The First Anzacs is a powerful and deeply engaging work of military history that restores deserved recognition to the Australian and New Zealand combat engineers of World War I. Rather than retelling familiar Gallipoli legends, the authors focus on the sappers whose courage, technical skill and relentless endurance made some of the ANZACs’ most dangerous operations possible.

One of the book’s greatest strengths is its ability to combine large-scale military events with vivid human stories. The engineers emerge not as background figures but as central participants in the war’s defining moments, from the beaches of Gallipoli to the trenches of the Western Front. The writing is clear, energetic and often cinematic, making complex engineering tasks feel immediate and dramatic.

What makes the book especially memorable is its balance of scholarship and storytelling. It is informative without being dry, and respectful without becoming sentimental. The soldiers are resourceful, brave and often overlooked, and their restored place in ANZAC history feels genuinely moving.

Overall, this is an absorbing and important contribution to Australian war literature. It honours forgotten service with clarity and passion, making it essential reading for anyone interested in World War I, military engineering or untold stories behind national memory.

Reviewed by Anthony Llewellyn-Evans

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Lieutenant Colonel George Hulse (Retd) OAM was a combat engineer, a ‘Tunnel Rat’ in the Vietnam War, and fought at Coral–Balmoral—Australia’s largest battle in that war. He served with distinction in Malaysia, Kashmir and Papua New Guinea until his discharge in 1980. George went on to become a Lieutenant Colonel in the Army Reserve and published a book about Australian military working dogs, In Dogs We Trust. George has since had numerous volunteer roles including as Vice President of the Australian Defence Force Trackers and War Dogs Association. He also competes in Ironman Triathlon races.

Jimmy Thomson has co-written three books about Australian sappers (with Colonel Sandy MacGregor): Tunnel Rats, A Sappers’ War and Tunnel Rats versus the Taliban. A journalist for more than forty-five years, he has written true crime, sports biographies and military history. He writes crime fiction under the pen name James Dunbar and lives in Kings Cross, Sydney, with his wife and their cats.

Visit Jimmy Thompson’s website

Read more on the publisher’s website here.