The Legend of Albert Jacka

Book excerpt: Our heroes can come from the most ordinary of places. As a shy lad growing up in country Victoria, no one in the district had any idea the man Albert Jacka would become. Albert 'Bert' Jacka was 21 when Britain declared war on Germany in August 1914. Bert soon enlisted in the Australian Imperial Force and the young private was assigned to 14th Battalion D Company. By the time they shipped out to Egypt he'd been made a Lance Corporal. On 26 April 1915, 14th Battalion landed at Gallipoli under the command of Brigadier General Monash's 4th Infantry Brigade. It was here, on 20 May, that Lance Corporal Albert Jacka proved he was 'the bravest of the brave'. The Turks were gaining ground with a full-scale frontal attack and as his comrades lay dead or dying in the trenches around him, Jacka single-handedly held off the enemy onslaught. The Turks retreated. Jacka's extraordinary efforts saw him awarded the Victoria Cross, the first for an Australian soldier in World War I. He was a national hero, but Jacka's wartime exploits had only just begun: moving on to France, he battled the Germans at Pozières, earning a Military Cross for what historian Charles Bean called 'the most dramatic and effective act of individual audacity in the history of the AIF'. Then at Bullecourt, his efforts would again turn the tide against the enemy. There would be more accolades and adventures before a sniper's bullet and then gassing at Villers-Bretonneux sent Bert home. The Legend of Albert Jacka is an unforgettable story of the bravery and sacrifice of one extraordinary soldier that takes us from the shores of Gallipoli to the battlefields of France, all brought to vivid life by Australia's greatest storyteller, Peter FitzSimons.