full contents:
-
- Bill the bastard. Originally published: 2012
- Horrie the war dog. Originally published: 2013.
- Biography/History:
-
Roland Perry is one of Australia's best known authors. He has written 28 books, many of them going on to become bestsellers, including Horrie the War Dog, Bill the Bastard, The Queen, Her Lover, and the Most Notorious Spy in History, Bradman's Invincibles, The Changi Brownlow, The Australian Light Horse and Monash and Chauvel.
- Notes:
- Originally published as two separate volumes: "Bill the bastard" and "Horrie the war dog".
- Subject:
-
- Shanahan, Michael, -1964
- Australia. Army. Desert Mounted Corps
- Bill, (Horse)
- Horrie (Dog)
- War horses -- History
- World War, 1914-1918 -- Participation, Australian
- World War, 1914-1918 -- Cavalry operations
- Dogs
- World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal narratives, Australian
- Australia -- Armed Forces -- Mascots
- Australian
- Other authors/contributors:
- Also Titled:
-
- Bill the bastard
- Horrie the war dog : the story of Australia's most famous dog
- Copyright:
-
In Copyright
You may copy under some circumstances, for example you may copy a portion for research or study. Order a copy through Copies Direct to the extent allowed under fair dealing. Contact us for further information about copying.
Copyright status was determined using the following information:
- Material type:
- Literary Dramatic Musical
- Published status:
- Published
- Publication date:
- 2019
Copyright status may not be correct if data in the record is incomplete or inaccurate. Other access conditions may also apply. For more information please see: Copyright in library collections.
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