Do Unto Others
Counter Bombardment in Australia’s Military Campaigns
Alan H Smith
RRP: AU$34.99
Category: Non Fiction/Military/History/Australian
Hardback 448pp
ISBN: 978-0-9870574-4-0
Napoleon’s famous dictum, ‘You make war with artillery’ is a truism confirmed by history since gunpowder was invented.
Since 1899, the significant role Australian gunners have played in supporting the Australian Military Forces’ campaigns have been well-documented. However, most Australian military historical accounts focus on the support role gunners played to cavalry and infantry rather than counter bombardment activities, where soldiers used artillery fire to locate and destroy and/or neutralise the enemy artillery and mortars.
In Do Unto Others author Alan Smith offers a comprehensive history of the use of counter bombardment from the inception of this technique in the First World War, through to the Vietnam campaign. He includes the development of Australian techniques, equipment and procedures through the campaigns up until Vietnam.
Do Unto Others is a tribute to the many brave men behind the artillery, the dedicated gunners involved in counter bombardment over the 58 year period since its introduction and the story of their outstanding efforts and results across these varied campaigns.
Additional Information
• The Australian gunners have supported Australian, British, New Zealand and Indian armies in both World Wars, the Korean and Borneo Confrontation Wars and Vietnam.
• The art of counter bombardment’ originated during the First World War (1899) by an Australian scientist, William Bragg, a lieutenant in the Royal Horse Artillery.
• Counter bombardment in WW1 was developed as a method of locating enemy guns using the physics of sound, called ‘sound ranging’, and meteorology.
• Further developments, in subsequent campaigns, became increasingly more sophisticated with the advent of radar location during WWII and the last big artillery war of the 20th century in Korea.
• Vietnam was the first time the Australian Army deployed its own locating battery to a war zone allowing gunners to achieve outstanding results and an enviable reputation for locating skills.
• The success of the Aussie gunners at the Vietnam War, was considered a triumph for the ‘scientific method’ that these men created and continued to evolve over the 58years from its introduction.
About the Author
Alan Smith has an Associate Diploma in Industrial Chemistry and a Master in Commerce and Economics. He was commissioned to the RAA in 1954 and served with the Royal Artillery in the UK and Canada. Back in Australia he continued his military career focusing in logistics staff appointments in HQ’s of Communication Zone and 8 Task Force, he was awarded the Efficiency Decoration in 1966 and Retired in 1968. Alan then commenced his 36year career as an executive member of the Broken Hill Proprietary Company. He is the Editor of Cannonball the Journal of the Royal Australian Historical Company where he continues to ensure the history of artillery is not forgotten.
Sharon Evans Big Sky Publishing
