The Chipilly Six: Unsung Heroes of the Great War

On 9 August 1918, on high ground overlooking the Somme River, an entire British Army Corps is held up by German machine gunners. The battle has raged for 30 hours and more than 2000 Englishmen have fallen, for no gain. Meanwhile, two Australian sergeants, Jack Hayes and Harold Andrews, go absent without leave and cross the Somme ahead of the British lines. Gathering weapons and four of their best mates, Hayes and Andrews return to take on the Germans. The extraordinary feats of the Chipilly Six have been overlooked and the personal stories of these diggers never before celebrated. Yet this story doesn’t end when the war does. Historian Lucas Jordan weaves a compelling tale of the lives of these soldiers, chronicling their return home and years after service, through a pandemic, the Great Depression, another world war and the very first Anzac Day dawn service.

Lucas Jordan grew up in Burekup in Western Australia, where he completed his Bachelor of Arts. He completed a Diploma of Education at the University of Queensland, followed by a Masters in Aboriginal Studies at the University of Notre Dame, and he completed his PhD at the Australian National University. Lucas has taught history to undergraduate students at Deakin and Monash universities and is currently a teacher at Western English Language School, a secondary school for new arrivals and refugees in Melbourne. He is the author of Stealth Raiders: A few daring men in 1918.