True stories of Aussie courage and mateship from the annals of the RSL. Publishing in the run up to the centenary of Gallipoli, this collection of 100 true stories of Aussie courage and mateship in World War I is the first in a series carrying the imprimatur of the RSL, an Australian icon which has supported serving and ex-service Defence Forces for nearly 100 years, stamping this series with authority and authenticity. The stories have the human element: intimate, eyewitness accounts across the breadth of Australia's war from Gallipoli to the Western Front, related with humour, pathos and vivid detail. For example: The Gallipoli landing as related in an Anzac's letter home. An engineer who was one of the first ashore at Gallipoli and who cut steps up the cliffs for those who followed. General Monash on a mysterious meeting on an Anzac beach. Major General Pompey Elliott's story of a crackshot sniper. The curious case of the stolen cheese. Firsthand accounts of HMAS Sydney's victory over the Emden and a battle between HMAS Sydney and a Zeppelin. Charles Kingsford-Smith on meeting a German pilot after the war.A Light Horse patrol daringly slipping through advancing Turkish troops to warn their mates of danger. A sapper's account of the battle of Fromelles. How the Melbourne Cup was run on the Western Front. And there's so much more: daring rescues in 'no man's land' and desperate action in the trenches; stories from POWs, medicos, stretcherbearers and nurses; an account of the torpedoing of a ship repatriating wounded soldiers and one about the game of two-up and how it maintained morale among frontline soldiers - you'll even find out why soldiers wore women's underwear on the Western Front.