Australia’s Worst 24 Hours: The Disaster of Fromelles

The battle of Fromelles in July 1916 remains the worst 24 hours in Australian history. How could such a calamity occur? With the centenary of the disaster imminent, historian Ross McMullin will analyse how the fiasco eventuated, explain how it became for decades Australia’s little-known battle, and discuss the developments at the battlefield in more recent years.
Ross McMullin is the author of an award-winning biography of Pompey Elliott, whose Victorian brigade had appalling casualties at Fromelles. Biographies of three outstanding members of Pompey Elliott’s brigade who died at Fromelles are included in Dr McMullin’s most recent book Farewell Dear People: Biographies of Australia’s Lost Generation, a multi-biography of exceptional identities the nation lost in the Great War. Farewell Dear People has been awarded the Prime Minister’s Prize for Australian History and the National Cultural Award. Ross McMullin’s other books include Will Dyson: Australia’s Radical Genius, the ALP centenary history The Light on the Hill, and another political history So Monstrous a Travesty: Chris Watson and the World’s First National Labour Government.

In collaboration with Manning Clark House.