The Desert Column

One hundred years after the charge of the 4th Light Horse Brigade at Beersheba in October 1917…<br /> <br />&apos;The Desert Column is based on the diaries that he kept through out the war. Published in 1932, it is one of Idriess&apos; earliest works. Harry Chauvel noted in the foreword that it was the only book of the campaign that to his knowledge was &quot;viewed entirely from the private soldier&apos;s point of view&quot;… Idriess served as a sniper with the 5th Australian Light Horse. Enlisting in 1914, he began his diary &quot;as we crowded the decks off Gallipoli&quot; and he continued writing until returning to Australia… The diaries cover his experience of some of the war&apos;s major events from life in the trenches at Gallipoli to the battles at Romani and Beersheba. One of Idriess&apos; strengths as a writer is his ability to place the reader at the scene of the action… The diaries reveal a keenness of observation and a descriptive and pacey style that Idriess would develop further in The Desert Column.&apos; – The Australian War Memorial